The well-known fintech business PhonePe, which is sponsored by Walmart, recently unveiled its newest app, “Share.Market,” signaling its entry into the stock broking space. Utilizing a variety of financial products, such as equities, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), users of this new program will be able to trade and invest.

Sameer Nigam, the founder and CEO of PhonePe, revealed the company’s strategic direction when he said, “Following our recent launches in lending, insurance, and payment gateway businesses, as well as the initiation of mutual fund distribution four years ago, we are now stepping into the stock broking sector through our subsidiary PhonePe Wealth.”

Following the launch of the “Share.Market” app in 2022, PhonePe acquired the wealthtech platforms WealthDesk and OpenQ for a combined $70 million. This action served as a metaphor for PhonePe’s extensive expansion into financial services outside of its main payment business.

In order to enter the competitive stockbroking market, PhonePe actively pursued a license from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the nation’s regulatory body, beginning in 2021. At the moment, reputable companies like Zerodha, Groww, and Upstox dominate the sector.

The founder and CEO of Zerodha, Nithin Kamath, expressed excitement over PhonePe’s arrival into the market. Speaking at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2023, Kamath emphasized that PhonePe will be the best candidate to grow the market. The capital markets and users will benefit greatly from the user base that PhonePe possesses.

The most recent action by PhonePe comes five months after the company received an extra $100 million in capital from General Atlantic Private Equity and other investors. Prior to Walmart’s $200 million initial capital injection, the company had received $100 million from venture capitalists Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and TVS Capital Funds.

The $12 billion fintech behemoth, which is now part of Walmart, displayed impressive numbers in its operational performance. During the May-July quarter, PhonePe processed approximately 5 billion transactions in a single month, breaking a record. It also recorded a $1.15 trillion annualized total payments volume.

The expansion efforts of PhonePe go beyond stock brokerage. The organization provides a wide variety of financial services. In order to promote digital access and sharing of financial information with user consent, it established Account Aggregator (AA) services in June. In the same month, the company introduced its online payment gateway for MSME merchants as well as its Point-of-Sale (POS) device, which allows for offline payments. In addition, PhonePe unveiled a platform for merchant lending to make it easier for its sizable merchant network to get digital credit.

PhonePe’s foray into the stock broking industry is another significant step in its development as a provider of all-inclusive financial solutions as it continues to diversify its offerings and widen its market reach.