NEW DELHI: Credit Card bill payment leader CRED has received the in-principle approval to enter into the payment aggregator business, a media report said on Friday.

As per a report, citing sources, the startup received the initial approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the payment aggregator license this week.

This development marks a step forward for the fintech company towards the expansion of its business offerings. When reached, the company did not immediately comment.

As per the report, the in-principle licence approval to CRED comes after RBI’s recent crackdown on fintech activities and increased caution in giving licences to enterprises.

Earlier this year, online food delivery platform Zomato’s wholly-owned subsidiary Zomato Payments Private Limited (ZPPL) was granted a certificate of authorisation from RBI to operate as an ‘Online Payment Aggregator’. In February, CRED reached an agreement to acquire the online wealth management platform Kuvera in an effort to take on the likes of Zerodha and Groww.

The reports to acquire Kuvera initially surfaced last year in October. According to the company, post-acquisition, Kuvera founders, team and product will continue to operate independently while working closely with CRED leadership to scale its network, ecosystem, brand and distribution.