PingPong Payments India: Your full guide

PingPong payments explained

PingPong is a global payments company that helps e-commerce sellers and freelancers get paid. Payments through PingPong can come from clients or through marketplaces like Amazon. It also has a global money transfer service for US users.

PingPong was founded in Hangzhou, China, and has been running a liaison office out of Bengaluru specifically for Indian users since 2019.¹

In India, freelancers, and sellers can use PingPong to receive payments from websites like:

• Amazon
• Udemy
• 99designs
• Upwork
• Envato
• Chegg
• Wish
• Rakuten
• Cdiscount
• Google Play

You can receive international payments with PingPong and the funds will be converted and deposited into your local Indian accounts. The accepted foreign payment currencies are: US Dollars, Euros, British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Japanese Yen, Australian Dollars

So you can receive payments in these 6 currencies and the money will be converted to Indian Rupees to deposit into your Indian bank.

With PingPong you can register for an individual account or a business account in India. It is free to sign up, but there is a fee with use. ²

Is PingPong pay secure?

PingPong is a secure service, and in 2019 it processed over $10 billion dollars worth of transactions. In addition, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the Indian liaison office and the online payment service. Plus, PingPong has a Foreign Company Registration Number (FCRN).

As a user, access to your PingPong dashboard requires two-factor authentication and has PIN verification to make any withdrawals. This helps to make sure only you can take action in your account.

Overall, PingPong transfers over $150 million dollars a day for the more than 1 million sellers on the platform. And PingPong has processed more than $90 billion dollars of e-commerce payments. ³

How do I open a PingPong account?

Looking to get started with PingPong? Here is a step-by-step guide on opening an account with PingPong and what to expect:

1. Head to PingPong India website
2. Click on the yellow lined box with Sign Up on the top right-hand side
3. Ensure your country is India and click Next
4. Create an account with an email and password
5. Enter in your phone number to receive the confirmation code to proceed
6. Agree to the Service Agreement & Privacy Policy
7. Click on Create to submit your profile
8. Next, choose the different currencies you will be receiving payments in (up to 10)
9. Complete the KYC section with information from your Aadhaar/PAN or Passport
10. Choose whether you want to set up a Personal or Business account (keep in mind a business account requires registration and a business bank account)
11. Complete the details related to your account
12. Click on Next when done

Once you have submitted your registration to PingPong, you can expect about 1-2 days for review and approval.

A few things to keep in mind with PingPong:⁴

• You must be over 18 years old to open an account
• The name on your account must match the name on the receiving bank account, that goes for businesses too
• If you are an Indian resident, ensure you have a PAN number as an individual or as a business
• If you need to submit anything further when you are signing up, you will find a To-Do box on your dashboard which will highlight what is missing

PingPong charges and fees

PingPong charges a flat inclusive 1% fee when you are withdrawing funds from your PingPong account to your local bank account in India. ⁵

It is unclear what exchange rate PingPong uses, so keep an eye out for that. The exchange rate you see on Google, or Wise, is the real mid-market exchange rate. It is the one banks use themselves and has no markup. Anything different from that will mean you might be getting hit with a hidden exchange rate fee.⁵

Transfer limits

While PingPong has not outlined any transfer limits, you may face transfer limits from the marketplace you are sending money from. Platforms like Amazon, Wish, and Upwork have caps on how much you can send from your account at one time on their site. Check the platform's small print carefully.

Time it takes

Transfers can take 3-5 business days to credit your PingPong account. If it has been over 5 days, you can contact PingPong over email at vnsupport@pingpongx.com. They will need the following information:⁶

• Date of payment release
• The platform name
• The paygate.

PingPong Alternatives

While PingPong is an option with overall good reviews on Trustpilot, but with some lower reviews around customer service and payment processing time.

If you are looking for alternatives to PingPong, here is a quick list of platforms that can be strong options for freelancers and e-commerce sellers:

Wise

Wise (Web/Android/ iOS) is an online money transfer platform that makes global transfers to India cheap, easy, and fast. With the real exchange rate and just one low transfer fee, you can get more of your earnings right in your Indian bank account.

Businesses in India can sign-up for Wise Business and receive account details in 8 currencies to get paid from clients abroad.

Open your Wise account now 🚀

PayPal

PayPal has been a global leader in payments, but the fees, especially hidden in the exchange rate, can be high. It also requires both parties to have a PayPal wallet.

Stripe

Stripe is great for online sellers abroad, but they are still running limited options and services in India. Internationally, they are well known for their strong tech.

Payoneer

Payoneer is often of 2 options for freelancer platforms for payments into India. Receiving accounts in different currencies can make payments easy, but expect a 2% fee on withdrawals.

All sources checked as of 14 January, 2022