PhonePe breaches 250-mn user mark; logs 925 mn transactions in October

Walmart-owned digital payments firm hits $277-billion annual TPV run-rate

At a time when Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions surpassed the 2 billion mark in October,  digital payments firms PhonePe and Paytm have also crossed new milestones.

Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe said it has crossed the 250 million registered user milestone. The company reported over 100 million monthly active users (MAU) and 2.3 billion app sessions in October 2020.

PhonePe had a record month in October, processing 925 million transactions, its highest so far, with an annual total payment volume (TPV) run rate of $277 billion. PhonePe also processed 835 million UPI transactions in October, for a market-leading share of over 40 per cent.

''We are thrilled to have crossed the 250 million user milestone,” said Sameer Nigam, CEO and founder of PhonePe. “We are on a mission to make digital payments a way of life for every Indian citizen, and our next target is to cross 500 million registered users by December 2022,” he said.

Digital payments adoption in India has been booming over the last few years. PhonePe said it has led this adoption for customers across age groups, urban and rural areas, and income levels. This growth is driven by the payments success rates, the fastest speed of transactions and an easy-to-use user interface which the PhonePe app offers.

 

In another development, digital payments firm Paytm said it is enabling postpaid services to Android Mini App Store and POS (point-of-sale) devices expanding the reach of micro-credit to wider payment segments. The company has 7 million users for the postpaid service and is on its way to registering a total of 15 million users by the end of the current financial year. Paytm Postpaid is offered in partnership with two leading NBFCs (non-banking financial company) with an instant credit line for various payments to Paytm app users.

"We aim to expand our services to as many businesses that enable consumers to benefit from the convenience of buy now and pay later. Our latest product is another step towards becoming as ubiquitous as credit cards,” said Bhavesh Gupta, CEO, Paytm Lending. “Postpaid is now an even more attractive payment option for everyday wants and needs. We can also now better support merchants who offer smaller ticket items and bring their customers a more transparent, flexible way to pay."

Paytm Postpaid services can be availed for daily purchases of groceries, milk, and other home essentials from neighbourhood Kirana stores to retailers such as Reliance Fresh, Haldiram, Apollo Pharmacy, Croma and Shoppers Stop. Additionally, it has been extended to various bill payments facilities available on Paytm, shopping on Paytm Mall, and online payments at internet apps such as Uber, Myntra,  Lenskart and Pepperfry.

The company said that postpaid is available in three different slabs of a credit limit, namely Lite, Delite and Elite. While Postpaid Lite comes with a limit of up to Rs. 20,000, Delite and Elite offer credit limits from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 in monthly spends with no additional convenience charges. Postpaid Lite has been designed so that users without a credit score are also able to avail the convenience and benefits of this service.