French Digital Payments Major Worldline’s India Arm Gets Payment Aggregator Licence

French digital payments major Worldline’s India arm, Worldline ePayments India Pvt Ltd, has received the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) authorisation to operate as an online payment aggregator (PA).

As per the central bank’s data, Worldline ePayments India received the authorisation to operate as an online PA on Tuesday (April 30).

“The authorisation from RBI is a testimony of our commitment to the Indian market and affirming our focus on compliance and highlighting the significance of a well-regulated payments landscape,” Worldline India’s CEO Ramesh Narasimhan told Reuters.

With this, the company will now be able to acquire merchants and deliver digital payment acceptance solutions in the country. First introduced in 2020, the PA framework regulates all digital payment solution providers and mandates a slew of requirements to acquire the licence.

Last year, Worldline struck a partnership with the international arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), to launch UPI and RuPay payments in Europe.

In India, Worldline offers a slew of services, including PoS terminals, biller network solutions via Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), and online payment solutions. It forayed into the country in 2017 with the acquisition of Chennai-based payment platform MRL PosNet for $104.5 Mn.

The latest development comes at a time when the central bank has tightened its scrutiny around the digital payments space. It has directed all such platforms to reportedly monitor all transaction-related activities of merchants and ensure they comply with local money laundering laws. 

Meanwhile, the RBI has been handing out PA licences in droves over the last few months. Most recently, it gave its in-principle approval to fintech unicorn Groww’s bill payments platform Groww Pay Services to operate as a PA.

Recently, it also granted in-principle approval to Kunal Shah-led CRED, PayU, Khatabook, among others to operate as a payment aggregator. With the latest development, Worldline has become the latest foreign company, after ecommerce giant Amazon’s fintech arm Amazon Pay, to snag up the much sought after licence.

At the heart of all this is the growing digital payment user base in India, which as per Inc42, is expected to reach 1.08 Bn by 2027. As per a report, the homegrown payment gateway market is projected to soar to a size of $2.66 Bn by 2029.