Open gets RBI nod for payment aggregator licence

Neobanking platform Open is the latest fintech firm to have received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a payment aggregator, the company said in a statement on Monday. It joins the likes of Infibeam, Innoviti, Razorpay, MSwipe, Stripe, Pine Labs and others in receiving the central bank’s nod.

“We are delighted to receive the in-principle approval from RBI for our payment aggregator license which will help us in enhancing our existing product capabilities and innovating new solutions to automate finances for millions of SMEs and small businesses in the country,” said Anish Achuthan, cofounder & chief executive officer, Open.

Earlier this year, Open also received a go-ahead from the RBI for its new cross-border payments product after completing the test phase of the second cohort under RBI’s regulatory sandbox.

In March 2020, the RBI had released the payment aggregator framework which stated that all payment gateways are required to obtain a licence to acquire merchants, and offer them payments services.

Following this, at least 185 fintech firms including big names like Cred, Razorpay, and PhonePe submitted proposals seeking the licence, ET had reported previously.