India’s leading digital payments platform PhonePe has revealed key operational and financial details in its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ahead of its planned Initial Public Offering (IPO). The documents show that the company has built a massive merchant network of over 47 million businesses across India, making it one of the largest digital commerce ecosystems in the country.

Merchant Network Covers Nearly Entire India

According to the filing, the number of merchants registered on PhonePe reached 47.1 million as of September 30, 2025. The platform’s reach now extends to 98.61% of India’s PIN codes, indicating deep penetration into both urban and rural markets.

By March 2025, merchants on the platform represented roughly 77–80% of India’s total trade and service sector merchants. Additionally, the number of monthly active merchants exceeded 11.3 million, accounting for nearly 54% of the country’s active UPI merchants.

Hardware Devices Boost Merchant Payments

To strengthen its merchant ecosystem, PhonePe has deployed a vast network of over 9.19 million physical payment devices across India. These include smart payment speakers and other digital tools that provide instant audio confirmation of transactions.

The company has also built a strong operational network to support merchants, including:

• 25,000+ field team members

• 31,000 agents

These teams focus heavily on expanding the company’s presence in semi-urban and rural markets, where digital payment adoption continues to grow.

Merchant Lending Emerges as Fastest-Growing Segment

The DRHP highlights merchant lending as the fastest-growing business segment for PhonePe. The company uses transaction data from its platform to provide credit insights to lending partners, enabling merchants to access collateral-free loans.

Loan disbursements through the platform have increased sharply:

• ₹11 crore in FY2023

• ₹4,507 crore by FY2025

In the first half of FY2026 alone, the company generated ₹288.087 crore in lending revenue, reflecting strong demand for credit among small businesses.

Expanding Beyond Digital Payments

The merchant payments business generated approximately ₹19,910.36 billion in revenue in FY2025, accounting for about 28% of PhonePe’s total revenue.

The company’s platform recorded a total annual payment value (TPV) of nearly ₹15 lakh crore, underscoring its transformation from a simple payments app into a comprehensive financial services ecosystem.

Industry analysts say the upcoming PhonePe IPO could become one of the most closely watched listings in India’s fintech sector, highlighting the rapid expansion of digital payments in the country.