PhonePe may buy ZestMoney in big consolidation move

Online payments firm PhonePe, majority owned by US retailing behemoth Walmart, is close to acquiring buy-now pay-later (BNPL) platform ZestMoney, two people in the know told ET.

This comes amid a global reset in the BNPL sector, fuelled by interest rate hikes and an overall squeeze in consumer spending. ZestMoney has been on the block, looking for a buyer as it struggled to raise fresh funds after tech investors turned overly skittish this year, these people said.