Fintech startup Paysharp gets RBI’s in-principle approval for payment aggregator licence

Fintech startup Paysharp has received an in-principle authorisation from the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) to act as a payment aggregator (PA), the startup said in a media statement on December 26.

“This will enable us to improve the capabilities of our current products and develop fresh approaches to automate the financial operations of the nation's millions of SMEs and small businesses”, said Krishna Kumar Mani, cofounder and CEO of Paysharp.

Paysharp, founded in 2019 by Krishna Kumar Mani and Sathish S, offers enterprise-grade virtual account and UPI solutions for businesses to integrate with their solution or mobile app.

The Chennai-based B2B fintech platform provides a complete collection solution with branded UPI handle and customisation with all the UPI payment options such as mobile intent, collection request and dynamic QR code.

“Apart from payment gateway services, it is also providing solutions to billers to onboard as BBPS (Bharat bill payment system). Paysharp has made its way by offering the low-pricing of payment transfer which works the best for the B2B retail model,” Mani said

On December 21, digital payment processing firm Worldline ePayments India also received in-principle authorisation from the RBI to act as a PA.

In the last three months, several fintech players, including Open, Infibeam, and Cashfree, got the nod for the PA licence.

A payment aggregator provides payment services to merchants and e-commerce sites by accepting payment instruments from customers. They pool the funds received from customers and transfer them to merchants after a certain time.

Their services include facilitating integrated payment options such as transactions of cash and cheque and online and offline touchpoints, besides allowing bank transfers for merchants without the need to set up accounts directly with a bank.

In a new set of guidelines in March 2020, the RBI said all PAs have to be authorised by it.

The RBI instructed non-bank companies offering PA services to apply for authorisation by June 30, 2021. The deadline was later extended to September 30, 2021. Over 185 fintech firms and start-ups had submitted applications for a PA licence. The few firms authorised to operate come under the direct purview of the central bank.