PhonePe Launches Platform for Merchant Lending

Bangalore, June 23, 2023: PhonePe, announced the launch of its Merchant lending platform allowing Banks and NBFC’s (Non-Banking Financial Companies) to provide access to credit in a completely digital and seamless manner to its vast merchant base of over 35 million merchants. This reaffirms PhonePe’s commitment to driving financial inclusion for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

SMEs in India have long faced challenges in accessing organized credit, impeding their growth and hindering their potential. Understanding this unmet need, PhonePe has designed a seamless end-to-end journey on the PhonePe for Business app, ensuring that loans are approved by lending partners in a matter of minutes. PhonePe leverages its strong distribution network and superior tech capabilities, while the Lending partners bring in their expertise in underwriting, disbursals and loan collection. 

PhonePe has successfully facilitated the disbursal of over 20,000 loans through its trusted NBFC partners since May 2023. The company has also achieved an annualised loan disbursal run rate of Rs.1000 crore, since launch. The phenomenal early traction the company has seen highlights the tremendous demand for credit among SMEs and the effectiveness of PhonePe’s Marketplace model in fulfilling this need. One of the distinguishing factors that sets PhonePe apart is its strong engagement with merchants in the payments business. The company’s in-depth understanding of a merchant’s transactional behavior is a strong dimension that validates the health of the merchant’s business. Furthermore, PhonePe is actively developing its own credit score using cutting-edge data science-driven models, which further augments the partner’s lending process and empower SMEs to access credit with greater ease.

Speaking on the launch, Hemant Gala, Vice President of Financial Services said, “Promoting financial inclusion is at the core of PhonePe’s mission. We are excited to launch Merchant Lending on our platform using the Marketplace Model, providing SMEs & MSMEs with access to organized credit and enabling their growth. By serving as a catalyst for the financial empowerment of MSME & SMEs, PhonePe is proud to contribute to the overall development of the economy and drive sustainable progress.’’

About PhonePe:

PhonePe was founded in December 2015 and has emerged as India’s largest payments app, enabling digital inclusion for consumers and merchants alike. With 46.5+ crore (465+ Million) registered users, one in four Indians are now on PhonePe. The company has also successfully digitized 3.5+ crore (35+ Million) offline merchants spread across Tier 2,3,4 and beyond, covering 99% postal codes in the country. PhonePe is also the leader in Bharat Bill Pay System (BBPS), processing over 45% of the transactions on the BBPS platform. PhonePe forayed into financial services in 2017, providing users with safe and convenient investing options on its platform. Since then, the company has introduced several Mutual Funds and Insurance products that offer every Indian an equal opportunity to unlock the flow of money and access to services. PhonePe has been recognized as the Most Trusted Brand for Digital Payments as per the Brand Trust Report for two consecutive years (2022 & 2023) by Trust Research Advisory (TRA).

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