Payworld applies to RBI to act as authorised unit for BBPS

Payworld applies to RBI to act as authorised unit for BBPS

Payworld, an electronic processing platform for financial transactions, has applied to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to function as an authorised operating unit for Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).

An RBI approval will allow Payworld to increase its footprint in the bill payment universe.

Payworld is an initiative from Sugal & Damani Group of companies. The Group has turnover exceeding USD 2 billion.

"Having established ourselves firming in the pre-paid instrument space over the past few years, we intend to upgrade to the next level by participating in the electronic bill payment segment.

"Given our experience in this space, we are hopeful of receiving the authorisation as an operating unit of this new innovative system," Payworld COO Praveen Dhabhai said in a statement here.

BBPS functions as a tiered structure for operating bill payment system with a single brand image, providing convenience of 'anytime anywhere' payment to customers.

The present scope of BBPS includes utility bill payments such as electricity, water, gas, telephone and Direct-to-Home (DTH) and will be run and managed by National Payments Corporation of India.

According to industry sources, BBPS is set to transform the C2B (consumer to Business) payment space. In 2013, RBI had estimated that around 3,080 crore bills per annum were generated amounting to Rs 6,20,000 crore in the top 20 cities of the country. This size is expected to rise to Rs 930,000 crore by 2019.

Currently, bill payment done electronically is 0.5 per cent at Rs 3,300 crore and expected to reach Rs 25,000 crore by 2019, constituting 2.7 per cent of the bill payment space by value spurred by consumer adoption of electronic payments and regulatory push through the BBPS.

Source:BankingUpdates.