PhonePe becomes first Indian fintech to allow cross border UPI payments service

Founded in 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, and Burzin Engineer in Bangalore, Phone Pe is an Indian Financial Technology Company. 

It is a one-stop digital payments app that lets users receive and make payments, pay bills, recharge, shop, and invest. It allows using BHIM UPI, your credit card, and your debit card or wallet for making transactions. 

It was acquired by Flipkart and was made live to the public in 2016. Within a year, the company registered 10 million downloads and become one of the largest drivers of UPI transactions. 

The business has hit important milestones. It reported 2 billion transactions and more than 250 million registered users by the year 2020. In the same year, they also introduced 9 mutual funds and 5 lakh policies in 5 months.

In FY22, its income increased by 138% to Rs 1,646 crore, while its losses (excluding ESOP costs) decreased by 15% annually to Rs 671 crore. It received 99% of its operating revenue from processing payments. During the three quarters, this segment contributed Rs 1,913 crore to PhonePe's revenue.

Recently, Phone pe has unveiled the launch of a new feature that lets users make international payments via UPI. 

UPI payments can be made to any foreign merchant in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mauritius, Bhutan, and Nepal who has a local QR code thanks to a project established in partnership with NIPL (NPCI International Payments Limited). In the near future, the business intends to launch "UPI International" in other nations.

The foreign currency will be taken out of the user's bank account, and the transactions will function exactly like they would with an international debit card.

The recipient will receive the funds in their own currency after the payments are made through Indian banks. This does away with the necessity for foreign credit, debit, and currency cards.

It is the first financial platform in the nation to have this feature thanks to this feature.

The feature will eventually be made public and the software is accessible on both iOS and Android devices.