Eroute Technologies gets RBI’s nod to issue prepaid payments solutions

Noida-based fintech company Eroute Technologies on Monday announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has authorised it to commence issuance and operations of semi-closed pre-paid payments instruments (PPI) in the country. 

With this, Eroute will be able to launch its payment solutions at scale independently unlike neo banks and other bank-led fintechs, per a statement.  

The company says its target customer base is the underserved segments which comprise some 680 million people. Eroute is also looking to expand into co-branded payment solutions with consumer companies. 

“Amidst the outbreak of COVID pandemic, digital payments have become crucial for the people and the Government to fight covid spread between human to human. In such unprecedented times, we are delighted and express our gratitude to the Reserve Bank of India for granting us a greenfield license as we focus on enriching payment experiences across sections of our society by offering safe, secure and reliable payment solutions to match the lifestyle of our users,” Sanjeev Pandey, MD and CEO of Eroute Technologies said in the statement. 

As per a report by RedSeer Consulting, mobile payment users are expected to grow 5-fold from 160 million now to 800 million by 2025.   

RBI, via a notification dated April 7, said that it will allow non-bank payment system operators of PPIs to become a direct member of RBI-operated centralised payment systems of RTGS/ NEFT. Also, full-KYC PPIs like wallets and pre-paid cards have been made interoperable, outstanding balance increased to Rs. 2 lakhs and cash withdrawals permitted through ATMs & POS will make non-bank issued PPIs almost at par with bank accounts which will boost digital financial inclusion, expansion to cater to the needs of the customers, including MSMEs, small traders and merchants. 

Eroute was founded by Pandey, ex-group president of Yes Bank, Abhishek Saxena, an alumnus of IIT BHU and Jason Ho, chairman of Taiwan-based Taisys Group.  

“The company has partnered with over 30 brands to benefit users with exclusive offers and co-promotions. Also, our recent innovative offline UPI payments brought millions of interest over a LinkedIn post which is a testament of our focused approach to solving the problems of digital payment ecosystems,” Abhishek Saxena, director and COO said. 

Eroute Technologies has prominent mentors and an advisory team from the industry comprising of ex-SBI chairman A. K. Purwar as a founding chairman, ex-RBI Deputy Governor H. R. Khan, ex Secretary-GOI Vijay Chhibber and former NPCI product management head Shri Ram Rastogi.