PhonePe deploys 20 lakh SmartSpeakers within six months of launch

PhonePe has announced record-high distribution of 20 lakh SmartSpeakers within just six months of launch.

According to a statement by the company, the SmartSpeakers help validate customer payments without any intervention, and their speed of audio confirmations has helped build trust and reliability across over 3.5 crore merchants on the platform.

"The deployment of over 20 lakh SmartSpeakers across the country in record time is a testimony to PhonePe’s superior execution capabilities," said Vivek Lohcheb, Head of Offline Business at PhonePe.

"PhonePe has always crafted innovative products and customised offerings to address unique merchant requirements. We are delighted to see our SmartSpeakers being widely accepted across all regions and cities of the country," he added.

PhonePe said, on an average, the smart speakers validate more than 75 crore transactions per month. Merchant partners spread across 16,000 pin codes (>75% pin codes) in the country are using the SmartSpeakers, with Tier III locations seeing the deployment of more than five lakh devices. 

"As we continue to build for our merchants, we will enhance the hardware and software capabilities of the device to actively benchmark our product in the market," said Lohcheb.

Some of the features of the smart speakers include portability, better battery life, audio clarity, and a compact and versatile form factor, which allows merchants to use it even in the most congested counter spaces.

The device also provides payment notifications in 11 Indian languages and comes with up to four days of battery life, dedicated data connectivity, a battery level LED indicator for ease of use, audio alerts for low battery level, and a replay button for the last transaction.

The smart speakers is said to provide a suite of services to offline merchants as well, which include the interoperable QR code to accept digital payments through any UPI-enabled app, stores functionality where merchants can access a large base of customers in their vicinity, a business app to facilitate end-to-end control of an entire payment process, a store analytics feature for merchants to see their ratings and reviews, payment links for merchants to collect payment for goods and services remotely, and SmartSpeakers for reliable and convenient payment tracking at stores.

With over 44 crore (440 million) registered users, PhonePe has digitised more than 3.5 crore (35+ million) offline merchants spread across Tiers II, III, IV, and beyond, covering 99% of the pin codes in the country. 

The company processes over 45% of the transactions on the Bharat Bill Pay System (BBPS) platform.