PayMate Gets In-Principle Approval From RBI For Payment Aggregator Licence

B2B payments solutions provider PayMate has received ‘in-principle’ authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a payment aggregator.

The move will enable PayMate to facilitate payments for merchants and businesses. In a statement, PayMate said that the approval will enable customers and users on the platform with the security of tokenized card transactions.

“We are elated to receive in-principle authorization from RBI to operate as a payment aggregator in India. With digital payments fast becoming ubiquitous, these measures buoy customer confidence and trust and help us adopt appropriate frameworks for managing risk,” PayMate Chairman and MD Ajay Adiseshann said.

He added that the authorisation will allow the fintech player to continue ‘innovating’ its digital platform solutions and capabilities.

Founded in 2006 by Adiseshann, the B2B payments solutions provider digitises, automates and streamlines payments in supply chains. It operates a full-stack digital platform that allows enterprises to seamlessly automate and digitise their entire supply chains. It competes with startups such as AirPay, RazorPay, EnKash, among others. 

According to Crunchbase, the startup has so far raised $40.5 Mn across multiple funding rounds. It last raised an undisclosed amount in Series D round from Recruit Strategic Partners and Visa.

The startup claims to have catered to 1.66 Lakh customers till the end of calendar year 2021. Additionally, its overall commercial credit card-processing total payment volume (TPV) stood at around INR 46,476 Cr during the nine months period ending December 2021. 

The announcement comes close on the heels of PayMate foraying into Singapore and Sri Lanka. The foray into the new markets was part of the startup’s plans to expand into other parts of Central Europe, Middle East Asia, Africa, South Asia and the Asia Pacific region. 

Earlier this year, the startup also filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise INR 1,500 Cr via a public listing. 

Launched in 2020 by the RBI, the payment aggregator framework requires all payment gateway operators to have a licence to acquire merchants and deploy digital payments solutions.

The RBI norms also stipulate minimum requirements for net worth, compliance with KYC guidelines, as well as data storage requirements for each of the applicants.

Meanwhile, the digital payments space continues to see rapid expansion in the country on the back of increasing digital penetration and burgeoning innovation from startups. As per a report, the Indian payment gateways market stood at $1.2 Bn in 2021 and is expected to grow to $2.68 Bn by 2027. 

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