PB Fintech set to expand into payments with RBI’s in-principle approval

PB Fintech, the parent company of PolicyBazaar, has received the green light from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to move forward with its digital payments business.

The central bank has granted an “in-principle” approval to PB Fintech’s new subsidiary, PB Pay Pvt Ltd, to work as a payment aggregator, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

PB Pay was set up last year as a wholly owned subsidiary of PB Fintech to apply for a license to act as a digital payment platform. If it secures the final approval, PB Pay will be allowed to offer payment processing services similar to what Razorpay, Cashfree, and other payment aggregators do.

“We are pleased to inform that RBI has granted an in-principle authorisation to PB Pay to operate as an online payment aggregator,” the company said in its filing.

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An “in-principle” approval means that while the RBI has agreed to the company’s plans, PB Pay must still meet certain conditions before starting full operations.

Payment aggregators act as intermediaries between customers and merchants, helping process online transactions without merchants having to set up their own payment infrastructure.

Last week, BharatPe Group company Resilient Payments announced receiving a similar license.

The RBI approval positions BharatPe as the only fintech firm in India to hold an NBFC licence via Trillion Loans, a stake in Unity Small Finance Bank, and a payment aggregator licence, BharatPe said in a statement.

The company plans to launch an online payment aggregator platform under the brand 'BharatPe X', targeting deeper penetration in smaller cities and high-growth sectors.