Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest, Nigam described PhonePe’s priorities for the coming decade. The company is working with NPCI to address barriers faced by people without smartphones or bank accounts, aiming to widen access to payments and savings.

For users without internet access, PhonePe is promoting UPI 123Pay, described as supporting payments through SMS or missed calls on basic phones. It reported shipping more than eight lakh devices supporting the feature. UPI Circle allows an account holder to authorise spending by relatives, extending payment access within households.

PhonePe’s approach to affordable financial products centres on small contributions. Its Daily FD allows users to begin with ₹100 per day, while gold and mutual fund SIP options start at ₹10. Nigam also said conventional credit scoring can overlook small merchants despite regular sales. PhonePe uses AI to assess merchants’ daily settlement records and said loans can be disbursed in 2.5 minutes. Its Wish Credit Card uses a small fixed deposit to help first-time borrowers establish credit histories.

The updated PhonePe Business App adds local advertising and stock-planning tools. AI-powered Smartpages can create payment pages in under ten minutes, while voice payment alerts can feature celebrity voices. PhonePe also introduced Pulse Pro, a tool covering more than 11 billion monthly transactions to offer local business insights for companies and policymakers.