PhonePe An ‘Exciting Opportunity’, Had Annualised TPV Of $830 Bn In Q2: Walmart

Touting PhonePe at its Q2  earnings call, American retail giant Walmart on Tuesday (August 16) said that the digital payments company is witnessing a strong growth in India.

PhonePe recorded annualised total payments volume (TPV) north of $830 Bn in the quarter ending July 2022, Walmart said, adding that PhonePe is witnessing 3.1 Bn monthly transactions.

“…if you look at the largest digital payment companies outside China in the world, PhonePe, after a very brief history, is already roughly two-thirds the size of that (China) and what is going to be the largest market (India) in the world. It is a very exciting opportunity,” Walmart chief financial officer John David Rainey said.

Underlining PhonePe’s future plans, Walmart also said that the digital payments giant is looking to strengthen its financial services segment as well, with a specific focus on insurance.

“What is encouraging is how they (PhonePe) are approaching this thing. They are not only looking at payments but also at merchant services. And that two sided network is an important part of it,” Walmart said. 

In response to a question, the company also said that it is deploying PhonePe’s knowledge of the space in other markets such as Mexico.

“Their knowledge and their ability to share that knowledge around the world, and help other markets such as Mexico from a best practices (perspective) and what they should do, has been incredibly invaluable…,” Walmart said.

Walmart owns both PhonePe as well as ecommerce major Flipkart.

On Tuesday, Walmart reported a 8.4% growth in its revenue to $153 Bn in the second quarter (Q2) of 2022. On similar lines, the US-based retail major’s international sales rose 5.7% to $24.4 Bn. Net income grew 8.4% to $5.1 Bn.

PhonePe is India’s biggest digital payments company, accounting for nearly half of the transactions processed on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). In July 2022, PhonePe accounted for 47.7% of the total transaction count, while it formed 49.4% of the total transaction volume.

Last month, PhonePe confirmed that it is moving its headquarters to India. The announcement also gave heft to reports that the fintech player is soon looking to list on Indian bourses. 

PhonePe claims to have more than 385 Mn registered users and over 30 Mn merchant outlets in India. It competes with the likes of Google Pay and Paytm in the highly-competitive Indian digital payments market.