Fintech unicorn BharatPe recently announced that it has received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Payment Aggregator. 

The RBI’s authorization was granted to the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Resilient Innovations Private Ltd. This PA nod comes against the background where the Gurugram-based beleaguered startup has seen four top level exits including that of former chief executive Suhail Sameer.  

Payment Aggregator Framework
Payment aggregators are entities that facilitate e-commerce sites and merchants to accept payment via various instruments from customers. The merchants do not need to create a separate payment integration system of their own.

Reserve Bank of India had issued a payment aggregator framework, mandating payment gateways to get a license for acquiring merchants and offer digital payments solutions. This in-principle approval will help BharatPe to expand its reach and provide digital payment acceptance solutions to millions of merchants across 400+ cities.

Fintech Firms Approval
Several fintech firms like Razorpay, Pine Labs, Open, Cashfree, and 1Pay have already received RBI approval for a Payment Aggregator license. More than 185 fintech enterprises and startups had submitted their proposals for the licence.

Over 185 fintech enterprises and startups submitted proposals for a payment aggregator licence. Razorpay, Pine Labs, Open, Cashfree and 1Pay among others have received RBI approval.

According to BharatPe, which was founded in 2018, the final authorization will be subject to fulfilment of certain conditions, and work will start to meet those obligations within the given timelines. 

Key takeaways

• Payment aggregators facilitate e-commerce sites and merchants to accept payment via various instruments from customers. The merchants do not need to create a separate payment integration system of their own.
• BharatPe has seen four top level exits including that of former chief executive Suhail Sameer.