CRED Secures RBI Authorisation as Payment Aggregator, Introduces Biometric UPI Payments

CRED has received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a payment aggregator, as per PTI reports. This allows the company to handle and route online payments for merchants within a regulated setup. 

Payment aggregators act as intermediaries between customers, merchants, and banks. They are required to follow RBI rules on capital, data storage, and transaction security. 

New UPI Authentication Method 

Alongside this, CRED has introduced biometric authentication for UPI payments of up to ₹5,000. Users can approve transactions using fingerprint or face recognition instead of entering a PIN. 

The feature has been developed with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and is available on both Android and iOS devices. It covers credit card bill payments, utility payments, merchant payments, and peer-to-peer transfers. 

How It Fits Regulations 

Digital payments in India require at least 2 levels of authentication. For UPI, 1 of these must be dynamic or unique to each transaction. 

Biometric authentication meets this requirement as it is linked to the user’s device and identity. It also reduces cases of failed transactions caused by incorrect PIN entry. 

Wider Industry Trend 

Other platforms such as PhonePe and the BHIM app have also enabled biometric-based approvals. 

Global networks including Visa and Mastercard are testing similar systems using passkeys, replacing 1-time passwords in some cases. 

Read More: ₹5,777 Crore Returned Under ‘Your Money, Your Right’ Campaign; Unclaimed Funds Still Cross ₹73,000 Crore! 

Conclusion 

The approval places CRED among regulated payment aggregators, while the addition of biometric authentication shows ongoing changes in how digital payments are authorised. 

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