MobiKwik’s Zaakpay Gets RBI Nod To Operate As Payment Aggregator

SUMMARY

With the certification, Zaakpay will be able to expand its payment aggregation business

The RBI issued the certification under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, authenticating Zaakpay to act as an intermediatory between customers and merchants

Zaakpay received the in-principle authorisation from the RBI to operate as an online PA in October 2023

Fintech major MobiKwik’s subsidiary Zaakpay ePayment Services Pvt Ltd has received the RBI’s nod to operate as an online payment aggregator.

With the certification, Zaakpay will be able to expand its payment aggregation business. “This will allow Zaakpay to pursue business expansion in the digital payments ecosystem,” MobiKwik said in an exchange filing.

Zaakpay was set up by MobiKwik in 2011 to act as a payment processing gateway, facilitating digital transactions for businesses. The company claims that its gateway can get merchants access to 100+ payment modes, including credit cards, debit cards, net banking, UPI, among others.

The RBI issued the certification under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, authenticating Zaakpay to act as an intermediatory between customers and merchants.

It is pertinent to note that non-banking companies need to obtain the RBI’s authorisation to operate as a payment aggregator.

Zaakpay received the in-principle authorisation from the RBI to operate as an online PA in October 2023.

The Significance Of The Authorisation For Zaakpay

The final approval from the RBI for Zaakpay holds significant importance for MobiKwik. In its RHP, the fintech company said that its payments and financial services businesses significantly rely on Zaakpay’s services for processing payments within the MobiKwik ecosystem.

The two-year journey between receiving the in-principle and final approval from the RBI entailed significant scrutiny of Zaakpay by the central bank. In its IPO papers, the company said that the RBI had mandated it to submit a system audit report (SAR), including a cyber security audit within six months.

After the company submitted the report, the RBI posed MobiKwik “certain additional questions” for its online payment business arm, which the company responded to by September 2024.

At the time of filing its IPO, MobiKwik said that Zaakpay may not necessarily receive the final approval from the RBI for the payment aggregator business as the central bank had also rejected its application in 2022. This resulted in a prohibition on Zaakpay from onboarding new merchants and ceasing their payment aggregator services since then.

As a result, the arm’s contribution to MobiKwik’s top line has diminished significantly over the years.

While Zaakpay accounted for 33.94% of MobiKwik’s revenue in FY22, this number declined to a mere 0.95% in FY24.

“Any disruption in the functioning of Zaakpay, even if caused due to factors completely external to us, can adversely affect the operations of our payments and financial services products, including MobiKwik ZIP and ZIP EMI, as well as our brand and reputation,” MobiKwik said in the RHP.

Meanwhile, MobiKwik has been focussing on building other verticals in recent times. The company has forayed into brokerage, insurance and NBFC businesses as well.

The approval comes at a time when the company will soon disclose its financial numbers for Q4 FY25.

Hurt by lower financial services revenue and higher lending-related costs, MobiKwik has reported three consecutive loss making quarters in FY25. In Q3 FY25, it reported a consolidated net loss of INR 55.2 Cr as against a profit of INR 5.3 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

Meanwhile, its revenue went up 18% to INR 269.5 Cr in the December quarter of FY25 from INR 228.9 Cr in the same quarter last year.