RBI makes mobile wallet interoperability mandatory from FY23

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants all licensed prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) — or mobile wallets such as Paytm, PhonePe and Mobikwik — to be interoperable from fiscal 2023, according to a circular issued on Wednesday.

This means that starting April 2022, a fully vetted mobile wallet user—one who has fulfilled all know-your-customer (KYC) norms—will be able to send and receive money from different mobile wallets. For card-based PPIs, this will be achieved via card network interoperability and for e-wallets through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the central bank said.

PPIs for Mass Transit Systems (PPI-MTS) shall remain exempted from interoperability while Gift PPI issuers have the option to offer interoperability, the central bank said in its circular.