Flipkart has acquired mobile payment firm PhonePe. It is a bangalore based payment company which was started by ex-Flipkart employees. PhonePe team will transition to Flipkart but will function as an independent business unit.
PhonePe is building India’s first Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based product. UPI allows to transact without sharing bank details. The transaction will be done using unique identification and mobile phone number or virtual payments address. UPI based payment is expected to go live in April.
Binny Bansal, CEO, Flipkart, said, “Payments has been one of the biggest hurdles for mass adoption of online shopping in India. UPI has the potential of transforming the entire payments ecosystem in the country. The acquisition of PhonePe is in-line with Flipkart’s focus on driving innovation on the payments front. I am delighted that two Flipkart veterans – Sameer and Rahul are at the helm of this initiative.”
Sameer Nigam, Co-founder, PhonePe said, “PhonePe’s mission is to significantly improve the online and offline digital payments experience for millions of Indian customers. We are really excited to merge with Flipkart and get access to one of the largest consumer bases in the country, which will allow us to realize our vision at a much larger scale”
