Infibeam Avenues to invest in So Hum; to seek new umbrella unit licence from RBI

Financial technology solutions provider Infibeam Avenues will invest in a new payment entity which will be similar to the National Payment Council of India (NPCI), the company said in a statement.

The new entity - So Hum Bharat Digital Payment Limited - will seek a New Umbrella Entity licence from the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) to own and operate a retail payment network.

Navin Surya, Chairman Emeritus and Vishwas Patel, chairman, Payment Council Of India and executive director of Infibeam Avenues will join hands to set up So Hum Digital to pursue umbrella unit licence opportunity.


The investment has been approved by the board of directors of Infibeam pending definitive agreements, the statement said.

The role of the new entity will be setting up, managing and operating new payment system especially in the retail space comprising of but not limited to ATMs, White Label PoS; Aadhaar based payments and remittance services along with operating clearing and settlement systems, developing new payment methods and any other business as suitable to further strengthen the retail payments ecosystem in the country, the statement said.

“The rapid progress in digital payments has necessitated the extension of retail payment systems by RBI to tried and tested organizations which are willing to take up this challenge. As pioneers and leaders of the digital payments sector for the past few decades, Infibeam Avenues has decided to join as promoters of So Hum Bharat Digital Payments as a NUE applicant entity," Patel said.

“Our government's vision of a 'Digital India' helped in scaling up digital commerce considerably, and this new RBI initiative will go a long way in fulfilling this vision as it seeks to reduce cash transactions even further with a renewed focus on digital payments," said Surya.