Paytm Receives RBI Approval to Expand Payment Aggregation to Offline and Cross-Border Transactions

India's central bank has approved Paytm's request to broaden the scope of its payment aggregator licence, allowing the company to support offline and cross-border payment flows in addition to online transactions.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted the authorisation to Paytm Payments Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of One 97 Communications. The approval extends the online payment aggregator licence the company received in November 2025 under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, enabling Paytm to operate across online, in-store, and international payment use cases.

With the expanded licence, Paytm can now provide payment acceptance and settlement services for physical retail transactions as well as cross-border collections and payouts, covering both inbound and outbound international flows. This places the company among a limited number of payment firms in India that hold regulatory clearance across all major payment aggregation categories.

The approval marks the conclusion of a prolonged regulatory review process. Payment aggregators occupy a critical position in India's financial infrastructure, connecting consumers, merchants, banks, and payment networks. As a result, the RBI applies stringent standards related to governance, data security, merchant onboarding, and anti-money laundering controls, particularly for cross-border transactions that involve foreign exchange and overseas counterparties.

Paytm's payment aggregator application had been under scrutiny for several years following wider regulatory attention on its payments and banking-related operations. Market observers viewed the November 2025 approval for online aggregation as an initial indication that regulators were satisfied with changes to the company's compliance framework. The latest clearance for offline and cross-border payments completes that process, signalling regulatory comfort with Paytm's controls in areas considered to carry higher operational and compliance risk.

The expanded licence also alters Paytm's merchant offering. Offline aggregation is significant in India, where a substantial share of transactions still occur in physical stores and small businesses. The authorisation allows Paytm to more fully integrate QR-based payments, card acceptance, and settlements for in-store merchants. Cross-border approval extends these services to exporters, international service providers, tourism-related businesses, and global e-commerce merchants.

Separately, Paytm has introduced product and technology initiatives aimed at addressing trust, privacy, and operational resilience. The company recently added a "Hide Payments" feature within its app, allowing users to conceal selected UPI transactions from their main history, accessible only through PIN or biometric verification. It has also partnered with AI firm Groq to deploy real-time artificial intelligence in backend systems such as fraud detection and transaction monitoring, capabilities that are particularly relevant for scaling international payments.

The regulatory clearance removes a key constraint on Paytm's payments business and strengthens its standing relative to peers. While the approval does not ensure growth, it restores the company's ability to compete across online, offline, and cross-border payments, shifting attention to how effectively it can translate regulatory access into merchant adoption and transaction volumes.