Digital payment startups Razorpay and Cashfree have reportedly received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as payment aggregators. According to a report in Economic Times (ET), the approval comes after nearly a year-long embargo, paving the way for them to add new merchants and accelerate growth. The RBI nod brings these payment companies within the regulatory fold of the central bank for the first time.
Spokespeople at Cashfree and Razorpay confirmed to ET the development and said that they are open to onboarding fresh merchants.In a statement, Open Financial cofounder Anish Achuthan said that the licence will enable them to offer all forms of financial tools to small and medium enterprises.
Google gets approval for Google Pay
Others that have reportedly received the approval include Google for Google Pay, Mumbai-based expense management platform Enkash, payment gateway company Payments and Bengaluru-based neo banking startup Open Financial.
RBI had earlier barred these fintech startups along with Paytm and PayU from onboarding new merchants almost a year back at a time when they were facing stiff competition from Billdesk, Juspay, and CCAvenue, among others.
No RBI green signal for Paytm and PayU
Paytm and PayU still continue to be under embargo. These payment startups impacted by the embargo are said to be building alternate business models to ensure that their revenues remain unaffected.
However, the RBI was conducting multi-level checks to ensure that it selects the right companies for final approval to operate as a payment aggregator. According to industry insiders some six to seven applicants would have received the final nod from the RBI, though exact number is not known.