Infibeam Avenues Ltd’s flagship brand ­­-- CCAvenue, has become India’s FIRST payment gateway player to process Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or Digital Rupee transactions for online retail merchants, among payment gateway players.

It is an industry first where CCAvenue, has facilitated CBDC online transactions for one of India’s leading private sector banks, by processing their CBDC transaction, with an aim to strengthen India’s digital payments ecosystem further. 

The aim of the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in launching the Digital Rupee is to reduce the INR 32 lakh crore of cash in circulation and to save costs associated with cash like currency printing, solve fake currency problem, avoid wear and tear, etc.

"We are working with many banks to offer them our world-class payment infrastructure & technology for providing a safe and secure payment environment along with a rich merchant experience. And we are now going to process CBDC transactions for online retail payments. We are ready to share our technology with more banking partners to roll-out CBDC aggressively. We have the necessary processes and compliance in place to quickly onboard and instantly activate new merchants,” said Mr. Vishal Mehta, Managing Director, Infibeam Avenues Limited.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified eight banks for phase-wised participation in the retail pilot project for CBDC. The first phase includes four banks, namely the State Bank of India, the ICICI Bank, the Yes Bank and the IDFC First Bank.

Executive Director of Infibeam Avenues Limited, Mr. Vishwas Patel, said, “CCAvenue has always strived to bring innovative payment solutions that cater to the changing needs of businesses in India be it first online Cards transactions in the country, first online Rupay debit card transaction, first Pin-on-glass solution on mobile for India, etc. RBI’s proactive efforts and exceptional regulatory framework have transformed the payment industry in the country and made India a global leader in payment innovation. CBDC, is a robust, efficient, trusted and legal tender-based real-time payment option. This will be our first step in harnessing RBI’s most flexible and convenient payment method to generate exponential revenue opportunities for merchants.”

Infibeam Avenues Limited recently received the Payment Aggregator license from RBI, followed by a perpetual license to operate as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) from RBI.

The company also launched the CCAvenue Mobile App - the world's most advanced omni-channel payment platform with the revolutionary TapPay solution. CCAvenue TapPay, India’s first pin-on-glass solution, provides a valuable shot in the arm to the company’s national efforts to increase acceptance of digital payments and reduce the economy's dependency on physical cash, giving further boost to the Honourable Prime Minister’s ‘Digital India’ vision.