Neobanking startup Jupiter gets RBI nod for mobile wallet licence

Tiger Global and Peak XV Partners-backed neobanking startup Jupiter has secured a prepaid payments instrument licence from the Reserve Bank of India. This will allow the Bengaluru-based startup to offer digital wallets to its users for making UPI payments, transferring funds, besides paying bills.

Confirming the RBI approval, Jupiter founder Jitendra Gupta said the company will be introducing a prepaid account facility in the coming months.

“PPI functionality today is almost equal to a bank account and has all the required facilities for a user to operate the account for UPI payments and gift cards,” said Gupta. “We can now onboard a wider range of users into our ecosystem who can use the wallet for their small value daily transactions.”


Armed with the PPI licence, Jupiter intends to build new use cases on the app, which currently offers digital savings accounts, UPI payments and financial management. The central bank allows PPI accounts with full KYC to undertake activities almost similar to a bank account, including UPI payments.

Customers can operate a risk-free account and use the app for UPI and similar transactions only, Gupta added.

Jupiter has so far raised $165 million across multiple equity funding rounds. According to data platform Tracxn, the startup was valued at $654 million as of June 2023.

Jupiter joins its city-based peer Slice in the PPI ecosystem. Slice, also backed by Tiger Global, got the same licence last September.

For Gupta, this is the second major licence in his kitty. Last year, Amica Financial Technologies, which runs Jupiter, received the non-banking finance company (NBFC) licence from RBI. The lending business will be housed under Amica Finance, a separate entity, Gupta told ET at the time.