RBI Grants First In-Principle Payment Aggregator Licences to Several Companies Including Razorpay and Stripe

The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has granted its first in-principle approvals to several companies seeking payment aggregator licences.

Payment aggregators, which collect and pool payments from customers for transfer to merchants, were brought under the RBI's regulatory remit through guidelines issued in March 2020.

The guidelines allowed non-bank entities offering payment aggregator services until 30 June 2021 to apply for authorisation, though the deadline was later extended to 30 September 2021.

More than 185 fintech firms and startups submitted their applications for a payment aggregator licence.

According to reports, Razorpay, Pine Labs, Stripe, and 1Pay Mobileware are among those that have received the in-principle approval.

The RBI is expected to inform more applicants on their approvals in the coming weeks. Other applicants include PhonePe, BharatPe, Cred, Tata Group, Amazon, Reliance Industries, and Zomato.

Under the RBI's guidelines, payment aggregators needed to have a net worth of INR 150 million by March 2021, and a net worth of INR 250 million by March 2023.

Earlier this year, the RBI rejected an application from ZaakPay, which runs MobiKwik, allegedly due to its crypto partnerships and a failure to meet the minimum net-worth criteria.

Source: Regulation Asia