Digital payment processing firm Worldline ePayments India has received in-principle authorisation to act as a payment aggregator (PA) from the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) . Worldline ePayments India is part of the Worldline Group, a financial services company that offers services of the likes of in-store and online commercial acquiring, secure payment processing and other related digital services.

Details on what the payment aggregator licence entails As Worldline India works with merchants from varied segments such as ecommerce, BFSI, retail, utilities, education, travel, and hospitality for digital payments, company representatives believe the receival of the in-principle authorisation from the RBI to be a testimony to their commitment towards building a digital payment ecosystem in India. As per information provided in the company’s press release, the approval enables the enterprise to act as a PA under the provisions of Guidelines on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways dated March 17, 2020. Furthermore, as the RBI has been proactive in introducing regulations and frameworks to improve the digital ecosystem, Worldline officials believe that these initiatives help increase both trust among end-users, and adoption of digital payments.

As per information provided by MoneyControl, in the last months of 2022, a number of fintech players received approval for a payment aggregator licence, including companies such as Open, Infibeam, and Cashfree. Worldine’s approval comes shortly after the RBI rejected the application of Paytm, in November 2022 and requested the company to reapply. When licenced as a payment aggregator, companies are enabled to offer payment services to merchants and ecommerce sites by accepting payment instruments from customers.

PAs pool the funds that are received from customers, and after a certain time period, they transfer them to merchants. Their offering includes services for the facilitation of integrated payment options of the likes of transactions of cash and cheque and online and offline touchpoints. Furthermore, they enable bank transfers for merchants without there being a need to have accounts set up directly with a bank.

RBI’s instructions for the receival of the PA licence In March 2020, the RBI made public a set of guidelines in which it highlighted that all payment aggregators should receive authorisation from them. Non-bank companies that offer PA services were instructed to apply for authorisation by June 30, 2021, with the deadline having later been extended to September 30, 2021. Following a period in which the application is assessed, a decision on whether the licence will be granted is made, with all payment gateways being required to acquire a licence to continue to conduct their operations.

When authorised as payment aggregators, the firms will come under RBI’s direct purview. As of now, more than 185 fintech firms and startups have submitted a PA licence application. .