Valued at $12 billion, PhonePe is India’s most valued fintech company and accounts for nearly half of total UPI transactions in December in the country.
India’s largest digital payment application PhonePe on Tuesday reportedly announced the launch of its Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, services abroad. PhonePe users will now be able to make payments to international merchant outlets in five countries.
The fintech company says UPI payments can be made to international merchants in Singapore, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mauritius, Bhutan, and Nepal who have the local QR code. The company, in collaboration with NPCI International Payments, further aims to expand ‘UPI International’ in more countries soon.
“UPI International is the first major step in letting the rest of the world experience UPI too,” PhonePe chief technology officer and co-founder, Rahul Chari said and as reported by PTI. “I am sure this launch will prove to be a game-changer and will completely transform the way Indians traveling overseas pay at merchant outlets abroad.”
Users of the fintech app can activate UPI International, linked to their UPI bank account, through the PhonePe app. This can be done at the merchant location or before their trip. The latest service will also require the user to enter their UPI pin to activate the international service.
Payments will be made via Indian banks and the receiver will get money in their local currency, as reported by The Indian Express. With this, the need to carry international credit, debit, and forex cards could be eliminated. The feature is available on both Android and iOS devices.
PhonePe reportedly has over 43.5 crore registered users. Walmart-backed Indian fintech platform reported revenue of $234 million in the first nine months of 2022, according to a TechCrunch report published last month. This is a jump from the $201.6 million that the company earned in the financial year 2022 or the 12-month period that ended in March 2022.
Valued at $12 billion, PhonePe is India’s most valued fintech company and accounts for nearly half of total UPI transactions in December in the country. Over the last couple of years, UPI has evolved as one of the most popular modes of daily online digital transactions.
According to data from the National Payments Corporation of India, record UPI transactions worth more than Rs 12.8 trillion were made in December 2022. It was just above Rs 30 million in August 2016, its launch year.
PhonePe’s UPI International service also comes at the time when India announced last month to extend UPI service to Non-Resident Indians. NRIs from 10 countries that have NRE/NRO accounts have initially been permitted to transfer funds via the digital payment service.
