RBI approves Razorpay, Cashfree, and Open as payment aggregators

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday granted formal authorization to payment processing giants Razorpay and Cashfree to operate as Payment Aggregators (PAs). This approval follows a one-year hiatus imposed by the RBI, during which companies like Razorpay, Cashfree, and Stripe were prohibited from onboarding new merchants until receiving the final nod for a PA license.

Cashfree took to LinkedIn to express its excitement, announcing, "We have received the final authorization to operate as a payment aggregator by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). We are thrilled to announce that we are now onboarding businesses on Cashfree Payment Gateway."

Razorpay in a statement said, "We are now open to onboarding new businesses on our Payment Gateway platform. Razorpay has now received the final authorization from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Payment Aggregator (PA) under the Payment Settlements Act, 2007." The company declared itself as one of the first payment gateways to secure the final PA license from the RBI.

Neobanking Enkash and Paymentz have likewise obtained the nod, while industry giants like PayTm, PayU, and JusPay are still awaiting the RBI's final approval, according to sources.

The journey to formal approval began in July 2022 when Pine Labs, Razorpay, and American payments player Stripe secured in-principle approval for the PA license. However, the final approval process faced delays, with the RBI stipulating an additional six-month audit period for these companies to obtain the definitive nod, aligning with the regulatory procedures governing all licenses.

In a statement, the RBI highlighted that the in-principle approval was granted with the condition that companies conduct an audit within the next six months to secure the final nod, underscoring the central bank's commitment to rigorous oversight.

ALSO READ: 200 ‘green buses’ likely to be launched in Guwahati next month