PhonePe hits 50 million merchants as IPO nears 2026

Milestone that maps PhonePe’s reach in India

PhonePe said it crossed 50 million lifetime registered merchants on April 28, 2026, as it steps up efforts to expand digital payments and related financial services across India. The company said its merchant base now spans over 98% of the country’s postal codes, including small towns and rural markets. The update was shared in a company statement and comes at a time when PhonePe is preparing to go public. PhonePe said it has filed an updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The company said it plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) subject to approvals and market conditions. For India’s payments ecosystem, the scale of merchant adoption is a key indicator because merchant acceptance drives day-to-day UPI usage.

From QR acceptance to a broader merchant stack

PhonePe’s merchant offering began with QR code-based payment acceptance and has since widened into a larger set of services for small businesses, according to the company. It now offers solutions beyond payments, including loans and business tools designed to address working capital needs. PhonePe also highlighted physical acceptance and engagement products such as SmartSpeakers and point-of-sale (POS) devices. The company positioned these tools as part of a shift from basic payment collection to a wider formal-services gateway. In its statement, it said the suite aims to help businesses scale while also integrating them more deeply into the formal economy. This strategy puts merchant services at the centre of monetisation and retention in a market where consumer payments are increasingly commoditised.

What PhonePe said about the merchant milestone

PhonePe’s merchant business leadership tied the milestone to its broader inclusion agenda. “Reaching 50 million merchants is a significant milestone in our effort to make financial services more accessible to merchants across India,” said Yuvraj Singh Shekhawat, Chief Business Officer, Merchant Business at PhonePe. He added that for many merchants, the adoption journey began with a QR code but digital payments now act as a gateway to formal services, including credit. PhonePe’s statement emphasised that increasing accessibility in smaller towns has been central to the company’s expansion. It also highlighted a focus on coverage across geographies rather than only growing in top metros. The company linked the expansion to both payment acceptance and access to credit-led products for merchants.

Expansion beyond metros and into local markets

PhonePe said its merchant network spans over 98% of India’s postal codes, which includes smaller towns and rural markets. The company also attributed its reach to on-ground execution and support in local languages, as described in the accompanying coverage. According to the report, teams reached markets and shops directly to explain how digital payments work in local languages, which helped smaller merchants adopt digital payment tools. This operational approach matters in areas where cash transactions have historically dominated and where digital adoption can depend on trust and ease of onboarding. The company’s strategy indicates a push to reduce friction for merchants who may be using digital payments for the first time. For the broader UPI ecosystem, deeper coverage can expand acceptance density and increase the likelihood that consumers can pay digitally in more locations.

IPO context: UDRHP filing and what it signals

The milestone was reported as PhonePe prepares to go public. PhonePe has filed an updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP) with SEBI and said it plans to launch an IPO subject to approvals and market conditions. While the company did not provide a timeline in the provided text, the filing process typically requires regulatory review and subsequent updates before an issue opens. For market participants, IPO preparations often bring more operational and financial disclosures into the public domain. In this case, parts of PhonePe’s scale metrics were also cited from filings and related reporting referenced alongside the milestone. The combination of a large merchant footprint and disclosed engagement metrics can be important for investors assessing product stickiness and monetisation potential.

What earlier filings show about scale and engagement

Alongside the April 2026 update, the provided material also references metrics attributed to PhonePe’s disclosures filed with SEBI for the planned IPO. As of September 30, 2025, PhonePe’s registered merchant base was stated at 47.19 million and coverage at 98.61% of India’s pin codes. As of March 31, 2025, merchants on the platform were described as representing roughly 77% to 80% of India’s total trade and services merchant population. Monthly active merchants were stated at 11.31 million in March 2025, accounting for approximately 54% of all active UPI merchants in the country. Daily active merchant engagement rose to 60.77% of monthly actives by September 2025, up from 44.18% in March 2023. The same set of details also referenced 9.19 million devices deployed, and noted the PhonePe app was launched in 2016.

Merchant monetisation and the revenue base

The material also points to merchant payments as an increasingly important revenue line for the company. It states that the Merchant Payments segment generated Rs 19,910.36 million in revenue in FY2025 and accounted for nearly 28% of PhonePe’s total revenue from operations. Normalised, that is about ₹1,991.04 crore (₹ crore basis) for FY2025. The same reporting also cited Merchant Total Payment Value (TPV) reaching Rs 15 trillion annually. While TPV is not revenue, it is often tracked as a scale indicator because it reflects throughput across payment rails. Together, these metrics frame how merchant infrastructure can evolve from a distribution network into a monetised platform through devices, services, and credit-led products.

Key facts at a glance

Market impact: what changes and what does not

Because PhonePe is not yet listed, the immediate market impact is primarily on competitive positioning rather than a direct stock price response. The merchant milestone highlights continuing adoption of UPI-linked acceptance, especially outside large urban centres, where acquiring and servicing merchants can be cost intensive. The disclosures cited in the material indicate that merchant payments already contribute a significant share of revenue from operations, with FY2025 Merchant Payments revenue stated at nearly 28% of the total. Devices such as SmartSpeakers and POS terminals, along with loans and other tools, can improve merchant engagement by making acceptance more reliable and by adding value beyond payments. At the ecosystem level, higher merchant density can support higher digital payment frequency by reducing the need for cash. The IPO filing context suggests that investors will focus on whether high coverage and engagement convert into durable revenue streams.

Analysis: why the merchant count matters ahead of an IPO

A large registered merchant count is useful, but engagement metrics such as monthly active merchants and daily intensity are often more telling of platform health. The referenced metrics show 11.31 million monthly active merchants in March 2025 and daily engagement of 60.77% of monthly actives by September 2025, indicating frequent usage among active merchants. Coverage across over 98% of postal codes also points to operational breadth, which can create distribution advantages for upselling financial services such as credit. The FY2025 Merchant Payments revenue figure cited in the material indicates that merchant services are not just a cost centre but an established revenue line. For an IPO-bound company, these data points help frame a narrative around scale, monetisation, and how payments can anchor a broader financial services model. What remains dependent on future disclosures is the pace of growth, unit economics, and the mix between payments-led and financial-services-led revenues.

Conclusion

PhonePe’s 50 million lifetime registered merchants milestone, reported for April 28, 2026, underscores the scale it has built in merchant acceptance across India, with over 98% postal code coverage. The company is also widening its merchant proposition from QR payments to loans, devices, and business tools aimed at working capital and day-to-day operations. The milestone arrives as PhonePe has filed an updated UDRHP with SEBI and plans an IPO subject to approvals and market conditions. The next set of updates to watch will be regulatory progress on the filing and any additional disclosures that clarify business mix, monetisation, and merchant engagement trends.