Fintech startup Groww, now labeled a unicorn, has been granted authorization by the Reserve Bank of India to function as a payment aggregator, aligning with a cohort of fintech companies recently greenlit by the central bank.
The RBI’s approval extends to Groww Pay, the UPI payments platform affiliated with the brokerage firm Groww, backed by Tiger Global and Peak XV Partners. This license empowers the company to facilitate e-commerce transactions through its UPI application.
Introduced in July of the previous year, Groww’s UPI application offers a range of bill payment services, including loan and credit card repayments, as well as utility bill payments and DTH recharges.
In October of the same year, Groww surpassed its primary competitor, Zerodha, in terms of active users for the first time. By the end of 2023, Groww boasted 7.5 million monthly active users, outpacing Zerodha’s 6.7 million and AngelOne’s 5.3 million MAUs, respectively.
In terms of valuation, Zerodha led the pack with $3.6 billion, followed by Upstox and Groww with $3.4 billion and $3 billion, respectively.
Recently, Groww’s Mutual Fund also secured approval from SEBI to launch the Nifty Non-Cyclical Consumer Index Fund through a new fund offering (NFO).
According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Groww experienced a staggering 260% increase in operating revenue to Rs 1,277 crore in FY23, with a profit of Rs 448.7 crore compared to a loss of Rs 239 crore in FY22.
In line with several other fintech entities, Groww is contemplating relocating its headquarters to India, as reported exclusively by Entrackr in May of the previous year. Other firms considering this move include KreditBee, Pine Labs, Razorpay, Meesho, and Zepto.
In addition to Groww, the bookkeeping app and lending platform Khatabook also secured a payment aggregator license from the RBI. In March of the previous year, the RBI granted in-principle approval to 32 entities, including Khatabook, to operate as online payment aggregators.
Most recently, PayU received in-principle approval from the RBI to operate as a payment aggregator. Besides PayU and Groww, fintech firms Razorpay, Cashfree, Open, EnKash, Juspay, and Infibeam have also obtained payment aggregator licenses from the apex banking body.