Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has infused ₹451 crores ($65.8 million) in its digital payments platform PhonePe, as per RoC filings. This investment is a part of the $500 million commitment announced by Flipkart in October 2017.
This investment takes the total investment made by Flipkart in PhonePe to $184.1 million. Earlier PhonePe had received $79.6 million in March 2018 and $38.7 million in August 2017.
The investment comes soon after PhonePe had edged past Paytm to claim the top spot in UPI transactions with 40% market share in July 2018. This investment will help PhonePe to amp up its efforts to tackle Paytm, as it looks to expand in both the online and offline domain.
Last month PhonePe had acquired Zopper Retail, in order to strengthen its offline presence. Zopper Retail provides a hyperlocal PoS platform that will enable PhonePe to connect with millions of merchants using its platform.
Earlier in November 2017, PhonePe had launched its own PoS device targeted towards small merchants like kirana store, petrol pumps, restaurants chains, among others.
As PhonePe looks to strengthen its presence, its Softbank-backed rival Paytm is also strengthening its online financial services game, as it recently acquired smart-savings management startup Balance Technology to help its users to achieve their financial goals.
Paytm is also venturing into the overseas market as it partners with Softbank to help it launch its digital payments platform in Japan.
While Paytm is still a market leader in its domain, Flipkart is flush with cash after its $16 billion acquisition by Walmart, it is already boosting its efforts in PhonePe to help it expand.