Several startups got payment aggregator nod in recent mths

At a time when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is bringing the regulatory hammer down on fintechs in the country, several startups have received regulatory approvals to operate as payment aggregators.

This month, two fintech startups Decentro and Juspay, and enterprise software-as-a-service (Saas) firm, Zoho, have received final authorisation from the RBI for payment aggregator (PA) licences.

Food delivery major Zomato, and fintech firms Stripe and Tata Pay were among the companies to have bagged the licence in January. They joined the likes of Razorpay, Cashfree Payments, and Enkash, among others, who got approval last year.

“These licenses were in the works and due soon. It has no bearing on the Paytm issue. The companies that have received approvals were not non-compliant to regulations,” said a prominent fintech investor.

According to industry insiders, several such applications are currently being processed by the RBI and more startups are expected to get approvals soon.

“This is a crucial step for us to enter the next growth phase, where we look forward to building industry-tailored, open banking payment solutions for regulated entities, fintechs, MSMES, and enterprises,” said Pratik Daudkhane, co-founder, Decentro. With this move, the Y Combinator-backed company said it is exploring newer avenues for local and international expansion.

Decentro allows neo-banks, marketplaces, and fintech companies to integrate and offer banking solutions though APIS, while Juspay operates as a full-stack payment gateway that offers card, wallet and Upi-based transactions.