Indian Buy-now-pay-later card startup Uni (website) plans to temporarily suspend its card services in the South Asian market due to the local central bank’s digital lending guidelines. The fintech, which is backed by General Catalyst, Elevation Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, confirmed that the cards will be inactive until further notice.
“Due to the recent RBI guidelines on digital lending, we are phasing out our card services from Monday,” it said. “Considering that Uni Card is used for urgent needs such as fee payments, medical bills and emergencies, we have ensured that each of our customers will have access to their credit facility through Uni Cash,” fintech veteran Nitin Gupta, who co-founded Uni and serves as its managing director, said in a statement on Friday.
India’s central bank plans to tighten its lending guidelines, which dictate who can lend to customers in India. However, the lack of guidance from the Reserve Bank of India is severely impacting many promising startups and ultimately affecting the lives of many customers, local sources say.
“While we take this decision with a heavy heart, we always strive to be compliant and on the right side of regulations,” the startup said in a statement.