This is The End of The Road For Vodafone m-Pesa as a Payments App

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posted on 4 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Vodafone m-pesa was one of the 11 companies given the license to run a payments bank by the RBI, back in 2015.

The Reserve Bank of India has officially cancelled the Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) of Vodafone m-pesa, after the company voluntary surrendered the Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) as a Payment System Operator (PSO). This means that Vodafone m-Pesa cannot handle any transactions or do business of issuance and operation of Prepaid payment Instruments.

"The Reserve Bank of India, in exercise of the powers conferred on it under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, has cancelled the Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) of the below mentioned Payment System Operator (PSO) on account of voluntary surrender of authorisation. Following the cancellation of the CoA, the company cannot transact the business of issuance and operation of Prepaid Payment Instruments. However, customers or merchants having a valid claim on the company as a PSO, can approach the company for settlement of their claims within three years from the date of cancellation i.e. by 30.09.2022.," says the official statement by the RBI.

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The central bank's clarification means that customers or merchants who have a valid outstanding claim with Vodafone n-Pesa as a prepaid payments instrument can now approach the company till September 30, 2022, for the settlement of their claims within three years from the date of cancellation. Vodafone Idea had decided to close m-Pesa payments system last year, after the Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd (ABIPBL) shut down in July. Vodafone m-Pesa was expected to be merged with ABIPBL. Vodafone m-pesa was one of the 11 companies given the license to run a payments bank by the RBI, back in 2015. At present, Paytm Payments Bank and Airtel Payments Bank are two of the most popular payments banks in India

It should perhaps be noted that Vodafone had not pushed the m-Pesa platform across its own apps and websites over the past few months either, including for allowing Vodafone prepaid and postpaid subscribers to recharge their mobile connections or pay bills.