PhonePe gets final RBI approval to operate as an online payment aggregator

New Delhi: Fintech major PhonePe has received the final authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator, enabling the company to significantly expand its payment services across India, particularly focusing on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Expansion of merchant services

The approval allows PhonePe to onboard and service a vast range of online merchants, offering them a secure payment gateway, faster onboarding processes, and seamless integration tools. This move is aimed at increasing payment success rates and helping businesses scale their digital presence efficiently.

Yuvraj Singh Shekhawat, Chief Business Officer of PhonePe’s Merchant Business, stated, “With this authorisation, PhonePe is well-positioned to accelerate financial inclusion by providing accessible payment solutions to businesses that were previously underserved, especially in the SME segment.”

PhonePe's scale and impact

As of August 2025, PhonePe boasts over 650 million registered users and a merchant acceptance network exceeding 45 million outlets. The platform processes over 360 million transactions daily, with an annualised total payment value surpassing ₹150 lakh crore (approximately $193 billion).

Beyond payment services, PhonePe has diversified into financial products, including insurance, lending, and wealth management, as well as consumer apps like Pincode and the Indus Appstore.

Regulatory context and industry position

PhonePe’s payment aggregator license comes as part of the RBI’s phased regulatory framework to strengthen oversight of digital payment intermediaries, ensure consumer protection, and safeguard data security. PhonePe joins over 50 firms licensed by the RBI to operate as online payment aggregators in India.

This strategic win reinforces PhonePe’s market leadership in India’s rapidly growing digital payments ecosystem, projected to grow robustly in the coming years.

Future outlook

With this authorisation, PhonePe aims to deepen its penetration into India’s vast SME sector, digitising payment collections and settlements and fostering financial inclusion at scale. The company’s developer-friendly APIs and smooth checkout experiences are expected to drive adoption across non-metro and emerging markets.

PhonePe’s RBI nod represents a pivotal milestone, enabling it to shape the future of digital commerce and payments across India’s diverse economic landscape.