The project will take place over the next three years and aims at helping the online retailer reduce its dependency on cash transactions. Flipkart plans to roll out a digital wallet that allows consumers to pay online without using a card or an online banking service. To support this feature, it will be built on the government-approved technology platform — Unified Payments Interface.
PhonePe, a payments startup acquired by Flipkart in April 2016, is expected to launch the digital wallet in the coming weeks. Initially, the wallet will be available on the parent site and Myntra, later it will be rolled out for use across other digital sites. The ultimate aim is positioning it as an offline payment mechanism, even within kirana stores. Flipkart representatives said that they plan to build a separate digital payment solution for each category that the company targets.
Several in the industry feel that Flipkart may be late in building a payments business, as players like Paytm already claims a user base of 130 million. Freecharge claims it registers a million transactions daily, growing at 15%, according to timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
But Flipkart is relying on its registered customer base of 75 million to provide an edge. Their consumer acquisition strategy will be from Flipkart application and its customers, the site continues.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now