India: MobiKwik Gets RBI Lending Licence, Targets ₹5,000 Crore in Loans Over 3–4 Years
Indian payments app MobiKwik has received a non-bank lending licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank. The approval means the company, best known for its digital wallet, can now lend money from its own books instead of only arranging loans for partner banks and finance companies. MobiKwik says it aims to disburse ₹5,000 crore (₹50 billion) through the new unit over the next three to four years.
Key facts
- The RBI has granted a Certificate of Registration to MobiKwik Financial Services Private Limited (MFSPL), a wholly owned subsidiary, to operate as a non-banking financial company (NBFC).
- The registration came about six months after the RBI gave in-principle approval in April 2026. Lending is expected to start within three to six months.
- MobiKwik targets ₹5,000 crore in loan disbursals through the NBFC over three to four years, starting with a co-lending model alongside banks and other NBFCs.
- In the July–September 2026 quarter, MobiKwik arranged about ₹1,083 crore of loans through 11 lending partners, up 34% from a year earlier.
- The company posted a net profit of ₹11.8 crore for the quarter, against a loss of ₹28.6 crore a year earlier.
From wallet to lender
An NBFC is a licensed finance company that can lend but cannot take ordinary deposits like a bank. In India, one crore equals 10 million rupees. Until now, MobiKwik has worked as a lending service provider: it finds borrowers through its app, checks them and services the loans, while partner lenders put up the money and keep the loans on their balance sheets. MobiKwik earns fees and a share of the interest.
That business will continue. As a condition of the licence, MobiKwik moved its loan-arranging operations into a separate subsidiary, leaving MFSPL as the regulated lender. The NBFC will begin with an “asset-light” approach. Under co-lending, MobiKwik would fund a small part of each loan and a partner bank or finance company the rest. On its earnings call, the company gave an example: if it arranged ₹6,000 crore of digital loans in a year, about 10%, or ₹600 crore, could flow through the NBFC. That would need roughly ₹60 crore of its own capital.
The NBFC plans to offer both secured and unsecured credit to consumers and to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Co-founder and chief financial officer Upasana Taku said the company would focus on responsible lending and careful underwriting, building on its existing partner relationships and technology.
Why it matters
Payments alone rarely make money in India. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the national real-time payment system, charges consumers and most merchants nothing, so wallets and payment apps earn little from each transfer. Credit is where the margins are, and MobiKwik’s numbers show it: revenue from financial services rose about 42% year on year to ₹86.9 crore in the quarter, far faster than overall operating revenue, which grew about 9% to ₹295.7 crore.
Holding its own lending licence gives MobiKwik more control over loan products, pricing and how quickly it can launch new offers. It also means the company will carry some credit risk directly and face closer RBI oversight as a lender. Most of the loans it arranges today already come with a first-loss default guarantee, a promise to cover part of any losses for its partners, which the RBI caps at 5% of the loan book.
The move follows a wider pattern across Asia, where payment platforms with large user bases are seeking their own lending or banking licences rather than relying only on partners. For investors and regulators, the key question is whether app-based lenders can grow fast while keeping bad loans under control.
What to watch
- When MFSPL makes its first loans, and which banks and NBFCs sign up as co-lending partners.
- How much of MobiKwik’s lending moves onto its own books, and how its bad-loan levels compare with those of its partners.
- Whether other Indian payment apps follow with NBFC licences of their own as competition in digital credit heats up.
Related on FinDeskAsia: Explainer: how e-wallets compete for users in Malaysia
Sources: Inc42 (November 2026); BW Businessworld (November 2026); Indian Startup News (November 2026)
