PhonePe Plans Major Rural Expansion

Fintech company PhonePe has announced plans to expand its merchant network and digital payment infrastructure across smaller towns and rural areas. Over the next year, the company plans to hire more than 20,000 frontline sales employees and deploy over 50 lakh payment devices, including SmartSpeakers and POS devices. Around half of the new devices are expected to be deployed in rural India, with a focus on smaller towns and villages.

PhonePe said the recently announced Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework will support long-term investment in merchant expansion. The company also pointed to a dedicated fund that will use 5% of the MDR amount collected for small-merchant expansion, particularly in deeper rural areas. PhonePe said streamlined compliance under the new labour codes will also help it hire a larger on-roll workforce and strengthen merchant onboarding and support.