EnKash Receives In-Principle Approval From RBI For Payment Aggregator Licence

Fintech startup EnKash has received an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a payment aggregator (PA) licence.

In a statement, the startup said that the licence would enable it to broaden its product offerings to millions of businesses for digital transactions. The approval would also strengthen EnKash’s positioning as a spend management partner for businesses, it added.

“This (approval) will help EnKash offer innovative products and solutions not only to our existing business ecosystem but also to bring about path breaking and leading technological solutions to the market covering the entire payments flow,” Yadvendra Tyagi, founder of EnKash, said.

“RBI’s in-principle approval to EnKash reiterates the need for digital solutions to manage business cash flows in an efficient way to sustain growth and profitability. This will help us streamline the cash flow process for businesses where they will be able to seamlessly consolidate their all payable and receivable and make necessary actions around payments,” Tyagi added.

Founded by Naveen Bindal, Hemant Vishnoi and Tyagi in 2017, EnKash operates a spend management platform that allows enterprises to manage payables, receivables and expenses. It also claims to have issued over 8 Lakh corporate cards till now.

In April 2022, the startup raised $20 Mn as part of its Series B funding round led by Ascent Capital. The funding round also saw participation from Baring India, White Ventures, and existing investors Mayfield India and Axilor Ventures.

Earlier on Tuesday, BharatPe Group also received an in-principle authorisation from the RBI to operate as an online payment aggregator.

Over the past few months, fintech startups like Infibeam Avenues, Razorpay, Mswipe, Open, and Pine Labs have received the green signal from the central bank to operate as online payment aggregators. As per reports, close to 185 fintech firms have applied for the licence.

The RBI introduced the payment aggregator framework in March 2020. Under the norms, all payment gateway operators need to obtain a licence to acquire merchants and deploy digital payments solutions.

Last year, the RBI said that the online payment aggregator guidelines will be extended to offline players as well.

The RBI regulations have come at a time when the digital payments gateway industry has grown manifold in India over the last few years. According to a report, the Indian payment gateways market was pegged at $1.2 Bn in 2021 and is projected to grow to $2.68 Bn by 2027.