What was announced

PhonePe launched UPI123Pay for feature phones on August 31, with pre-installation partnerships covering Nokia, HMD, Lava and Itel devices. The service is designed to send payments without an internet connection using an SMS-based system.

Users can make person-to-person transfers using mobile numbers or UPI IDs and pay merchants using UPI IDs or supported QR scanning. Balance checks and transaction history are included. PhonePe also introduced a voice assistant to help with activation in English and 12 Indian languages. Bill payments, recharges and Aadhaar-based onboarding were described as future updates, rather than launch features. The product broadens the types of devices that can access PhonePe payments, while handset support and mobile-network conditions still determine what an individual user can do.

Sources & further reading

Primary announcement

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