Walmart-backed payment firm PhonePe has received a broking license from India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, which will enable it to distribute insurance products from all insurance companies in the country, it said in a statement on August 30, 2021.
The company said that the new broking license would allow it to offer personalized product recommendations to its more than 300 million users and offer a much more diverse portfolio of insurance products for Indian consumers.
PhonePe acquired app discovery platform Indus OS in a deal valued at around $60 million in May this year. Earlier the Bengaluru-based company acquired Zopper Retail to boost PhonePe’s ‘super app’–a platform that offers a wide range of services–Switch.
The insurance license will only augment the services offered by the company that started as an online payment aggregator in India and now planning to expand by foraying into other segments.
The new broking license also allows PhonePe to start offering personalized product
PhonePe had entered the insurance sector in January 2020 as a corporate agent, which allowed the company to partner with only three insurance companies per category, i.e., health, life and general. The new broking license also allows PhonePe to offer personalized product recommendations to its over 300 million users.
PhonePe has launched offerings across general insurance, term insurance and health insurance. The company said that the overwhelming response to its early insurance product launches from customers encouraged it to apply for an insurance broker license to expand its insurance offering for consumers rapidly.
“PhonePe is India’s fastest growing insurtech, and this move to broking will give us further momentum and accelerate our growth in this space,” said Gunjan Ghai, vice president and head of insurance at PhonePe.
“We are building a robust, full-service platform for our deeply engaged customer base through innovative products in partnership with high-quality insurers. This move will lead us closer to our goal of becoming a one-stop destination for all the insurance needs of our customers,” he further said.
The digital payment firms are leveraging their vast customer base to cross-sell financial services products. PhonePe’s rival Paytm has also acquired a broking license, enabling it to sell life and general insurance companies on its platform.
