Accept international payments from IndiaInvite only
When buyers of your goods or services are located outside India.
Note
Stripe is available by invite only in India. This means that businesses from India can’t sign up for a new Stripe account through our website, and must request an invite instead. We currently only support a select number of businesses, with a focus on international expansion.
Stripe supports presentment in 135+ currencies on Visa and Mastercard, and INR or USD currencies on American Express. You can prevent declines caused by a mistaken perception of a fraudulent charge and increase your success rates by presenting your international payments in your customer’s local currency.
To present in a non-INR currency, you must provide additional information during account onboarding and in API requests. Declare these transactions as exports from India and localize your presentment currency to match that of the customer’s card (for example, USD, EUR, JPY, and so on).
For more information, see our India FAQ.
Requirements
Stripe supports both INR and non-INR presentment for customers located outside India, provided:
- The Stripe account must be a registered Indian business (sole proprietorship, limited liability partnership, or company).
- The Stripe business can’t be an individual.
- If you sell physical goods, you must provide a valid Importer Exporter Code (IEC).
- If you sell services, providing an IEC is optional, unless:
- You accept AMEX payments from international customers.
- You take any benefits under India’s Foreign Trade Policy.
Onboarding
To enable export transactions, you must do the following when submitting your account application:
Opt in to exports: In the account application, under I am exporting products to customers located outside India, select the applicable box. If you don’t opt in, you can only make export charges in test mode. This option is only available for certain users (sole proprietorship, limited liability partnership, or company).
Submit your importer/exporter code (IEC): The IEC is a code issued by the Indian Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to Indian companies that intend to export from India. You can apply for an IEC on the DGFT website.
You must provide an IEC under certain conditions:
- If you plan to accept Visa or Mastercard and you sell physical goods.
- If you plan to accept AMEX international payments for all export transactions, including selling physical goods and services, as described by India’s Foreign Trade Policy.
Specify a transaction purpose code: The transaction purpose code describes the nature of a payment received in foreign currency. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintains the list of valid transaction purpose codes. You must select the code that’s closest to your product from the dropdown in the account application.
Opt in or update export details after account activation
You can opt into the ability to enable exports, change your IEC (if applicable), or change your transaction purpose code at any time through the Dashboard. If needed, you can use the same IEC for multiple export businesses, as long as the IEC is in the name of a common beneficial owner of both businesses.
A Stripe account can only have a single transaction purpose code.
Valid charges
Provide these additional fields for every international payment presented to a customer holding a non-India issued card to meet regulatory reporting requirements:
- The buyer’s
name
- The
billing address
with a valid 2-alphabet ISO-3166 country code - The charge
description
- The
shipping address
with a valid 2-alphabet ISO-3166 country code, if you sell physical goods
Payouts
Stripe pays out to you in INR the funds collected from domestic and international payments. If you process both domestic and international payments, you might receive two payouts on the same day, with an International label for the relevant payouts in your Dashboard.
International payments for services
Provide the following fields for every international payment for services to meet our financial partners’ requirements:
- The buyer’s
name
- The
billing address
- A
description
of the service to export
You must provide this information to prevent the payment from failing.
To declare a payment as an export transaction:
Pass the service description in the Payment Intents API:
Pass the customer name and billing address using the create a customer API:
International payments for goods
Our financial partners require the following fields for every international payment for goods:
- The buyer’s
name
- The
billing address
- A
description
of the item to export - The
shipping address
You must provide this information to prevent the payment from failing.
To declare a payment as an export transaction:
Pass the
description
of the item and ashipping address
in the Payment Intents API:Pass the customer
name
andbilling address
in the create a customer API:
Fight fraud
International card payments require 2-factor authentication using 3D Secure (3DS).
Accept recurring international payments
You can use Stripe Billing to bill your international customers using subscriptions and invoices.
For recurring international payments related to services, you must provide a buyer’s name
and an address
.
Stripe generates a description
from the description on your invoice items. Make sure the description on your invoice items accurately reflects your product.
For recurring international payments related to physical goods, you must provide a shipping address
in the create a customer API.
Recurring payments best practices
When selling to international customers, 3D Secure isn’t mandatory, but you might notice a higher dispute rate than when you sell to Indian customers.
We often see disputes from customers claiming that they were charged even after they canceled their subscription. Here are some best practices to avoid these disputes:
- Make it clear on your signup page that your customers are agreeing to a recurring payment and include information about whether or not you plan to notify the customer before each payment. Make sure cancellation procedures are clearly communicated to your customers, and clearly state the window during which your customer can cancel a subscription. Include copies of these procedures in a visible terms of service page.
- If you offer a free or discounted trial period, be sure to clearly communicate the length of the trial and the date when your customer is billed the full price. Clearly display the amount of the standard pricing above the payment button on your checkout page.
- Cancel subscriptions within two business days of initial request, making sure to pass the cancellation along to Stripe if you use our subscription functionality. Per card network rules, you can only make eight attempts per card after an initial decline, so be sure to close out any subscriptions that have already reached this limit. Provide your customer with a confirmation of the cancellation.
- Have a clear way for customers to contact you if requesting cancellation. If customers have questions about their subscription, they’re more likely to submit a dispute if they can’t contact you. You can track your overall dispute activity under the Analytics section in your Dashboard.
Monthly payment advice for export transactions
Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) issues payment advice directly to your registered Stripe email address the same day your export payout is processed. This includes a list of export charges that are part of the specific export payout.
Transaction purpose codes
If you have a Stripe account, you can select the following transaction purpose codes during account onboarding or in the Dashboard. Select the code that best aligns with your business. Stripe can’t support codes not listed below due to requirements from our financial partner.
Purpose code group | Code | Description |
---|---|---|
Exports (of Goods) | P0102 | Realization of export bills (in respect of goods) sent on collection (full invoice value). Excludes Nepal and Bhutan. |
Exports (of Goods) | P0103 | Advance receipts against export contracts, which are covered later by GR/PP/SOFTEX/SDF. Excludes Nepal and Bhutan. |
Travel | P0302 | Business travel |
Computer and Information Services | P0801 | Hardware consultancy or implementation |
Computer and Information Services | P0802 | Software consultancy or implementation (other than those covered in SOFTEX form) |
Computer and Information Services | P0803 | Database or data processing charges |
Computer and Information Services | P0804 | Repair and maintenance of computer and software |
Computer and Information Services | P0805 | News agency services |
Computer and Information Services | P0806 | Other information services (for example, subscriptions to newspapers or periodicals) |
Computer and Information Services | P0807 | Off-site software exports |
Computer and Information Services | P0808 | Telecommunication services, including electronic mail services and voice mail services |
Computer and Information Services | P0809 | Satellite services, including space shuttles, rockets, and so on |
Other Business Services | P1002 | Trade related services (for example, commission on exports or imports) |
Other Business Services | P1004 | Legal services |
Other Business Services | P1005 | Accounting, auditing, or book keeping services |
Other Business Services | P1006 | Business and management consultancy and public relations services |
Other Business Services | P1007 | Advertising or trade fair services |
Other Business Services | P1008 | Research and development services |
Other Business Services | P1009 | Architectural services |
Other Business Services | P1010 | Agricultural services (for example, protection against insects and disease, increasing of harvest yields, or forestry services) |
Other Business Services | P1013 | Environmental services |
Other Business Services | P1014 | Engineering services |
Other Business Services | P1015 | Tax consulting services |
Other Business Services | P1016 | Market research and public opinion polling services |
Other Business Services | P1017 | Publishing and printing services |
Other Business Services | P1018 | Mining services (for example, on–site processing services or analysis of ores) |
Other Business Services | P1019 | Commission agent services |
Other Business Services | P1020 | Wholesale and retailing trade services |
Other Business Services | P1022 | Other technical services (for example, scientific services or space services) |
Personal, Cultural, and Recreational Services | P1101 | Audio-visual and related services (for example, motion picture and video tape production, or distribution and projection services) |
Personal, Cultural, and Recreational Services | P1103 | Radio and television production, distribution, and transmission services |
Personal, Cultural, and Recreational Services | P1104 | Entertainment services |
Personal, Cultural, and Recreational Services | P1105 | Museums, library, and archival services |
Personal, Cultural, and Recreational Services | P1106 | Recreation and sporting activity services |
Personal, Cultural, and Recreational Services | P1107 | Educational services (for example, fees received for correspondence courses offered to non-residents by Indian institutions) |
Personal, Cultural, and Recreational Services | P1108 | Health services (receipts on account of services provided by Indian hospitals, doctors, nurses, paramedical, and similar services rendered remotely or on-site) |
Personal, Cultural, and Recreational Services | P1109 | Other personal, cultural, and recreational services |