New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted final approval to BharatPe to operate as a Payment Aggregator through its subsidiary Resilient Payments Pvt Ltd, marking a significant regulatory milestone for the fintech company. The authorization allows BharatPe to formally launch its digital payments platform, BharatPe X, aimed at strengthening its presence in India’s fast-evolving online and offline payments ecosystem.
With the license in place, BharatPe intends to onboard more than 100 large online merchants across sectors such as e-commerce, financial services, ride-hailing, and education, while also drawing on its network of 1.3 crore offline merchants. The firm plans to build a proprietary payments stack through Unity Small Finance Bank, where it holds a 49 percent stake, to reduce reliance on external banking partners. This approach sets BharatPe apart in the market as it combines a payment aggregator license, a non-banking finance company, and a significant stake in a bank.
The company is also navigating regulatory requirements linked to its Unity SFB stake. BharatPe has initiated discussions to divest between 10 and 25 percent, in line with the Reserve Bank’s directive to reduce its holding to 10 percent by 2029. Rothschild & Co has been appointed to oversee the stake sale.
Backed by over $580 million in funding, BharatPe has processed UPI transactions worth Rs 1.7 lakh crore, underscoring its scale in the sector. The license approval signals a critical step in BharatPe’s efforts to expand its role in India’s digital payments landscape.
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