Flipkart has become the first Indian e-commerce platform to receive a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a significant step that marks the company’s formal entry into India’s financial services sector.
The licence was granted on 13 March 2025 to a new entity named Flipkart Finance Private Limited, enabling the Walmart-backed company to independently conduct lending operations across its platform.
Previously, Flipkart relied on third-party financial partners such as Axis Bank, IDFC Bank and Credit Saison to offer credit and financing options to customers. With this licence, Flipkart can now directly provide credit products, including consumer loans and credit offerings for its marketplace vendors, through both its core e-commerce platform and its fintech arm, super.money.
The company is not authorised to accept deposits under the NBFC framework but can originate and service loans from its own books, a move that is expected to significantly improve its profit margins and control over the lending process.
This development comes as Flipkart continues to strengthen its financial ecosystem in India. Walmart, which owns more than 80 per cent of Flipkart, led a funding round last year that valued the company at $37 billion. Flipkart is also in the process of shifting its holding structure from Singapore to India in preparation for an eventual public listing. The RBI’s approval for the NBFC licence is expected to catalyse the launch of new lending products in the coming months, once Flipkart completes internal approvals, appoints key executives, and finalises its business plan under the new entity.
The move also intensifies competition in the digital lending space, especially as Amazon is awaiting regulatory clearance for its acquisition of Bengaluru-based FinTech firm Axio. With the licence in hand, Flipkart is now better positioned to build a more robust credit ecosystem tailored to its vast user base and growing fintech ambitions.
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