PhonePe mulling entry into stockbroking business

Homegrown digital payments company PhonePe is reportedly planning to enter the stockbroking business. This move of PhonePe is said to intensify the battle for market share in the super competitive industry.

According to reports quoting sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the company is awaiting a stockbroking licence from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The Bengaluru-headquartered fintech startup aims to tap its existing customer base to leapfrog established rivals in the broking business, said reports. It will encourage customers to put a fraction of the unutilised funds in wallets into markets, sources were quoted as saying.

PhonePe processed 1.19 billion Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions worth Rs 2.31 lakh crore in March, cornering 44% of the UPI market, even as its closest rival Google Pay with 957 million transactions had a share of 35%, as per reports.

The development comes at a time when PhonePe has been asked to moderate its volume on UPI to comply with National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI’s) new rules for third-party applications that requires a single entity to cap market share at 30%.