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The PhonePe app, which is yet to hit the market, will enable customers to pay, request & receive money from their handset

Flipkart has acquired Bangalore-based PhonePe, a mobile payments company founded by former employees of the Indian e-commerce major.

The transaction details are not disclosed.

Post-acquisition, PhonePe will be run as an independent entity.

Founded in 2015 by former Flipkart employees Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, PhonePe is building an app to provide a cashless payment experience to customers. The app, which is yet to hit the market, will enable customers to pay, request & receive money from their handset.

One can send or request money instantly from anyone in India using just his/her mobile number. Money can be sent to anyone outside the PhonePe network as well, as long as they have a bank account.

“The acquisition of PhonePe is in line with Flipkart’s focus on driving innovation on the payments front,” said Binny Bansal, Co-founder and CEO of Flipkart. “Payments has been one of the biggest hurdles for mass adoption of online shopping in India.”

This is Flipkart’s third acquisition in the mobile payments space. Earlier, it has bought Chandigarh-based FX Mart, a payment services startup that deals in electronic payments, remittance, foreign exchange and travel-related businesses. Previously, it has picked significant stake in NGPay.

Flipkart’s close rivals Snapdeal and Paytm are operating their own mobile payments solutions.

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