Dialing Up Inclusion: PhonePe’s GSPay Acquisition Lets Feature Phones Join India’s UPI Party

Image Source: ET Edge Insights

PhonePe, the top fintech platform in India, has made a significant move by acquiring the GSPay technology stack from Gupshup. This acquisition is set to pave the way for UPI-based payments for millions of feature phone users throughout the country. By utilizing GSPay’s solid platform—developed on NPCI’s UPI 123PAY—PhonePe aims to close the digital gap, focusing on the large number of people who still depend on keypad phones.

Key Highlights

Acquisition & Customization: PhonePe has taken over GSPay’s proprietary technology and plans to tailor and enhance it, with plans to roll out its own UPI payment app for new feature phones in the upcoming quarters.

Enabling UPI for All: The new app will allow feature phone users to:
- Make peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers
- Pay using offline QR codes
- Receive money through mobile numbers or self-generated QR codes

Full Interoperability: Users of feature phones will be able to transact effortlessly with smartphone users, ensuring complete payment interoperability and promoting digital inclusion.

Massive Market Potential: With around 24 crore (240 million) feature phone users in 2024 and an additional 15 crore (150 million) expected in the next five years, this initiative opens up a huge, untapped market.

Financial Inclusion Focus: PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam highlighted the company’s commitment to serving historically underserved users, aiming to bring crores of feature phone customers into India’s digital payments ecosystem.

Strong Financials & IPO Plans: This announcement comes as PhonePe showcases strong financial health and gears up for a potential IPO, further cementing its position as a leader in India’s fintech scene.

Expanding Digital Reach: Already catering to over 60 crore users and 4 crore merchants, PhonePe’s new initiative is poised to accelerate the digital payments revolution in India.

“This segment of users has been historically underserved by the digital financial industry and the broader startup ecosystem. We hope we can enable crores of these feature phone customers to participate in India’s burgeoning digital payments market.”
— Sameer Nigam, Co-Founder & CEO, PhonePe

Source: Entrackr, Times of India, Goodreturns, CNBC-TV18, Business Today, Economic Times