Fintech

BharatPe Rebrands postpe to Enter Consumer Payments Market, Takes on Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay

• ByStartupStory     |    August 29, 2024

BharatPe, a leading merchant payment app in India, has announced its entry into the consumer payments segment by rebranding its Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) app, postpe, to BharatPe. This rebranding marks the company’s foray into the highly competitive digital payments space, where it will now compete directly with established players such as Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay.

With this rebranding, BharatPe aims to extend its reach beyond its existing merchant network to millions of consumers who rely on digital payments for their everyday transactions. “With this launch, BharatPe will be able to cater to millions of customers who use digital payments,” the company said in a statement.

To bolster its new offering, BharatPe has partnered with Unity Small Finance Bank, enabling the app to function as a UPI TPAP (Third Party Application Provider). The newly rebranded BharatPe app is currently available to Android users and offers a wide range of features tailored to consumer needs.

Consumers using the BharatPe app can now perform a variety of transactions, including payments, bank transfers, balance checks, collection authorizations, and raising collection requests. Additionally, the app supports utility bill payments, including gas, DTH, electricity, and insurance payments.

A standout feature of the new BharatPe app is UPI Lite, which allows consumers to preload their digital wallets and make transactions of up to Rs 500 across peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions without requiring a UPI PIN. This feature aims to streamline the payment process for small transactions.

Explaining the rationale behind this move, Nalin Negi, CEO of BharatPe, emphasized the growing potential of UPI in India. “The next stage of growth for UPI will come from Bharat and hence, we have designed this app, keeping in mind the needs of the customers of Bharat,” said Negi.

Looking ahead, BharatPe plans to introduce a portfolio of new features on its app in the coming months. Kohinoor Biswas, Business Head-Consumer at BharatPe, highlighted the strategic importance of the rebranding. “Observing significant interest in the consumer payments product space, we wanted to introduce a UPI payment offering for consumers. This also enables to complete the cycle and offer both consumer and merchant payments,” Biswas said.

Biswas further elaborated on the company’s vision for the rebranded app, stating, “Rebranding postpe as BharatPe aligns with the company’s goal of providing a unified brand and platform for both consumers and merchants.”

BharatPe has built a robust presence as a merchant payment app, boasting a network of over 1.3 crore merchants who process more than 370 million UPI transactions per month. The company’s lending arm, BharatPe Money, has also facilitated loans exceeding Rs 15,000 crore in partnership with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

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