PhonePe UPI-Based Payments App Now Available for iOS

PhonePe, the Flipkart-owned UPI-based payment app, is now available on iOS. The app was available on Android till date, and the e-commerce company had bought it out back in April last year.

Making the announcement on Twitter, PhonePe claims it is the first UPI-based payments app for iOS. That's not precisely true however - ICICI's iMobile app offers the feature, as well as payments.

PhonePe is currently listed on the App Store, and just like the Android app, is powered by Yes Bank, using the @ybl virtual payment addresses (VPAs).

Apart from a UPI-enabled bank account, users can use the PhonePe wallet as well as credit and debit cards to make payments. Another major feature touted by the app maker is the ability to partially pay using the PhonePe wallet, and then use other supported payment methods to complete the transaction.

While the app's listing page mentions support for all 35 UPI-enabled banks, including ICICI Bank, things may be a little different in practice however. ICICI Bank is said to be blocking the @ybl VPAs since last week. We were able to verify this ourselves - transactions to a @ybl VPA were declined when using the UPI option in ICICI's iMobile app; and in PhonePe on iOS, while we were able to link our ICICI account to @ybl VPA, transactions were declined.

ICICI in a statement had cited security concerns as the reason behind its move to block access to PhonePe, though, the move looks more like an incumbent protecting its turf. By limiting PhonePe's access to its accounts, ICICI - which is one of the biggest banks in India - effectively cuts PhonePe off from a significant part of the market as well.

The PhonePe app for iOS supports English, Hindi, and Tamil, with more languages promised to come soon.