“PhonePe achieves $1 trillion annual payment value run rate and secures license”

PhonePe, a digital payments platform, announced on Saturday that it has achieved an annualized total payment value (TPV) run rate of $1 trillion, or Rs 84 lakh crore, primarily due to its leadership in UPI transactions. The company has claimed to have digitized over 35 million offline merchants spread across tier 2, 3, and 4 cities, and beyond, covering 99% of pin codes in India.

“We are delighted to reach the USD 1-trillion annualized TPV run rate. We look forward to turbo-charging the next wave of growth for UPI payments in India with offerings like ‘UPI lite’, ‘UPI international’ and ‘credit on UPI’ to enable greater financial inclusion for Indians,” said Sonika Chandra, PhonePe’s Head of Consumer Business, in a statement.

The company’s growth is supported by its leadership in the UPI space, where it holds over 50% market share by value. “The company has also received an in-principle approval for its PA (payment aggregator) license from the RBI,” the statement said.

PhonePe is making significant investments in new businesses like insurance and wealth management, while also enabling the next wave of growth for UPI payments in the country, according to the statement.

UPI transactions have gained immense popularity in India in recent years, especially after the launch of the government-backed UPI payment system. PhonePe is one of the leading UPI payment platforms in the country, along with Google Pay, Paytm, and Amazon Pay.

UPI transactions have grown exponentially over the past few years, with a total of 2.73 billion transactions worth Rs 5.47 lakh crore processed in February 2021 alone. PhonePe claims to have processed over 1.21 billion UPI transactions in February 2021.

The company has been expanding its services and offerings to capture a larger market share in the Indian digital payments space. PhonePe recently announced that it is entering the credit segment by offering short-term loans to its customers.

PhonePe’s accomplishments in the digital payment sphere are momentous, particularly given that India still primarily operates on a cash-oriented economic model. Nevertheless, the nation has been progressing towards cashless transactions, with the government encouraging the embrace of digital payments as a means of curbing cash usage.

PhonePe’s attainment of an annualized total payment value run rate of $1 trillion marks a significant milestone in the Indian digital payments arena. The organization’s supremacy in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) domain and its diversification into nascent sectors such as insurance and wealth management, coupled with its preliminary approval for a payment aggregator license from the RBI, positions it remarkably well for future expansion in the industry.