Shares of One MobiKwik Systems Ltd surged over 15% on Monday to Rs 233.12 after the company announced a key regulatory approval that could strengthen its lending business.
MobiKwik said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the group’s application for a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) licence.
The development is being seen as a major step in the company’s attempt to move deeper into financial services beyond payments.
An NBFC licence allows a company to participate more directly in lending under a regulated framework.
For MobiKwik, this means it can launch MobiKwik Financial Services Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary that will house its lending operations.
The company said the NBFC will help expand regulated lending capabilities, design new credit products and serve consumers and merchants with greater efficiency and control.
In simple terms, MobiKwik now gets a bigger opportunity in credit, an area markets often value more aggressively than payments alone.
Investors also appear to have liked management commentary around future growth.
Upasana Taku, Executive Director, Co-founder and CFO of MobiKwik, said, “The NBFC application approval is a pivotal step in MobiKwik Group’s evolution into a scaled financial services platform.”
She added, “This gives us the regulatory framework to deepen our credit offerings while maintaining strong governance and risk discipline.”
Taku also said the company was pleased that the application was approved in under four months, calling it “an endorsement of the credibility of the Group.”
MobiKwik said the NBFC platform is expected to help launch products faster, improve lending margins and provide access to sustainable capital through co-lending models.
The company already has scale to build on. According to the filing, MobiKwik has more than 186 million registered users and around 4.79 million merchants on its platform.
That is likely what investors are betting on today. If MobiKwik can successfully cross-sell loans, merchant credit or other financial products to even a portion of this base, the opportunity could become meaningful.
The company said NBFC operations will begin after receipt of the Certificate of Registration from RBI and fulfilment of certain conditions.
For now, the market seems to be treating the RBI approval as more than a routine licence. It is being seen as a growth trigger for MobiKwik’s next phase.