More than a year and a half after its spin-off from PhonePee, Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has quietly started rolling out its own payments app, called Super Money, as it expands its fintech ambitions.
The Walmart-owned company's new app, currently in beta on the Play Store, allows users to make mobile payments via UPI, an interoperable network that is the most common way Indians conduct online transactions. To lure customers, Super.money promises “real cashback,” not “useless rewards,” for paying, sending and receiving money via the app, the Android app description says.
The Flipkart Group-owned company also plans to expand its services to include secured cards and loans, according to a description in the app. Super Money lists DMI Finance, Axis Bank and Credit Saison India as partners on its website.
A Super.money spokesperson confirmed the launch of the beta version of its namesake app: “With a focus on uncluttered UX and great rewards for every transaction, super.money intends to change the way people engage with and use financial services. The super.money team will continue to evaluate customer feedback over the coming weeks to further improve the product,” the spokesperson said.
Super.money app, screenshot from TechCrunch
The launch comes following Flipkart's separation from PhonePe in the second half of 2022. PhonePe is India's largest mobile payments app, processing around 50% of all transactions on the UPI network.
Flipkart had no plans to re-enter the mobile payments market when it split off from PhonePe, TechCrunch reported at the time, but the company is no stranger to financial services, having provided loans to merchants for years and partnering with lenders to offer installment payments to customers.
Prakash Sikaria, founder and CEO, Super.money, told TechCrunch, “The digital payments and financial services landscape is rapidly evolving, creating incredible opportunities for innovation. super.money aims to leverage the UPI infrastructure to democratize access to financial services, which is aligned with the government's larger vision of financial inclusion. We are working on several exciting products that we will launch soon.”
Flipkart maintains a leading position in India's e-commerce market, with HSBC estimating that its sales reached $60 billion to $65 billion last year. The platform serves more than twice as many daily active users as its main rival, Amazon India, according to Bank of America. More than two-thirds of Flipkart's customers live in smaller cities and towns in India. Flipkart plans to launch a quick commerce service as early as next month, aiming to challenge Amazon India's strong position in urban areas.
Flipkart isn't the only big player exploring the fintech space again: Reliance's Jio Financial Services also launched its own payments app, also in beta, last month.