Razorpay, Cashfree, Open and others get final Payment Aggregator license

Fintech firms Razorpay, Cashfree and some others have received the final license for payment aggregator from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the first two companies said in separate statements.

Importantly, the two companies are also allowed to onboard new merchants. The apex banking body granted initial approval to a few fintech firms including Razorpay, Cashfree, Pine Labs, Stripe, and others, during August -September 2022.

The approval to on-board new merchants comes as a huge relief to Razorpay and Cashfree as they were not getting new business since last year.

Both Razorpay and Cashfree have welcomed the RBI's decision in their statements.

“Razorpay has now received the final authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Payment Aggregator (PA) under the Payment Settlements Act, 2007,” said the company in the statement.

Cashfree’s in-principle PA license was exclusively reported by Entrackr in September.

“Securing the Payment Aggregator (PA) license from the RBI is a pivotal moment for Cashfree Payments, affirming our focus on compliance and highlighting the significance of a well-regulated payments landscape," said the State Bank of India-backed firm in a statement.

Besides Razorpay and Cashfree, neobank Open and fintech firm EnKash have also received final approval from RBI to operate as a Payment Aggregator.

"... This approval not only acknowledges our dedication to regulatory standards but also signifies a significant leap in fortifying our commitment to SMEs," said Anish Achuthan, Open co-founder & CEO.

Most recently, SoftBank-backed fintech startup Juspay received in-principle approval for a payment aggregator license.

Update: The headline and story have been updated to include Open's statement.