Processed over 1 bn merchant transactions in Nov 2021, offline payments up 200 pc YoY: PhonePe

Digital payments major PhonePe on Monday said offline merchant transactions on its platform have shown 200 per cent growth since last year, and it processed over a billion P2M (peer to merchant) transactions in the month of November. The company also said it has digitised 25 million small merchants and kirana stores in the country.

PhonePe attributed this growth to the rapid expansion it has seen in offline merchant acceptance across geographies, with a 1.25 lakh strong field force who have been instrumental in driving and supporting the company’s merchant acceptance network across Bharat. “PhonePe now has a merchant network across 15,700 towns and villages, constituting 99 per cent pin codes in the country,” it said in a statement.

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The company had previously announced its plans to hit the 25 million number by the end of 2021, and has achieved this target weeks ahead of schedule. In November, PhonePe processed over a billion P2M transactions. P2M transactions on PhonePe include payments made by users at offline and online stores and all utility payments like Recharges, Bill Payments and Financial Services.

PhonePe has emerged as India’s largest digital payments platform, and we are leading the industry on all key metrics which includes value and volume of transactions, registered users as well as merchant coverage,” PhonePe founder and CEO Sameer Nigam said. He added that earlier this year, PhonePe undertook the target of digitising over 25 million kiranas across India, and the company has achieved this milestone in record time.

“(This is) due to our relentless focus in making payments accessible to the last mile, and our strong execution capabilities, he noted.