Mint Explainer | Why Swiggy users must save cards separately for Instamart
Instamart now requires a separate saved card from Swiggy’s food app. What does this mean for users? Mint explains
Summary
Instamart now requires a separate saved card from Swiggy’s food app. What does this mean for users? Mint explains
Bengaluru: Grocery delivery platform Instamart now requires users to save their payment cards separately from Swiggy's food delivery business—even though both services operate within the same app—a change driven by the Reserve Bank of India's card tokenization rules.
The rule applied to every independent business handling card payments in India since 2021. What has changed is that Instamart, now a separate legal entity, must maintain its own merchant-specific card tokens.
The rollout is being implemented in phases, and gives users an extra step at checkout and offers a glimpse of how corporate restructuring can alter everyday app experiences.
What’s new for Swiggy users?
When a user proceeds to pay for their purchases, the app shows two tabs—Swiggy and Instamart—each with its own list of saved cards. A card stored under Swiggy’s food delivery tab does not carry over to the Instamart tab.
An in-app banner on the Instamart tab reads “For your Instamart orders, payment methods must be stored separately due to RBI regulations”.
Why is Swiggy doing this now?
The change stems from Swiggy's decision last September to carve out Instamart into a separate subsidiary, Swiggy Instamart, transferring its assets, employees, contracts and intellectual property to the new company.
Swiggy said the move would give the quick-commerce business sharper strategic focus, greater operational flexibility, and lay the groundwork for a possible inventory-led model. Instamart, which already had its own standalone app since January 2025, was now fully separated on paper too—a change that took nearly ten months to show up in how the app handles saved cards.
Quick commerce has become capital-intensive enough that platforms may increasingly prefer ring-fencing that business from other verticals like food delivery, both financially and operationally.
“Investors evaluating a company’s quick-commerce bet want to see its unit economics cleanly, without them being blended into a larger and more mature business. A separate entity makes that possible,” said Satish Meena, analyst at market research firm Datum Intelligence.
Swiggy Instamart did not respond to Mint’s emailed queries.
How does the RBI rule apply here?
RBI first discussed the card-on-file tokenization (CoFT) framework in 2019 to reduce the risk of card data breaches, by moving away from businesses storing actual card numbers and replacing them with secure, merchant-specific tokens instead. The current requirements were formalised through a follow-up circular in 2021, which extended this tokenisation system to online card-on-file transactions specifically.
Under CoFT, no entity other than a card issuer or card network may store a customer’s actual card number, expiry date or CVV. Instead, businesses store a “token”—a substitute code generated for one specific card-and-merchant combination—valid only for the merchant it was created for.
What does this mean for the users?
For users, common friction points include re-entering card details, going through an additional OTP or authentication step to save the same card twice, and unclear in-app messaging that leaves users unsure whether this is a security measure or something else entirely, according to industry executives.
Quick commerce is a category built on speed and low-friction ordering, so even a minor extra step stands out to users who may not immediately connect it to an internal restructuring, said Chirag Taneja, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of GoKwik, an e-commerce growth platform.
Low app loyalty in quick commerce compounds the risk. “Quick commerce users are notoriously low on app loyalty. They switch between platforms based on whichever is fastest or most convenient at the moment. An extra step at checkout, even a small one, is exactly the kind of friction that could push a user to simply order from a competing app instead, rather than push through it,” Datum Intelligence’s Meena said.
“UPI just needs a handle and a PIN, so it’s quick. Adding a card takes slightly longer, but it’s a one-time cost. The bigger issue is that customer acquisition in quick commerce depends heavily on micro-festivals, new launches, discounts and delivery speed. Friction at the wrong moment can cost a platform a new customer it was trying to win over,” Meena added.
The overall impact is difficult to measure and is only short-term, Meena noted.
What are the other players in the industry doing?
Swiggy’s closest rival, Eternal Ltd, follows a slightly different structure as its food delivery business (Zomato) has been a separate entity from its quick-commerce business (Blinkit) from the time of Blinkit’s acquisition in 2022.
Other notable internet companies like Zepto have other offerings like Zepto Cafe housed within the main entity, so this rule doesn’t apply. If any firm is to hive off any of their businesses into separate entities in the future, RBI would require them to follow the CoFT framework.
As Indian consumer internet firms restructure into multiple entities, the framework will keep applying afresh to each new one, a reminder that compliance can create friction for users.
About the Author
Sowmya Ramasubramanian
Sowmya is a senior correspondent covering retail, FMCG, corporate strategy, and consumer technology, with a focus on how companies navigate demand, competition, and shifting consumption patterns across both urban and emerging markets. She reports on business decisions through both breaking news and long-form stories.
An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism, she has reported on a range of consumer-facing industries, including e-commerce, healthcare, and startups. Her work focuses on understanding how companies grow, compete, and adapt in a changing economic environment, as well as how broader trends translate into everyday consumption and business outcomes.
She is particularly interested in how business decisions show up in everyday consumer experiences, and often looks at trends through the lens of how they play out on the ground.
Prior to her current role, Sowmya was part of the editorial team at YourStory, where she covered startups and entrepreneurship. She has also worked on longform stories at The Morning Context and reported on technology at The Hindu in Chennai, gaining experience across different formats and newsrooms.
Her reporting aims to be accurate and accessible, with an emphasis on context and careful sourcing. She is particularly interested in stories that sit at the intersection of business strategy and consumer behaviour.
Based in Bengaluru and always curious about evolving consumption trends, she is often exploring new coffee and kombucha spots, both as a personal interest and a way to observe how consumer preferences are taking shape on the ground.
Source: Livemint — Companies
