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PhonePe, announced it has surpassed 50 million lifetime registered merchants as of 28th April, 2026 on its platform, a milestone that underscores its role in the ongoing digitization of India’s economy. With a merchant network covering more than 98% of the country’s postal codes, this achievement reflects PhonePe’s expansion from payment acceptance solutions to a broader suite of merchant solutions required by businesses to compete in an evolving digital economy.
The company attributed this milestone to its sustained, multi-year effort to simplify digital entry points for small-scale businesses. Starting with the deployment of QR codes, PhonePe focused on eliminating the high costs associated with adoption of digital payments. The PhonePe Business app made it seamless for merchants to manage their payments and operations and over time helped them opt in for other business solutions such as loans, SmartSpeakers and POS devices. Over the years, this approach, supported by a feet-on-street sales network & channel-partner agents and a focus on local language support allowed the platform to scale into the heart of Bharat. This consistent expansion has enabled millions of small shopkeepers and kirana stores to move away from cash-only operations and enter the formal digital economy.
Commenting on the milestone, Yuvraj Singh Shekhawat, Chief Business Officer, Merchant Business, PhonePe said, “Reaching 50 million merchants is a significant milestone in our effort to make financial services more accessible to merchants across India. For many of our partners, the journey began with a simple QR code, but that relationship has since matured. Today, digital payments serve as a gateway to a wider range of formal services, including credit. We remain committed to building the necessary infrastructure to ensure that we can achieve financial inclusion for the smallest of merchants and they can participate in the nation’s digital growth.”
The growth of its merchant network is further supported by a range of merchant solutions, including SmartSpeakers, Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals and loans. These solutions solve the payments and working capital needs of merchants by lowering the friction of digital payments adoption and aiding their business growth.
