Flipkart is looking forward to invest Rs. 670 crore in order to start an independent digital payments business, according to a latest report from the Economic Times. The homegrown e-commerce giant will invest the sum over a period of three years.
The standalone digital payments business will be headed by PhonePe which is the mobile payment start-up that was acquired by Flipkart in April this year. The new product will work similarly to a digital wallets as it will be built Unified Payments Interface, the government approved technology platform. It will also let consumers pay online without using either a card or a netbanking service.
Sameer Nigam, founder of PhonePe and head of payments business at Flipkart says that PhonePe is designed as an omni-channel product that will act as a container for multiple payment solutions which also includes a semi-closed digital wallet. PhonePe has partnered with a large bank for deploying its UPI technology.
PhonePe will allow users to transact using their unique identification and mobile phone number or virtual payments address without sharing any other bank details. This is unlike the present payments process, which involves entering various account/card details and multi-level interventions. Anyone holding an active bank account can easily perform instant transactions by simply using their mobile phone.
As per the report, PhonePe will be available for customers on Flipkart, Myntra and even for those using the logistics service eKart. The company plans to roll out the platform to other digital platforms gradually.