PhonePe, the digital payment platform owned by Indian e-commerce company Flipkart, has reached an annualised payment value run rate of $1 trillion. The company also announced that it has acquired a payment aggregator license, allowing it to process payments on behalf of merchants.
The announcement comes as digital payments continue to surge in India, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the trend towards cashless transactions. PhonePe has been one of the major players in this space, with its user base growing rapidly in recent years.
The payment aggregator license will allow PhonePe to further expand its services, enabling it to process payments for a wider range of merchants. This is an important step for the company, as it seeks to compete with established players like Paytm and Google Pay.
Speaking about the license acquisition, Sameer Nigam, founder and CEO of PhonePe, said: “We are excited to receive the payment aggregator license from the Reserve Bank of India. This is an important milestone for us, as it allows us to offer a wider range of payment services to our customers and merchant partners.”
In addition to the payment aggregator license, PhonePe has also been expanding its offerings in other areas. The company recently launched a digital ATM service, allowing users to withdraw cash from select merchants using their mobile phones.
The move is part of PhonePe’s broader strategy to become a one-stop-shop for digital payments and financial services in India. The company has been steadily adding new features and partnerships to its platform, with the aim of capturing a larger share of India’s fast-growing digital payments market.
The $1 trillion payment run rate is a significant milestone for PhonePe, and underscores the rapid growth of digital payments in India. The company has achieved this milestone in just five years since its launch in 2016, and is now processing over 1 billion transactions per month.
According to a report by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), digital payments in India grew by 30% in 2020, with the total transaction volume reaching 4.4 billion. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years, as more consumers and merchants adopt digital payment methods.
In this context, PhonePe’s acquisition of a payment aggregator license and its continued expansion of services will be crucial in helping it maintain its position as one of the leading players in India’s digital payments market.
However, the company also faces significant competition from other players in the space, particularly Paytm and Google Pay. Both companies have also been expanding their services and partnerships in India, and are likely to pose a significant challenge to PhonePe’s ambitions.
Despite this, PhonePe remains optimistic about its future prospects. The company has a strong user base and brand recognition in India, and is well-positioned to continue capitalising on the growth of digital payments in the country.
As Sameer Nigam noted in a recent interview with the Economic Times, “We are seeing an inflection point in digital payments. We believe we have a strong value proposition for our customers and we will continue to innovate and add new features to our platform to meet their needs.”
