India’s Fintech major PhonePe officially launched its merchant lending service on June 23. The service would allow banks and non-banking financial companies to provide access to its 35 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) merchants.
Hemant Gala, Vice President of Financial Services at PhonePe said, “Promoting financial inclusion is at the core of PhonePe’s mission. We are excited to launch merchant lending on our platform using the Marketplace Model, providing SMEs and MSMEs with access to organised credit and enabling their growth.”
PhonePe kickstarted its digital lending space in the month of April as a pilot for merchants and the company promised to roll out the service soon. The move is seen as a major development for the Walmart backed Fintech firm which puts it into direct competition with Paytm, its largest rival in the country.
The firm in its statement said that they are currently integrated with three partners and they are in talks with 3-4 more partners to make the marketplace more comprehensive for lenders. The loans ranges from Rs 15,000 to Rs 5 lakh, depending on the merchant.
PhonePe is not looking for an NBFC license now but the firm will run the business with bank partnerships.
