India’s largest online marketplace, Flipkart, wants to do away with dependency on other payments businesses and is coming up with its own cash transaction business.Flipkart will launch its payments business that will act as a digital wallet.
To be spearheaded by PhonePe - the payments startup which was acquired by Flipkart in April this year - the product is expected to be ready for use in coming weeks.
"This is a long-term strategic bet for us, and we believe PhonePe could become as big as Flipkart one day," Binny Bansal, Flipkart CEO, told ET.
“Designed as an omni-channel product, PhonePe will be a container for multiple payment solutions which includes a semi-closed loop wallet and "have a tie up with a large bank for UPI," Sameer Nigam, founder of PhonePe, told ET.
Flipkart’s plans come after its rival Amazon India acquired Emvantage and is eyeing the digital wallet space as well.
As per PwC, number of payments through prepaid payment instruments jumped 77% till July this year to Rs 24,124 crore and by 2019, about 800 million people will have access to online payment options in India, with internet users reaching 900 million.
"PhonePe will focus on building highly India-centric digital payment solutions. We have decided to build a new brand because Phone-Pe is addressing different consumer needs and the brand should reflect the same," said Bansal.