RBI accords PPI authorisation to Eroute Technologies

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted authorization to Eroute Technologies to function as a Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) company.

The RBI issued sanctioned to Eroute Technologies Pvt Ltd with perpetual validity to begin issuance and operations of semi-closed pre-paid instruments in the country, the official sources said.

The Noida-based company stated the RBI's authorization will enable it to launch its payment solutions at large independently unlike neo banks and other bank-led fintech companies.

PPIs are instruments that facilitate the purchase of goods and services, including financial services, remittances, and funds transfers, against the value stored in such instruments. The company aims to serve the underserved sectors that comprise almost 680 million people, by creating user-friendly payment solutions addressing the specific needs of various consumer segments of our society, stated. In addition, it is also assertively pursuing co-branded payment solutions with consumer companies.

Sanjeev Pandey, MD & CEO Eroute Technologies, states, "Amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital payments have become crucial for the people and the government to fight COVID-19 spread between human to human. The company will focus on enriching payment experiences across sections of the society by offering safe, secure, and reliable payment solutions to match the lifestyle of the users.”

Eroute Technologies is a fintech company founded by Sanjeev Pandey, former group president of Yes Bank; Abhishek Saxena, an alumnus of IIT-BHU; and Jason Ho, chairman of Taiwan-based Taisys Group.

Recently, RBI has allowed non-banking payment system operators of PPIs to become a direct member of the RBI's operation of the centralized payment systems of RTGS/ NEFT transactions. Moreover, the full-KYC PPIs like wallets and prepaid cards are made interoperable, the outstanding balance in such instruments stands increased to 2 lakh and cash withdrawals have been permitted through ATMs and points of sale. This will make non-bank-issued PPIs almost at par with bank accounts which will boost digital financial enclosure, expansion to cater to the needs of the customers, including MSMEs, small traders, and merchants.

The company consists of A K Purwar, former chairman SBI as a founding chairman, H R Khan ex-RBI deputy governor, former government secretary Vijay Chhibber, and ex-NPCI Product Management Head Ram Rastogi, forming its advisory team. The company has a full-fledged execution team with a proven track record of implementing various payment systems in the country, with simple, secure, and reliable payment solutions at its desk.