PhonePe
PhonePe is India's leading UPI-based digital payments and financial services platform, serving 700M+ users and 50M+ merchants with payments, lending, insurance, wealth management, and merchant financial services. Walmart majority-owned, filed for IPO at $12-15B.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersAndheri, India
- Headcount5,001–10,000
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What PhonePe does
PhonePe is a Walmart-owned Indian digital payments and financial services company founded in 2015, operating as the country's leading UPI-based super-app platform. It serves over 700 million registered users and 50 million+ merchants covering 98%+ of India's postal codes, processing more than 10 billion UPI transactions monthly with 46-47% volume share of India's UPI ecosystem. The core technology stack includes proprietary UPI payments infrastructure, a Switch super-app platform integrating 300+ third-party apps, the PhonePe Pulse data analytics platform, and AI-powered merchant tools (SmartPages and AI Integration Agent) that reduce onboarding and storefront creation timelines from weeks to minutes.
The company's product portfolio spans the full financial services stack: UPI payments, mobile recharges, bill payments, insurance distribution, wealth management (Share.Market), digital gold and silver (via MMTC-PAMP), consumer and merchant lending, co-branded credit cards (with SBI and HDFC Bank), travel bookings, and an advertising platform (PhonePe Ads). The PhonePe Payment Gateway and Payment Aggregator serve online merchants with a 1.99% card transaction fee model and zero-cost UPI acceptance.
Revenue is generated through a diversified mix of payment gateway transaction fees, merchant lending commissions (via partner NBFCs), insurance and wealth product distribution commissions, brokerage fees on Share.Market, advertising placements, and spreads on digital precious metals. The company has not publicly disclosed revenue but has raised over $1 billion in primary capital at a $12 billion valuation (2023), executed a $600 million secondary transaction with General Atlantic in October 2025 at a $13.3 billion valuation, and filed IPO paperwork targeting $12-15 billion. Walmart holds over 70% of equity following PhonePe's full separation from Flipkart in 2022-2023. The company employs 10,000+ people and is headquartered in Bengaluru.
PhonePe firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PhonePe
- Legal name
- PhonePe Pvt Ltd
- Website
- https://phonepe.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 5,001–10,000 employees
- Short description
- PhonePe is India's leading UPI-based digital payments and financial services platform, serving 700M+ users and 50M+ merchants with payments, lending, insurance, wealth management, and merchant financial services. Walmart majority-owned, filed for IPO at $12-15B.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PhonePe industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Payments
- akta.pro primary industry
- Carrier Billing & Telco Mobile Money (FSAMAEAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Super-App Wallets & Mini-Program Payments (FSAMAEAE), QR Code Payments Wallets (FSAMAEAC)
Keywords
Where PhonePe is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Andheri
- HQ country
- India
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
PhonePe business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Payment Processing / UPI Transactions: PhonePe earns revenue from processing UPI and digital payments transactions, including merchant discount rates (MDR) on card and QR transactions. Despite regulatory constraints on MDR, this remains a core revenue stream from its massive merchant and consumer base.
- Payment Gateway Services: PhonePe Payment Gateway and Payment Aggregator services provide online payment processing for merchants. The company offers zero-cost acceptance for online businesses with a 1.99% fee model for card transactions.
- Merchant Lending / Credit: PhonePe provides working capital loans and business loans to merchants through its lending platform, using transaction data for credit assessment and offering credit through partner NBFCs.
- Insurance Distribution: PhonePe serves as a distribution channel for insurance products including health, life, motor, and embedded insurance for merchants, earning commission on policies sold through its platform.
- Wealth Management / Share.Market: PhonePe operates Share.Market, a stock trading and wealth management platform, offering mutual fund investments, digital gold, and stock broking services, generating revenue through brokerage fees and product distribution commissions.
- Advertising and Promotions: PhonePe Ads allows brands to advertise within the PhonePe app and reach its large consumer base, including promotional placements and sponsored content within the platform.
- Digital Gold and Silver: PhonePe enables users to buy and sell digital gold and silver, generating revenue through spreads and commissions on precious metals transactions facilitated through partner MMTC-PAMP.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free UPI payments for consumers and merchants |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | 1.99% fee for card transactions on Payment Gateway |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Digital gold and silver starting at ₹10 |
| Subscription | Monthly | Mutual fund SIPs starting at ₹10/day |
| Subscription | Monthly | ₹100 quarterly fee for inactive wallets after 365 days of inactivity |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels10 records
PhonePe product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PhonePe operates a UPI-based digital payments and financial services super-app for Indian consumers and merchants. The consumer-facing app enables UPI money transfers, mobile recharges, bill payments, insurance, investments (mutual funds, stocks via Share.Market), digital gold/silver, co-branded credit cards, and travel bookings. For merchants, PhonePe distributes QR codes, POS terminals, SmartSpeakers, an online Payment Gateway with 1.99% card fees, merchant lending, and in-app advertising. The ecosystem is anchored by the Switch platform integrating over 300 third-party apps.
Product overview
PhonePe is a Walmart-owned Indian fintech super app operating as a unified digital payments and financial services platform. The core offering is the PhonePe Payments App for UPI-based transactions, complemented by business-facing solutions including Payment Gateway, Payment Aggregator, and Offline Payments (QR codes, POS, SmartSpeakers). The financial services portfolio spans Insurance, Investments (via Share.Market stock trading platform), Consumer and Merchant Lending, and Digital Gold/Silver. Travel services, co-branded credit cards (SBI, HDFC, Wish), and PhonePe Ads round out the consumer offering. The ecosystem includes PhonePe Pulse (data analytics), Switch platform (app integration strengthened by the acquired Indus App Bazaar), and AI-powered merchant tools SmartPages and AI Integration Agent. The platform serves over 700 million registered users and 50 million merchants across India.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PhonePe Pulse: Data analytics platform showing digital payment trends and insights in India
- Indus App Bazaar
- Share.Market
- SmartPages
- PhonePe Payment Gateway
Products and services
- PhonePe Payments App Primary UPI-based digital payments application for consumers enabling payments, money transfers, recharges, bill payments, and access to financial services across millions of merchants.
- PhonePe Payment Gateway
- PhonePe Payment Aggregator Payment aggregator service enabling businesses to accept and process digital payments nationwide under PhonePe's regulatory authorization.
- PhonePe Offline Payments In-store digital payment solutions suite including QR code acceptance, POS terminals, and SmartSpeakers for offline merchants across India.
- PhonePe POS Terminal Point-of-sale terminals for offline merchants to accept various payment methods including cards, UPI, and wallets.
- PhonePe SmartSpeakers Audio notification devices for merchants that announce successful payment transactions audibly in vernacular languages.
- PhonePe Insurance Distribution platform for digital insurance products including health, life, motor, and general insurance offered in partnership with insurers.
- PhonePe Investments (Share.Market) Wealth management and stock broking platform offering mutual funds, stocks, and SIP investments using the proprietary CRISP scoring methodology.
- PhonePe Consumer Lending Personal loans and credit facilities for individual consumers distributed through the app in partnership with lending institutions.
- PhonePe Merchant Lending Business loans and working capital solutions for merchant partners underwritten using PhonePe transaction data through partner NBFCs.
- PhonePe Secured Lending Secured personal loans with collateral requirements offered to eligible borrowers through the PhonePe app.
- PhonePe Digital Gold Investment platform for purchasing 24K digital gold starting at ₹10, with holdings stored in insured bank-grade vaults via partner MMTC-PAMP.
- PhonePe Digital Silver Investment platform for purchasing 999.9 purity digital silver starting at ₹10 via partner MMTC-PAMP.
- PhonePe Travel & Commute Travel and commute booking services including flights, hotels, cabs, metro tickets, FASTag recharges, and roadside assistance within the PhonePe app.
- PhonePe SBI Credit Card Co-branded credit card with SBI Cards issued in SELECT BLACK and PURPLE variants offering 10% reward points on PhonePe spends.
- PhonePe HDFC Credit Card Co-branded credit card with HDFC Bank offering rewards and cashback on transactions distributed through PhonePe and HDFC Bank channels.
- PhonePe Wish Credit Card Zero annual fee credit card offering maximum cashback benefits distributed through the PhonePe platform.
- PhonePe Ads Advertising platform enabling brands to reach PhonePe's 700+ million user base through in-app advertising placements and sponsored content.
- PhonePe Pulse Open data analytics platform providing insights into how digital payments move across India, with quarterly data updates showing geographic and demographic trends.
- PhonePe Switch Super-app platform integrating over 300 third-party apps and services, enabling users to access travel, food, shopping, and other services directly within the PhonePe app.
Quantifiable outcome
- User acquisition cost effectively reduced through digital-first distribution, with time to acquire next million users decreasing from 136 days to 6 days.
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use PhonePe
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
PhonePe technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature5 records
PhonePe partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- ET NOW (Times Network)minorPhonePe co-powered the ET NOW Markets Summit 2026, a major financial markets event in India bringing together India's leading economists, market strategists, fund managers, and policymakers, using the event for brand positioning and B2B networking.
- Digital Precious Metals Assurance Council of India (DPMACI)minorPhonePe is a founding member of the Digital Precious Metals Assurance Council of India (DPMACI), a self-regulatory body for India's digital gold and silver market, alongside MMTC-PAMP, SafeGold, Augmont, BharatPe, MobiKwik, Gullak, Lenden Club, and CRED. The SRO aims to establish standards including 1:1 physical backing and third-party audits.
- BharatPeminorBharatPe co-founded the Digital Precious Metals Assurance Council of India (DPMACI) with PhonePe to establish governance standards for India's digital gold and silver market.
- SafeGoldminorSafeGold is a member of the Digital Precious Metals Assurance Council of India (DPMACI), the self-regulatory organization for digital precious metals co-founded by PhonePe.
- AugmontminorAugmont is a member of the Digital Precious Metals Assurance Council of India (DPMACI), the self-regulatory organization for digital precious metals co-founded by PhonePe.
- MobiKwikminorMobiKwik is a member of the Digital Precious Metals Assurance Council of India (DPMACI), the self-regulatory organization for digital precious metals co-founded by PhonePe.
- CREDminorCRED is a member of the Digital Precious Metals Assurance Council of India (DPMACI), the self-regulatory organization for digital precious metals co-founded by PhonePe.
- WeWork IndiaminorWeWork India and PhonePe co-presented 'The Titans' summit in Mumbai, focused on workforce strategy and India's growth trajectory, bringing together business leaders and providing brand visibility for PhonePe in the B2B segment.
- OSLabs (Singapore)minorPhonePe acquired OSLabs, a Singapore-based app discovery company, for over $60 million as part of its super app strategy and vernacular language expansion. The deal also included settlement of a long-standing dispute with Affle Global.
- WealthDeskminorPhonePe acquired wealth tech platforms WealthDesk and OpenQ for $70 million in May 2022. WealthDesk operates as an open platform with founder Ujjwal Jain continuing to lead. This acquisition was foundational to PhonePe's Share.Market wealth management platform.
- OpenQ (Quantech Capital)minorPhonePe acquired OpenQ (Quantech Capital) alongside WealthDesk for $70 million in May 2022 as part of its wealth tech expansion strategy.
- GigIndiaminorPhonePe acquired GigIndia, a network for freelance micro-entrepreneurs in India with 1.5 million entrepreneurs, to enhance PhonePe's enterprise services and create opportunities for freelancers.
- Indus App BazaarminorPhonePe acquired Indus App Bazaar for $60 million to strengthen its Switch app platform that integrates various apps and services, expanding PhonePe's ecosystem which already included over 300 apps and 250 million users at the time.
- SBI CardscorePhonePe partnered with SBI Cards to issue the PhonePe SBI Credit Card PURPLE and the PhonePe SBI Credit Card SELECT BLACK, offering 10% reward points on PhonePe spends and various cashback offers. These co-branded credit cards are distributed through PhonePe's app and SBI's banking channels.
- HDFC BankcorePhonePe partnered with HDFC Bank to issue co-branded HDFC Bank PhonePe Credit Cards, distributed through the PhonePe app and HDFC Bank's customer base.
Scale indicators18 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
PhonePe competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Paytm (One97 Communications): India's largest listed fintech and PhonePe's closest competitor across UPI payments, payment gateway, lending, insurance, and wealth management. Paytm holds ~7.9% UPI volume share and offers a near-identical super-app product set including Paytm Wallet, Paytm Postpaid, and Paytm Money.
- Google Pay (GPay in India): PhonePe's largest direct UPI competitor with ~32.7% volume share, also operating as a super-app-like wallet with bill payments, recharges, and merchant offers. Backed by Google's deep distribution via Android and Search.
- Amazon Pay: Amazon's India payments business offering UPI-based payments, bill pay, and merchant offers to Amazon's 300M+ Indian customer base. Directly competes with PhonePe for both consumer and merchant mindshare in digital payments.
- Mobikwik: Indian digital wallet and fintech platform listed on NSE/BSE offering wallet, UPI, lending (Zip), and wealth products to mass-market consumers. Smaller scale than PhonePe but with significant SMB and digital lending overlap.
- BharatPe: Merchant-focused Indian fintech offering QR payments, payment gateway, and merchant lending. Directly competes with PhonePe's offline merchant business and lending franchise, especially for SMB and kirana segments.
- WhatsApp Pay: Meta-operated UPI-based payments within WhatsApp messenger, leveraging WhatsApp's 400M+ Indian users. Niche overlap today but represents a strategic threat given Meta's distribution and ecosystem reach.
Emerging players
- CRED: Premium Indian fintech super-app focused on credit-card bill payments and expanding into lending, commerce, and wealth. Targets higher-credit-quality users with a similar super-app thesis but smaller scale than PhonePe.
- Razorpay: India's leading payment gateway and payment aggregator for online businesses. Directly competes with PhonePe's Payment Gateway and Payment Aggregator services, especially in the SMB and startup online merchant segment.
Broad incumbents
- PayPal: Global digital wallet and payments incumbent with limited India presence but overlapping product set (consumer wallet, merchant gateway, BNPL). Comparable for benchmarking global digital-payments economics, not direct India competition.
- Adyen: Global unified payments platform serving enterprise merchants with online, in-store, and platform payments. Comparable in the payment-gateway and merchant-acquiring segments of PhonePe's business, though focused on enterprise rather than SMB.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
PhonePe social profiles
Digital presencePhonePe financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PhonePe leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
PhonePe subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries7 records
PhonePe funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds19 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PhonePe M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A6 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about PhonePe
What does PhonePe do?
PhonePe operates a UPI-based digital payments and financial services super-app for Indian consumers and merchants. The consumer-facing app enables UPI money transfers, mobile recharges, bill payments, insurance, investments (mutual funds, stocks via Share.Market), digital gold/silver, co-branded credit cards, and travel bookings. For merchants, PhonePe distributes QR codes, POS terminals, SmartSpeakers, an online Payment Gateway with 1.99% card fees, merchant lending, and in-app advertising. The ecosystem is anchored by the Switch platform integrating over 300 third-party apps.
Is PhonePe a public or private company?
PhonePe is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was PhonePe founded?
PhonePe was founded in 2015. It employs 5,001 to 10,000 people.
Where is PhonePe based?
PhonePe is headquartered in Andheri, India, in the Asia region.
How does PhonePe make money?
Seven revenue lines are on record. Payment Processing / UPI Transactions are the primary driver. The others are payment Gateway Services, merchant Lending / Credit, insurance Distribution, wealth Management / Share.Market, advertising and Promotions and digital Gold and Silver.
Who are PhonePe's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Paytm (One97 Communications), Google Pay (GPay in India), Amazon Pay, Mobikwik, BharatPe and WhatsApp Pay. Emerging players are CRED and Razorpay. Broad incumbents are PayPal and Adyen.
Does PhonePe have an API?
Yes. PhonePe offers a payment gateway API that enables merchants to integrate online payment acceptance into their platforms. The API is accessible through the PhonePe developer platform and supports integration via AI-powered tools that can reduce onboarding timelines from weeks to minutes through conversational interfaces and proprietary Integration Intelligence layers.
What industry is PhonePe in?
PhonePe's product category is Digital Payments. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAEAD, Carrier Billing & Telco Mobile Money, with a secondary code of FSAMAEAE, Super-App Wallets & Mini-Program Payments.