PB Money Secures SEBI Online Bond Platform Provider Licence to Expand Retail Debt Access — October 15, 2026

PB Money, an investment platform working in strategic partnership with credit marketplace Paisabazaar, has secured a licence from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to operate as an Online Bond Platform Provider (OBPP).

The regulatory clearance authorises PB Money to manage the entire lifecycle of retail bond investing. The platform will oversee end-to-end customer workflows, spanning paperless digital onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, bond discovery, comparative evaluation, order routing, payment coordination, and post-investment portfolio management.

The corporate vehicle behind the platform, PB Marketing and Consulting Private Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary of PB Fintech Limited and is registered as a stockbroker in the debt segment of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).

Expanding Retail Debt Distribution

Through the tie-up with Paisabazaar, millions of existing users across varied consumer segments will be able to discover listed fixed-income opportunities on Paisabazaar and seamlessly execute transactions on PB Money. Investors can evaluate corporate debt securities based on key parameters including yield-to-maturity (YTM), internal rate of return (IRR), issuer credit ratings, and minimum investment thresholds.

Commenting on the approval, Santosh Agarwal, Director at PB Money and Chief Executive Officer of Paisabazaar, noted that addressing consumers' evolving financial journeys requires transparent access to wealth products.

"Bonds represent an important yet relatively underexplored fixed-income investment avenue for retail investors in India," Agarwal said. "The OBPP license for PB Money is an important step in enabling a seamless experience across the bond investment journey, while making it easier for consumers to discover and evaluate bonds as part of their broader investment choices. We see significant potential to make a wider range of investment products more accessible to consumers as their financial needs evolve."

The Maturing Indian Bond Ecosystem

For decades, the Indian corporate bond market remained heavily institutional, with mutual funds, insurance companies, and banks dominating primary issuances and secondary trading. High ticket sizes—historically running into tens of lakhs or crores of rupees—effectively shut out retail investors.

To deepen the debt capital markets and protect everyday savers, SEBI introduced a formalized regulatory regime for Online Bond Platform Providers in November 2022. The regulations mandated that all digital platforms selling listed debt securities to retail users register as stockbrokers in the debt segment of recognized exchanges and adhere to strict disclosure standards. SEBI subsequently slashed the minimum denomination for privately placed corporate bonds down to ₹10,000, significantly lowering the barrier to entry.

Key benefits of the OBPP framework for retail participants include:

• Enhanced Transparency: Platforms can only offer listed debt instruments or those proposed to be listed, guaranteeing mandatory disclosures and standardized pricing.
• Portfolio Diversification: Retail investors can access predictable coupon payouts ranging between 8% and 12%, cushioning portfolios against equity volatility.
• Secure Settlement: Transactions route directly through clearing corporations and exchange settlement mechanisms, eliminating counterparty handling risks.

PB Money's entry adds considerable digital muscle to India's burgeoning retail debt segment, competing alongside existing bond portals to democratize access to fixed-income instruments across Tier-1 and beyond.

Tags: PB Fintech SEBI Paisabazaar PB Money Corporate Bonds Debt Market