Payment Gateway License: An Overview

Payment gateway license is for payment aggregators who seek to establish and operate gateways that lets customers transact electronically.
Issued by the Reserve bank of India, this license is issued to only those who have shown the required financial stability and technological acumen to maintain a payment gateway.
And in this article, you’re going to look at a brief overview of the same.
What is a payment gateway license?
India wants to promote electronic transactions in every region. For that purpose, it has established guidelines about how one should operate the payment gateways. Part of those guidelines are the Payment Gateway License. It’s a certificate of registration issued to the following types of entities:
- Banks
- Non banking Financial Companies, and
- Entrepreneurs
All of the above entities have to follow a specific eligibility criteria if they wish to obtain the permission to establish their own payment gateway.
What is the eligibility criteria for payment gateway license in India?
The eligibility criteria that the applicant has to follow to obtain the license are as follows:
- The applicant should have registration as a company or an LLP.
- If the applicant is a bank or an NBFC, its net worth should be Rs 10 Crore.
- For applicants that are banks or NBFCs, it’s important to have business plan guarantees to increase their net worth to 25 Crore rupees after 3 years of operation.
- Budding entrepreneurs seeking the payment gateway registration must have the net worth of 10 lakh rupees.
- For foreign entities, there is no such requirement. However, there is a limit to the amount of transactions that can be done through them.
- The payment gateway must have PCI DSS certification.
What is the procedure to obtain payment gateway license in India?
The procedure to obtain the license in India involves the following steps:
- Draft a business plan that shows the projection of your business growth.
- Incorporate your business as a company.
- Get PCI DSS certification for the payment gateway.
- Furnish the required documents
- File the application for the license. The form for that purpose is offline.
- Submit the application and the documents to the RBI
- Let RBI assesses your application and your documents.
- If it deems that all the documents you’ve provided are in order, you’ll obtain the license in India. Read More: WPC Certificate
What are the documents needed to procure the license?
Following are the documents one needs to obtain payment gateway license in India.
- Certificate of incorporation
- Memorandum of Association
- Articles of Association
- PCI DSS certificate of the payment gateway.
- Business plan of the company
- Duly filled application form
- Net worth certificate of the company audited by a statutory auditor
- Audited balance sheet and profit and loss statement of the company.
- Source code of the payment gateway.
Conclusion
This License is the foundation of electronic transaction in India. Without it, no payment gateway aggregator would be allowed to operate.
Furthermore, it present an interesting business opportunity for tech-oriented entrepreneurs. If you wish to know more about this license, consult with our experts. Read About: Insurance Broker License
This articles gives you a brief overview of a payment gateway license. Find out about the eligibility criteria, procedure & documents required to get payment gateway license in India.