PhonePe Among Top Fintech Firms With $1.3 Tn Total Payment Value: Walmart CFO

Retail giant Walmart said its digital payments subsidiary PhonePe has reached a total payment value (TPV) of $1.3 Tn, equating with some of the largest fintech firms in the US market.

“PhonePe is doing an amount of – the equivalent in their business is TPV, Total Payment Volume versus GMV in our business. They are doing roughly $1.3 Tn in Total Payment Volume. And that is at the same scale as the largest fintech players in the US. Like, to put that in context. That have market caps there, in some cases, north of $100 Bn,” John David Rainey, chief financial officer of Walmart said while speaking at Morgan Stanley Global Consumer and Retail Conference.

PhonePe was reportedly planning for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2024-2025. The fintech platform also secured an additional $200 Mn in primary capital from Walmart at a pre-money valuation of $12 Bn in March this year.

While Walmart also has ecommerce giant Flipkart in its portfolio, Rainey said both entities are contemplating a potential path towards an IPO or going public in the future.

“And as they inch towards that, you’ll likely see improvements in profitability as well. And so, part of the improvement in our P&L is the reduction of losses in their P&L as we consolidate, and both of them have executed very well and I have got a high degree of confidence in their ability to continue to do so,” he added further.

Earlier this year, Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said that the company would look at multiple geographies, including India, for its public issue, said to be in the range of $60-70 Bn.

Flipkart India, the business-to-business (B2B) arm of Flipkart, saw its standalone net loss balloon over 42% to INR 4,845.7 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 3,404.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. The company’s B2B arm saw its operating revenue increase a mere 9.7% to INR 55,923.9 Cr.

Meanwhile, PhonePe recorded a revenue of INR 2,914 Cr in the financial year ended March 31, 2023, an increase of almost 77% from INR 1,646 Cr in FY22. The startup, in a statement, attributed the increase in revenue to growth in money transfers, mobile recharges and bill payments.

The platform has been diversifying its product offerings through many new launches. It also launched the Indus Appstore Developer Platform for Android app developers to take on giants Apple and Google. PhonePe also announced its foray into the merchant lending space as well.