Can NPCI's BHIM take on the giants it created?

About this episode

The episode discusses the resurgence of the BHIM app and its competition with major UPI players like PhonePe and Google Pay.

"Of course BHIM is giving crazy cashbacks. That's where I pay my bills." That's not a BHIM fan but a product head at a competing UPI app. After demonetisation hit in 2016, India desperately needed a way to go cashless overnight. UPI existed but barely anyone was using it. Banks were dragging their feet and private players were too small and too few. So, NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) built an entire payments app in weeks and put the Prime Minister behind it. BHIM clocked 10 million downloads in just 10 days. But just as quietly, NPCI put it to sleep and the private players took the bait. Fast forward to today, PhonePe and Google Pay between them own over 80% of all UPI transactions. Two American-backed companies are winning on the very road NPCI laid, while the architect has 0.8% market share on its own railway. So BHIM is back. With MS Dhoni as brand ambassador, cashbacks flying left, right and centre and a stated goal of hitting 5% market share. But can a government app out-app the giants it created? And why is it back and why now? Rahel Philipose and Praveen Gopal Krishnan sit down with Arundhati Ramanathan , deputy editor at The Ken who wrote the original BHIM…

People in this episode

Hosts: Rahel Philipose, Praveen Gopal Krishnan

Guests: Arundhati Ramanathan, Abhishek Madan

Topics covered

• UPI
• digital payments
• cashback
• market share
• competition
• government apps

Keywords

• BHIM
• NPCI
• UPI transactions
• cashbacks
• digital payments
• market competition

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NPCI, BHIM, PhonePe, Google Pay, Alt Inc, Paytm

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