New Delhi, September 24, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
PhonePe on Thursday announced plans to expand its merchant network and strengthen digital payment infrastructure across smaller towns and rural areas, including Tier 6 towns and villages.
As part of the expansion, the company plans to hire more than 20,000 frontline sales personnel on its rolls over the next year. It will also deploy more than 50 lakh payment devices, including SmartSpeakers and POS devices, over the next 12 months.
Around 50 per cent of the devices are expected to be deployed in rural India, helping extend digital payment acceptance to deeper rural geographies.
PhonePe said the recently announced MDR framework would enable it to take a long-term approach to merchant expansion and make further investments. It also pointed to initiatives such as a dedicated fund, using 5 per cent of the MDR amount collected for small merchant expansion, as a catalyst for investment in deep rural markets.
The company said the new labour codes introduced last year were also helping streamline compliance and accelerate hiring, enabling it to onboard a larger on-roll workforce.
India has developed one of the world’s largest digital payments ecosystems, and the next phase will require continued investment in merchant acceptance infrastructure, particularly to bring small businesses in smaller towns and villages into the digital economy.
PhonePe said its expanded frontline workforce would help reach merchants, onboard them onto digital payment platforms, complete KYC formalities, deploy payment devices and provide ongoing support.
The expansion is also expected to bring lakhs of small merchants further into the formal financial ecosystem. PhonePe said a digitally active and KYC-compliant merchant network could improve visibility into business activity and help eligible merchants access a wider range of formal financial services, including credit from lending institutions.
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