With RBI giving the Unified Payments Interface a green flag for operation, Flipkart is now finally readying itself to debut PhonePe — its app-based UPI platform this week. The Indian e-commerce behemoth had acquired the mobile payment solution to snag a spot in the fast growing digital payment business in India. It is also a ploy to rival vastly successful services like One97 Comm-owned Paytm and Snapdeal-owned Freecharge.
To save itself from being dethroned off the top spot in the Indian e-commerce ecosystem, Flipkart has been rooting to become a diversified Internet company. It has recently restructured and divided its business into three lean verticals, namely e-commerce, advertising and logistics. And now it is making a push to grab hold of a piece of the digital payment pie.
According to a LiveMint report, PhonePe Internet Pvt. Ltd. has partnered with Yes Bank to offer its payment services to consumers. The app will first make an appearance on Android followed by the official iOS release at the end of this year.
Post launch, PhonePe will first offer mobile recharges, bill payment services and peer-to-peer money transfers on its app-based platform. The service, while existing independently, will also be made available to customers of both Flipkart and one of its key fashion subsidiaries, Myntra. Each of their wallet services will be phased out in favor of PhonePe, who will then handle and process customer refunds on both websites.
Our goal is to convert cash payments into cashless both online and offline. So (the captive) user base is a very good starting point. Within the next two months, PhonePe will also be available on Jabong (which is also owned by Flipkart) and a few other online platforms.
said one of the sources, on condition of anonymity.
Being deployed on the some of the biggest e-commerce platforms of the country, PhonePe will be using their combined userbase to attract its first wave of customers. This includes more than 75 million registered users on Flipkart, alongwith some 10 million active monthly users of Myntra.
Flipkart, which already holds a majority stake in PhonePe parent FXMart, has planned to invest over $100 million in this key mobile payment solution in the next few years. If PhonePe’s services are launched successfully, it could help bridge the large gap in both online and offline commerce. It would also help the e-commerce company lower operation costs, cut down on the number of cash transactions, and make the supply chain more efficient.
PhonePe was founded in December 2015 by Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, former employees of Flipkart itself. It has been launched with the goal of moving away from plastic money and making digital payments easy, safe & universally accepted. CEO Smaeer Nigam believes that India is at a cusp of mobile revolution and PhonePe will change how we manage our money on the go.
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