Spice Money (SML) is an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n rural financial services company headquartered in

Noida Noida (), short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (ISO: ), is a city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. As per provisional reports of Census of India, the population of Noida in 2011 was ...

. It was founded in 2000 by Dilip Modi, who serves as the chairman and group CEO of DiGiSPICE Technologies. SML is a subsidiary of DiGiSPICE Technologies. It provides financial services, such as money transfer, cash deposit, account opening, bill payments, mini ATMs and more services. It engages with local individuals (Adhikari's) to assist its customers with banking requirements. In 2024, the company reported having 1.4 million Adhikari's on its platform.

History

Spice Money began its operations as a digital wallet under the name Spice Digital Limited. Later, the company expanded into ticketing, bill payment, banking, and micro ATM services. It operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digispice Technologies. In 2015, Spice Money received license to operate as a PPI from RBI and in 2017, the company launched its micro ATM and bill pay services. This was followed by the mPOS service launch in 2018, which earned Spice Money the NPCI National Payments Excellence Award. In January 2018, Spice Money received its final license from the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

to operate as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) within the

Bharat Bill Payment System NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited (NBBL) doing business as Bharat Connect, and formerly named Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an integrated bill payment system in India offering interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers thro ...

(BBPS). In 2020, the company launched a proposition to assist nanopreneurs with onboarding. This initiative helped entrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas by launching products like, AEPS, IRCTC ticketing, Cash Management services (CMS), Lending etc. In August 2021, the company announced the establishment of an ATM network with 1 lakh micro-ATMs operating across rural India. In September 2023, a strategic partnership was formed with Grameen Foundation for Social Impact (GFSI) India, a non-profit organization supporting underserved communities. Spice Money also partnered with NSDL Payments Bank and

Axis Bank Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's third largest private sector bank by assets and fo ...

, enabling the opening of zero-balance savings or current accounts for rural citizens through its Adhikari platform.

Media appearances

In February 2021, the company launched its brand campaign titled 'Spice Money Toh Life Bani,' featuring

Sonu Sood Sonu Sood (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian actor, film producer, Model (person), model, humanitarian, and Philanthropy, philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, Hindi, Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. He is k ...

as brand ambassador. In September 2022, Spice Money was featured in the first episode of The Great Indian Disruptors on

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, presented by Digital Refresh Networks. Spice Money was featured in

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's Leaders of Tomorrow and

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's Naya Bharat Sunehra Amrit Kaal.

Awards

* 2023: Awarded the SKOCH Award for the Best Fintech Growth Story

Controversy

In December 2021, the

(RBI) imposed a monetary penalty on Spice Money, for non-compliance with norms, as stated in a central bank announcement. Spice Money incurred fines of ₹1 crore.

References

{{Digital payment providers Technology companies of India Financial services companies of India Companies based in Noida Financial services companies established in 2000 Indian brands Mobile payments in India 2000 establishments in Uttar Pradesh Indian companies established in 2000 Modi Enterprises