PhonePe to expand business, digitise 25 mn small merchants, create 10K jobs

Walmart-owned PhonePe, said that it will enable digital payments for over 25 million small merchants across India in the next one year. The Bengaluru-based firm will also onboard them on its PhonePe for Business app, offering them end-to-end control of the payment process including instant payment confirmations, receipts, and reconciliations.

The company plans to reach 5,500 talukas via its merchant acquisition team that will lead to over 10,000 jobs being created in semi-urban and rural areas.

“Kiranas and merchants across small villages and towns are striving to progress and prosper. We are really excited to partner with them in this journey and take digital payments to the last mile of India across every village and town,” said Vivek Lohcheb, vice president, offline business development, PhonePe. “This is also in line with our brand ethos of ‘’Karte Ja. Badhte Ja’’ which reflects the role played by PhonePe in India’s progress, helping bridge the digital divide while empowering merchant partners across Bharat.”

Despite the rapid penetration of digital payments, kiranas across India still rely on cash. Kirana owners have smartphones, data, and the aspiration to adopt newer technology, but PhonePe said there are no services that match their aspirations. Kiranas are looking to acquire customers and forge deeper relationships with them. Customers, on the other hand, are looking for safety and convenience, while continuing to access their local trusted neighbourhood merchant. PhonePe with its multiple offerings said it is all set to bridge this gap.

It offers its merchant partners a personalised store page on the PhonePe app allowing them to list their store timings. It also allows them to share their product catalogue and promote home delivery options, thereby reaching out to a much wider customer base. Customers have the convenience of discovering local stores in their vicinity. They can connect with the merchants using the call or chat feature to place their orders, and pay remotely via the stores tab on the PhonePe app. PhonePe is also bringing these offerings to merchants in semi-urban and rural areas to help them digitize and grow their business.

PhonePe now has over 230 million registered users and the firm’s business came back to pre-Covid-19 levels in June as it achieved an annual total payment volume run rate of over $200 billion while clocking 620 million transactions in July.