GSPay payment volumes soar 70% month-on-month as feature phone users embrace UPI

• UPI Payments through feature phones saw significantly high adoption prior to the festivals- Dussehra and Diwali
• The average ticket size stood above Rs 650
• Transactions upto Rs. 100 constituted 56% of the total payments

Mumbai, 29 November 2023: GSPay, the UPI 123 Pay powered payment app for feature phone users by Gupshup.io, witnessed a 70% MoM (month-on-month) increase in payment volume since its launch In June 2023. The app has been on a solid growth trajectory with its active user base rising by 80% month on month. This growth is in spite of economic headwinds and lower awareness levels in rural areas, which represent a large percentage of the feature phone user base. Built by Gupshup, India’s leading conversational messaging platform, the app harnesses the power of SMS messaging to deliver an easy to use UPI payment experience, without the need for data plan or internet connectivity.

In an interesting trend, the company saw a significant increase in P2P transfers just before Diwali. Compared to the end of October, the transfers have almost doubled. A similar trend was seen prior to Dussehra wherein P2P transactions consecutively saw an upward trend. The surge points to customers’ increased propensity to spend during festivals.

While the average ticket size stood above Rs 650, there was an increase during the end of every month attributed to salary day spends. Although Gupshup does not capture the geographical data of these users, anecdotal data suggest that most of these users hail from the northern region.

The distribution of transaction amounts revealed that transactions below Rs. 100 constituted 56% of the total payments, while those between Rs 100 and Rs 500 accounted for 22.31%. Transactions between Rs 500 and Rs 1000 made up 6.49%, and those above 1000 constituted 15.68% of the total.

GSPay saw a 20% month-on-month increase in new UPI IDs created, highlighting the feature phone user base’s preference for digital payments. It’s important to note here that GSPay’s messaging based interface allows new UPI ID creation in just a few simple steps, compared to the existing IVR based systems that support only existing UPI users. P2P payments emerged as a dominant force, contributing almost 80% to the total payment volume,  followed by P2M (Person-to-Merchant) transactions.

“When we set out to build a payment solution specifically for feature phone users, we knew we were addressing a major gap in financial access and inclusion but hadn’t expected the rapid adoption. The volume growth shows that there is incredible demand for this solution. At Gupshup, our mission is to bring people and businesses closer together through the power of Conversational Messaging and GSPay is a prime example of that”, said Beerud Sheth, CEO and Co-founder, Gupshup

“We still have a long way to go, but the early traction gives us confidence that GSPay can play a major role in supporting our vast population’s digital payment journey”. 

HMD Global, the maker of Nokia feature phones recently reported UPI integration as a key reason for its top performance in the feature phone segment.

Gupshup.io utilizes UPI 123 Pay, an instant payment system by RBI, to provide secure transactions for feature phone users. GSPay simplifies the process, allowing both existing and new users to register for UPI, link bank accounts, and set UPI PIN within the embedded app. This 2-step payment solution, available in 12 Indian languages, enables users to make payments via mobile number or UPI ID with ease. It also allows users to make payments by scanning a QR Code. The company collaborated with Nokia and itel, two of the leading feature phone brands to launch GSPay in June this year

About Gupshup.io

Gupshup.io is the leading conversational engagement platform for marketing, commerce, and support automation. Gupshup.io’s automation solutions enable 45,000+ brands across India, Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the United States to deliver better customer experience, and increased revenue while saving costs. Citibank, AkzoNobel, Khan Academy, Unilever, MPL, Netflix, Flipkart, and Ola are a few of its leading clients. With a single messaging API for 30+ channels across voice, text, and chat, the conversational engagement platform powers over 10 billion messages per month. Valued at $1.4 bn, the company has marquee investors such as Tiger Global, Fidelity Management and Research Co. LLC, and others on its cap table. Gupshup.io was recently announced as Meta’s partner of the year. For more details, please visit: www.gupshup.io.

Media Contact

Vandana
vandana.v@gupshup.io