Flipkart acquires mobile payments firm PhonePe

India’s homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart has acquired a Bengaluru-based mobile payments company PhonePe for an undisclosed sum.
PhonePe has been co-founded by ex-Flipkart employees Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari. After the acquisition, the mobile payments company will function as an independent business unit.
Key facts

• PhonePe is building India’s a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based product. It is expected to be launched in April 2016.
• The interface this mobile payments gateway will allow users to transact using their unique identification and mobile phone number or virtual payments address.
• This will be without sharing any other bank details and anyone with a bank account can perform instant transactions by using mobile phone.
• This payment gateway is in contrast to the present payments process, which involves entering numerous account/card details and multi-level interventions.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016