EnKash gets RBI's in-principle nod to operate as online payment aggregator

On Tuesday, Hitachi Payment Services and BharatPe also received in-principle authorisation to operate as payment aggregators

Spending management platform EnKash on Wednesday received an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator.

The payment aggregators facilitate e-commerce sites and merchants to accept payment instruments from customers. They help merchants to connect with acquirers.

"We are excited to get in-principle approval from RBI for our payment aggregator license. This will help EnKash offer innovative products & solutions not only to our existing business ecosystem but also to bring about path-breaking and leading technology solutions to the market covering the entire payments flow," said Yadvendra Tyagi, co-founder at EnKash. 

The approval, Tyagi said "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 they're all payable & receivable and make necessary actions around payments," he added. 

The company will bring various products for forex collection, cross-border payments, and SaaS collections, "specifically to the need-based advanced payments/ collections requirements for different businesses".

On Tuesday, Hitachi Payment Services and BharatPe also received an in-principle authorisation to operate as payment aggregators.

Fintech firms such as Razorpay, PineLabs, Stripe, 1Pay, Innoviti Payments, MSwipe, and Infibeam Avenues have already received in-principle approvals from the central bank to operate as payment aggregators. More companies are expected to get the central bank's nod for payment aggregator licences.

In 2020, the RBI issued guidelines that said only firms it approved can acquire and offer payment services to the merchants. While banks do not need separate approvals, non-bank entities offering payment aggregator services had to apply for authorisation from the RBI by June 2021, which was later extended.