PhonePe has renamed Indus Appstore and is adding gift cards, vouchers and digital top-ups as it expands beyond app distribution into commerce powered by its payments network.
PhonePe has renamed its Indus Appstore as PhonePe Appstore and is pushing the platform beyond basic app discovery into a broader digital goods marketplace tied to its payments network. The company said users will now be able to buy digital gift cards and vouchers from brands in categories including shopping, travel, gaming, health and fitness, food and lifestyle, with checkout handled through PhonePe’s own payments infrastructure.
The move reflects PhonePe’s effort to turn its scale in payments into a wider commerce business. According to the company, the app store is already installed on more than 200 million devices, largely through pre-load arrangements with handset makers such as Motorola and Alcatel. PhonePe said its biggest user bases are in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana, underscoring the platform’s reach well beyond the country’s largest metro markets.
Priya Narasimhan, chief business officer of PhonePe Appstore, said the rebrand marks “a major milestone” and gives developers access to new revenue opportunities through ads, gift cards and top-ups. The company is also preparing to launch phonepeappstore.com, a web store aimed at letting consumers browse and buy digital goods from desktop and mobile browsers without installing another app.
PhonePe said its next phase will include Digital Top-ups, a feature for instant purchases of in-game currency, dating app boosts and other digital add-ons, with gaming top-ups due first. The company is pitching the platform as an alternative route for developers to distribute and monetise software, while building on the trust and transaction flow already established by its payments business.
The rebrand is the second in recent weeks after PhonePe renamed its stockbroking arm Share.Market as PhonePe Invest. PhonePe launched Indus Appstore in February 2024 as a home-grown rival to Google Play Store, supporting 12 Indian languages and English, after buying Indus OS in July 2022. The latest change suggests the company is leaning further into a broader digital commerce strategy, where payments, discovery and micro-purchases are increasingly being packaged together.
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