India’s top fintech companies—PhonePe, Paytm, and Cred—have stopped offering the option to pay rent using credit cards. This step was taken after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued new rules on September 15, 2025.
What Do the New RBI Rules Say?
RBI has introduced stricter rules for Payment Aggregators (PA) and Payment Gateways (PG).
A Payment Aggregator can process payments only for merchants with whom it has a direct contract.
Payments made through a marketplace model are not allowed.
The transaction money can only go to bank accounts of merchants who have completed full KYC and verification.
Because landlords are not registered merchants, rent payments through credit cards on fintech apps will no longer be possible.
Why Was Rent Payment Important for Fintechs?
Users paid rent with credit cards to earn reward points and cashback.
Fintechs earned money by charging convenience fees.
Banks benefited because credit card usage increased.
However, the RBI found this model risky due to weak KYC checks and the possibility of misuse.
RBI’s Earlier Steps
June 2024: HDFC Bank introduced a 1% fee on credit card rent payments through fintechs.
March–April 2024: ICICI Bank and SBI Cards stopped giving reward points on such payments.
March 2024: Fintech apps like PhonePe, Paytm, Mobikwik, Freecharge, and Amazon Pay suspended rent payments, though some later brought it back with stricter KYC.
What Changed Now?
The new RBI guideline states:
“A PA shall ensure that a marketplace onboarded by it does not accept payments for a seller not onboarded on the marketplace’s platform.”
This means landlords must be registered merchants with full KYC to accept rent payments through cards. Since this is difficult to implement, fintech companies have fully discontinued the service.
Impact on Users
Users can no longer pay rent via credit cards on fintech apps.
They must switch to NEFT, IMPS, UPI bank transfers, or cheques.
Rewards and cashback benefits on rent payments will no longer be available.
