RBI greenlights MobiKwik’s Zaakpay—Can this regulatory nod revive investor confidence?

How MobiKwik’s Zaakpay Secured RBI Nod to Become a Full-Fledged Online Payment Aggregator

India’s fast-evolving digital payments sector gained a key update on April 30, 2025, when Zaakpay, the B2B payments arm of One MobiKwik Systems Limited, received the final Certificate of Authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to function as a licensed Online Payment Aggregator. This regulatory milestone enables the company to legally operate under India’s Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, reinforcing its ability to provide integrated payment solutions for enterprises across diverse sectors.

Zaakpay, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the publicly traded MobiKwik, has been instrumental in expanding the company’s digital payments infrastructure beyond consumer wallets. The RBI’s green light is not only a validation of its compliance protocols but a strategic opportunity to scale MobiKwik’s B2B operations at a time of accelerating digitisation.

How Does Zaakpay Fit Into MobiKwik’s Fintech Ecosystem?

Zaakpay plays a crucial role in MobiKwik’s overall payments architecture by enabling online businesses to accept and disburse payments seamlessly across over 100 modes—ranging from UPI and net banking to credit/debit cards, EMIs, wallets, and pay-later solutions. Targeting internet-first sectors such as e-commerce, healthcare, bill payments, and transit, Zaakpay offers enterprise-grade features like payment checkout, QR-based transactions, payment links, and instant daily settlements.

In 2024, the company struck a notable partnership with Meta to facilitate conversational commerce via WhatsApp for Business, allowing real-time, in-chat payments for large transit and health clients. It followed this with affordability tools such as credit and debit card EMI integrations at checkout, further cementing its status as a comprehensive payments platform tailored to the evolving needs of digital-first businesses.

Why Is the RBI License Critical for Zaakpay’s Future?

The regulatory approval is more than procedural—it significantly enhances Zaakpay’s credibility, opening doors to new merchant partnerships and institutional tie-ups. In recent years, the RBI has tightened control over digital financial intermediaries to ensure ecosystem safety and transactional accountability. Many players without proper licenses have been barred from onboarding new merchants, creating both a compliance imperative and a market opportunity.

Speaking on the milestone, Bipin Preet Singh, Managing Director and Founder of MobiKwik, reiterated the group’s long-standing focus on secure and compliant digital infrastructure. He stressed that this license will help Zaakpay better serve the needs of India’s vibrant startup ecosystem, offering scalable checkout solutions to accelerate their digital commerce journeys.

As MobiKwik serves more than 172 million users and 4.5 million merchants across its platforms, the addition of a licensed payment aggregator arm will help bridge consumer and merchant sides more seamlessly.

How Does Zaakpay Compare?

With RBI now actively licensing select players, Zaakpay joins a league of RBI-approved payment aggregators like Razorpay, PayU, and Cashfree. However, MobiKwik’s dual capability in consumer payments and B2B aggregation sets it apart, allowing strategic cross-leverage between users and enterprise clients. Its recent innovations in affordability, conversational payments, and liquidity features position it competitively to serve both large clients and small merchants.

The firm’s quick settlement cycles and integration-ready tech stack appeal particularly to SMEs and mid-sized e-commerce platforms, many of whom face delays or constraints with traditional gateway partners. The license also allows Zaakpay to offer enhanced KYC and fraud-detection capabilities—elements that regulators and enterprise clients increasingly value in high-volume digital transactions.

What Does This Mean for India’s Digital Payments Industry?

The RBI’s authorization for Zaakpay signals a continued move toward transparency, accountability, and innovation in India’s fintech landscape. With UPI volumes reaching record highs, and businesses moving online faster than ever, a growing share of transactions now demand integrated, secure, and regulated payment pathways.

For regulators, the licensing regime serves as a filtering mechanism for ensuring systemic stability. For businesses, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, Zaakpay’s compliance-backed offerings can provide secure on-ramps to digital commerce. And for MobiKwik, the approval is a signal to the market that its compliance infrastructure is robust enough to support long-term growth in both the B2C and B2B segments.

How Is the Stock Market Responding?

Despite the strategic importance of this development, One MobiKwik Systems Limited’s share price closed 3.14% lower at ₹252.60 on April 30, 2025, down from ₹260.80 the previous day. The decline followed broader market volatility and does not appear to be directly linked to the announcement, which came after market hours.

Since its listing in December 2024 at ₹440, the stock has faced significant headwinds, dropping nearly 65% from its peak of ₹698.30 on December 26, 2024. The steep correction was amplified in March 2025, when the expiry of anchor investor lock-in periods led to substantial offloading, driving the price to a 52-week low of ₹231.05.

Institutional participation has also weakened over the last two quarters. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) cut their stake from 4.83% in December 2024 to 3.90% in March 2025. Meanwhile, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) reduced their holdings from 8.84% to 4.55%, reflecting a cautious stance amid profitability concerns.

On the financial front, MobiKwik posted a consolidated loss of ₹55.28 crore in Q3 FY25, impacted primarily by a sharp rise in payment gateway costs, which tripled to ₹143.7 crore. However, the company’s revenue rose 18% year-over-year to ₹269.47 crore, supported by a substantial jump in payments GMV from ₹9,600 crore to ₹29,400 crore—an indication of expanding transactional depth even amid cost challenges.

Brokerages remain cautiously optimistic. Several analysts have reiterated a “Buy” rating on medium-term growth expectations tied to Zaakpay, setting target prices between ₹175 and ₹210. They argue that if Zaakpay successfully capitalizes on its first-mover advantage in in-chat and EMI payments, and continues onboarding new merchants aggressively, the long-term valuation could rebound, though near-term volatility is likely.

What’s Next for MobiKwik and Zaakpay?

With regulatory barriers now cleared, Zaakpay is expected to ramp up merchant acquisition, enhance platform capabilities, and deepen integrations with strategic sectors like SaaS, healthcare, and logistics. There’s also likely to be a concerted push to expand in underserved geographies, where demand for reliable payment gateways is growing in line with e-commerce penetration.

The company is also expected to continue investing in its tech stack, with a focus on AI-based fraud monitoring, real-time settlement architecture, and personalized checkout experiences. These developments could further strengthen MobiKwik’s hybrid model of consumer and merchant payments.

For investors, the RBI approval provides a foundation for potential re-rating, but sustained improvement in profitability and cost management will be key to regaining long-term trust. As India’s fintech landscape matures, Zaakpay could prove to be one of MobiKwik’s most strategically valuable assets—especially if it scales with operational efficiency and innovation-led growth.