What Sahamati Foundation does

Sahamati Foundation is a member-driven, not-for-profit industry alliance incorporated in 2019 under Section 8 of the Companies Act of India (CIN U63999KA2019NPL127996), headquartered in Bengaluru. It was officially recognised by the Reserve Bank of India on June 5, 2026 as the Self-Regulatory Organisation for India's Account Aggregator (AA) ecosystem — a consent-based, interoperable financial data-sharing infrastructure governed by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, and PFRDA. Sahamati's core technical products include the Central Registry (a DNS-like directory of AAs, FIPs, and FIUs), the Token Service (generating secure access tokens with 99.95% SLA), Certification Services (via empanelled certifiers AQM Technologies and Suma Soft), the Fair Use Template Library, and a suite of public monitoring dashboards. Sahamati Labs functions as its research arm, publishing frameworks such as the AI Governance Framework for AI agents acting on consented financial data.

The organisation operates a B2B2C model: it does not serve end consumers directly, but provides shared digital public infrastructure to licensed Account Aggregators (currently 17 NBFC-AAs) and to over 1,120 regulated financial entities that act as Financial Information Providers (FIPs) and Financial Information Users (FIUs). End-to-end encryption using the Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange protocol ensures AAs are 'data blind' and cannot access, store, or sell customer data. Revenue is generated through annual membership fees tiered by entity type (AAs, banks, NBFCs, AMCs, RIAs, insurers, stockbrokers), supplemented by strategic equity investments from members — including a ₹50 crore round in April 2026 from over 30 institutions (SBI, ICICI, HDFC, Axis, Zerodha, Bajaj Finserv, Angel One, CAMS, CDSL, etc.) representing 2–8.5% stakes each. The ecosystem has facilitated over ₹1.6 lakh crore in loans in FY25 (~1 in 10 personal loans in India by value), 450 million+ consent requests, and 294 million+ linked accounts as of mid-2026.

Name

Sahamati Foundation

Legal name

Sahamati Foundation

Website

https://sahamati.org.in

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sahamati Foundation is the RBI-recognised Self-Regulatory Organisation for India's Account Aggregator ecosystem, providing shared digital public infrastructure (Central Registry, Token Service, Certification, Fair Use Templates) that enables consent-based financial data sharing across 1,120+ regulated banks, NBFCs, insurers, and wealth managers serving end consumers via 17 licensed Account Aggregator apps.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Finance Infrastructure and Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO)

akta.pro primary industry

Privacy Management (Consent, DSAR, RoPA) (HDADAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Governance Frameworks & DAO Tooling (modules, templates, standards) (FSAPAHAC), Identity & Access Management (IAM) Administration Services (BPAEABAJ)

Keywords

• Open finance infrastructure
• Account aggregator ecosystem
• Consent-based data sharing
• Financial API registry
• Digital public infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Bengaluru

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Sahamati generates revenue through annual membership fees paid by regulated entities (banks, NBFCs, AAs, insurers, stockbrokers, fintechs, etc.) participating in the AA ecosystem. Membership fees are determined based on license type and corresponding entity attributes. The membership fee is payable annually and the Sahamati Membership Terms remain valid for 5 years subject to due payment of applicable annual fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Sahamati Foundation operates as the RBI-recognised Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO-AA) for India's Account Aggregator ecosystem, providing shared digital public infrastructure and governance services to member regulated entities. Its core offerings include the Central Registry (a directory service for AAs, FIPs, and FIUs), the Token Service (authentication/authorisation with 99.95% SLA), Certification Services through empanelled independent certifiers (AQM Technologies, Suma Soft), the Fair Use Template Library (standardised consent parameters), and Sahamati Labs (research and innovation arm). The foundation monetises these through annual membership fees paid by RBI/SEBI/IRDAI/PFRDA-regulated entities participating in the AA network.

Product overview

Sahamati Foundation operates as the RBI-recognized Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO-AA) for India's Account Aggregator ecosystem—a not-for-profit member-driven industry alliance established under Section 8 of the Companies Act. The organization does not offer a single product but rather provides shared digital public infrastructure for consent-based financial data sharing. The core infrastructure consists of the Central Registry (acting as a DNS-like directory for ecosystem participants), the Token Service (for secure authentication), and Certification Services (for standards compliance). Supporting services include the Fair Use Template Library (standardized consent parameters), Sahamati Labs (innovation arm), and various monitoring dashboards (Usage Metrics, APIs Health, Grievances). The ecosystem enables consumers to share financial data across banks, NBFCs, insurers, and wealth managers through licensed Account Aggregator apps. Sahamati's membership program covers regulated entities (banks, NBFCs, insurers, wealth managers) that participate as FIPs (data providers) and FIUs (data consumers).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sahamati Labs: The innovation arm of Sahamati, dedicated to advancing the Open Finance Ecosystem in India and globally.

Products and services

• Central Registry A foundational directory service for all registered participants in the Account Aggregator ecosystem (AAs, FIPs, FIUs), providing API endpoints (callback URLs), public keys, and access control metadata to enable secure discovery and interoperability among ecosystem members. Functions analogously to a DNS server for the AA network.
• Token Service Generates secure access tokens used to authenticate and authorise requests between AA ecosystem members, enabling robust security for all data exchanges and API calls with 99.95% SLA uptime.
• Certification Services Verifies, onboards, and maintains trusted entities within the Account Aggregator ecosystem, ensuring compliance, interoperability, and transparency. Sahamati has empanelled AQM Technologies and Suma Soft as independent certifiers that test FIP/AA/FIU adherence to ReBIT technical standards.
• AA Fair Use Template Library A repository of standardised fair use templates containing reference parameters for FIUs to adapt when leveraging the AA ecosystem. Templates set outer bounds for consent attributes including frequency of data pulls, consent validity, data range/statement period, fetch frequency, data life, and purpose codes for known use cases including lending, wealth management, insurance, and PFM.
• Sahamati Labs The innovation arm of Sahamati Foundation, dedicated to advancing the Open Finance Ecosystem in India and globally. Conducts research including the AI Governance Framework design paper for AI agents processing consumer financial data, covering processing-aware consent, verifiable AI identities, and cryptographic activity records.
• AA Ecosystem Participation Terms A standardised, community-driven non-customisable legal framework that all AAs and FIPs can sign, avoiding repetitive bilateral legal contracts amongst ecosystem participants.
• Regulated Entity (RE) Membership Program Annual membership program onboarding regulated entities (banks, NBFCs, insurers, AAs, AMCs, RIAs, stockbrokers) into the Sahamati community, providing governance participation rights, access to Central Registry and Token Service, Certification framework support, and the Sahamati Membership Terms. Membership is valid for 5 years subject to annual fee payment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over ₹1.6 lakh crore in loans facilitated in FY25 through AA ecosystem, accounting for ~1 in 10 personal loans by value in India
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Regulatory: Reserve Bank of India (RBI)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerRBI recognised Sahamati as the SRO for the Account Aggregator ecosystem on June 5, 2026. RBI also initiated the SRO-AA application process in March 2025 and examined Sahamati's application against governance, operational, and compliance standards. This formalises delegated regulatory oversight of India's consent-based financial data sharing.
• Regulatory: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEBI regulates stockbrokers, RIAs, AMCs, and portfolio managers participating as FIPs/FIUs in the AA ecosystem. SEBI has issued circulars enabling AA usage for derivative segment onboarding (bank statements via consent). SEBI approved CDSL's investment in Sahamati.
• Regulatory: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIRDAI oversees insurance companies participating in the AA ecosystem. Chairperson Ajey Seth has endorsed AA as a powerful DPI rail for 'Insurance for All by 2047', promoting AA usage for underwriting term insurance and designing affordable, accessible insurance products.
• Regulatory: Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPFRDA has designated Central Record Keeping Agencies (CRAs) as FIPs for NPS data and Points of Presence (PoPs) as FIUs. Chairperson Siva S. Ramann has highlighted AA's potential to transform the pension landscape through seamless, consent-driven access to financial histories.
• Account Aggregator: Saafe (Dashboard Account Aggregation Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationSaafe, a licensed NBFC-Account Aggregator, invested in Sahamati and participates as AA within the ecosystem, enabling consent-based financial data sharing for insurance and lending use cases.
• Account Aggregator: Protean SurakshAA (Protean Account Aggregator Limited / NSDL E-Governance)coreTechnology or IntegrationProtean SurakshAA, backed by NSDL E-Governance, is a licensed NBFC-AA that invested in Sahamati and provides AA services across banking, insurance, and wealth management use cases.
• Account Aggregator: Anumati (Perfios Account Aggregation Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationAnumati (from Perfios), a licensed NBFC-AA, is a Sahamati member providing AA services. Partnered with HDFC Bank for Loan Xpress car loan demos and with IIFL Finance for SME lending use cases.
• Account Aggregator: NADL (NESL Asset Data Limited)coreTechnology or IntegrationNADL, a licensed NBFC-AA backed by NSE, invested in Sahamati and participates in the ecosystem. Has partnered with Aegon Life Insurance for insurance use case demonstrations.
• Account Aggregator: Agya / Setu AA (Agya Technologies)coreTechnology or IntegrationAgya Technologies (Setu AA), a licensed NBFC-AA, invested in Sahamati and partnered with Snapmint for loan monitoring use cases, demonstrating AA capabilities for post-lending portfolio management.
• NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNPCI's leadership (CEO Lalitha Nataraj, MD & CEO Noopur Chaturvedi of NPCI Bharat BillPay) has publicly endorsed the AA ecosystem. Sahamati's ownership model (all major financial institutions as members) mirrors NPCI's UPI/IMPS structure. NPCI operates digital payments infrastructure that complements AA's open finance layer.
• Sahamati Labs (AI Governance Framework)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSahamati Labs, the research arm of Sahamati, released a design paper proposing governance principles for AI agents processing consumer financial data within the AA ecosystem. The framework addresses accountability for AI-driven decisions on consented data through processing-aware consent, verifiable AI identities, and cryptographic activity records. Published as draft for industry discussion with regulators, FIs, and technology providers.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Singapore MyInfo (GovTech): MyInfo is the Singapore government-operated consent-based personal data platform enabling citizens to share verified data with financial institutions. It serves a comparable function to AA but as a government-operated (not industry-alliance) regional infrastructure serving Singapore only.

Broad incumbents

• Open Banking Limited (UK): Open Banking Ltd (formerly OBIE) is the UK implementation entity for open banking standards under CMA and FCA oversight. It is the most mature open finance SRO globally, providing a comparable governance template though operating in a more developed open banking market than India.
• SWIFT: SWIFT operates the global financial messaging standards infrastructure under cooperative ownership of financial institutions. While operating in messaging rather than data sharing, SWIFT is comparable as a member-owned industry standards body enabling financial interoperability under regulatory recognition.

Direct peers

• ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce): ONDC is an Indian Section 8 company building open commerce infrastructure using the Beckn protocol, with similar industry-alliance ownership and government backing. Both are DPI-layer open networks designed to democratize access via interoperability rather than proprietary platforms.
• iSPIRT (Indian Software Product Industry Round Table): iSPIRT is the think tank that catalyzed the launch of the AA ecosystem in September 2021 and has been deeply involved in Sahamati's formation and ecosystem advocacy. Both operate as policy catalysts for India's digital public infrastructure with similar founder networks.
• NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India): NPCI operates UPI, IMPS, and other payment rails as a member-owned entity of Indian banks - the exact collective ownership model Sahamati explicitly mirrors. Both are industry-led Section 8-like entities providing shared digital public infrastructure under regulatory oversight for India's financial system.
• FDX (Financial Data Exchange): FDX is the US-based industry consortium setting standards for financial data sharing (FDX API), performing a similar SRO-like role for open banking/open finance in North America. Both are membership-driven standards bodies enabling consent-based financial data exchange.

Others

• Beckn Foundation: Beckn Foundation develops open protocols for decentralized commerce and mobility networks (used by ONDC and others). It is an adjacent ecosystem player in India's open infrastructure stack with overlapping DPI philosophy and similar industry-alliance governance model.
• Reserve Bank Information Technology (ReBIT): ReBIT is the RBI subsidiary that defines the technical API specifications for the AA ecosystem that Sahamati's participants must comply with. While not a peer in the competitive sense, it is the foundational technology partner enabling Sahamati's interoperability mandate.

Emerging players

• OCEN (Open Credit Enablement Network): OCEN is an Indian open credit infrastructure protocol designed to standardize digital lending flows for underserved segments. It sits in the same open-finance DPI stack as Sahamati, intersecting with AA data flows for credit underwriting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/Sahamati
• Xx.com/sahamati

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors29 records

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Sahamati Foundation