PhonePe Receives Direct Insurance Broking Licence From IRDAI

Fintech unicorn PhonePe has been issued an insurance broking licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). In 2020, PhonePe entered the insurtech sector with a limited insurance corporate agent licence, which restricted the company to partner with only three insurance companies per category. 

With this new ‘direct broking’ licence, PhonePe can now distribute insurance products from all insurance companies in India. It will also allow the startup to offer customised product recommendations and a diverse portfolio of insurance products for Indian consumers.

Founded in 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Burzin Engineer, and Rahul Chari, PhonePe is a digital payments platform via which users can send and receive money, recharge mobile, DTH, data cards, pay at stores, make utility payments and more. Acquired in 2016 by Flipkart, PhonePe is among India’s leading UPI platforms, owning 47.61% market share.

In 2017, the payments platform forayed into financial services on its app, including gold purchases, investments, and mutual funds. 

In addition, in early 2020, PhonePe diversified into the insurance segment as a ‘corporate agent’ and broadened its offerings across general insurance, term insurance, and health insurance. 

The startup claims its insurance product received responses from millions of customers, which motivated it to apply for an insurance broking license.

Speaking on the development, Gunjan Ghai, vice president & head of insurance, PhonePe, said, “This license is a big milestone in our insurance journey. PhonePe is India’s fastest growing insurtech, and this move to broking will give us further momentum and accelerate our growth in this space. We are building a robust, full-service platform for our deeply engaged customer base through innovative products in partnership with high-quality insurers.”

Earlier this month, the startup also launched its account aggregator platform, enabling a free and instant exchange of financial data between the financial information users (FIUs) and financial information providers (FIPs) with consumer consent. 

PhonePe is also eyeing a piece of the stockbroking market. In August 2021, it received approval from its board to set up a mutual fund business or asset management company (AMC).