Indian FinTech PhonePe Launches Credit Use on App

PhonePe is rolling out a way for Indian consumers to link their credit lines to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its platform.

Shoppers can now make payments on PhonePe via Credit Line on UPI, allowing them to buy from millions of merchants, PhonePe said in a Thursday (Aug. 22) news release.

The feature comes as the Reserve Bank of India expanded the scope of UPI to include pre-approved credit lines, which allows consumers to pay with credit through their banks on UPI apps, according to the release.

“This is the second offering that will unlock the potential of credit usage on UPI, following the tremendous success of Rupay Credit Card on UPI,” Deep Agrawal, head of payments at PhonePe, said in the release. “We believe digital payments in India are growing strength to strength, and PhonePe is committed to providing the most innovative and best-in-class solutions to our customers.”

In February, PhonePe announced the launch of a new app store that aims to drive app discovery in India. The Indus Appstore for Android devices provides Indian consumers with access to more than 200,000 mobile apps and games across 45 categories, operating in 12 Indian languages that cater to 95% of the country’s population.

Additionally, the app store allows app and game developers to use any third-party payment gateway for in-app billing without having to pay a commission. Developers also gain access to a self-publishing platform, localization services, tools for monitoring and growing their apps, and 24/7 customer support.

Walmart, which has a majority stake in PhonePe, said in June that the FinTech company is years away from going public.

“This is something we’re looking at over the next couple of years,” Walmart Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs Dan Bartlett said, referencing both PhonePe and eCommerce company Flipkart.

“There’s a lot of processes that have to be put in place before we go public,” Bartlett said about PhonePe. “Obviously, the question about the Indian exchange versus others” is “under consideration” for the future IPO listing.