PhonePe, Mastercard roll out tap-and-pay contactless payments in India

PhonePe and Mastercard have launched contactless tap-and-pay payments for Indian cardholders using NFC-enabled Android smartphones at merchant outlets in India and abroad

Fintech firm PhonePe and Mastercard have jointly launched a feature enabling cardholders on the Mastercard network to make in-store transactions via tap-and-pay.

 

Mastercard cardholders can now tap their NFC-enabled smartphones at payment terminals to complete purchases.

 

PhonePe said the feature will also support tokenised e-commerce transactions through NFC-capable Android smartphones.

 

It added that cardholders can save their Mastercard credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued in India on their smartphones to process such payments.

 

“With increased penetration of NFC-enabled smartphones, coupled with growing consumer preference for tap-and-pay, this functionality brings the two together seamlessly. We view this association as another key step towards delivering a world-class payment experience to PhonePe users across India and when travelling abroad,” said Deep Agrawal, Head of Payments, PhonePe.

 

The feature will be rolled out to PhonePe users in a phased manner.

 

As of March 2025, PhonePe had over 618 million registered users and a digital payments acceptance network spanning more than 44 million merchants.

 

“This collaboration with PhonePe marks a key step in broadening the reach of digital payments by expanding device-based tokenisation, empowering Mastercard cardholders to tap-and-pay at merchant outlets both in India and abroad,” said Ravi Datla, Senior Vice-President, Products & Solutions, South Asia, Mastercard.