PhonePe's wealth-broking platform, PhonePe Invest, lost 40% of its active users since March 2025. This user churn comes as the company's overall losses for FY26 increased by over 60% to ₹2,800 crore. The issue points to a deeper conflict between PhonePe's marketing DNA and the trust-driven world of investing.
How We Got Here
PhonePe rebranded its wealth platform from Share.Market to PhonePe Invest in October, after active user numbers dropped from 355,000 in March 2025 to 200,000 by September 2026. This user decline coincided with a 60% jump in PhonePe's FY26 losses, primarily driven by write-offs in subsidiaries like Indus App Store and Pincode.
The Numbers
- PhonePe Invest charges ₹10 flat for F&O, half of what Paytm Money and Dhan charge, but offers no US stocks or MTFs.
- Nine PhonePe executives and five analysts told The Ken the platform lacks leadership debating investment strategy and needs a sharper focus on core products and content.
- A former senior executive contrasted PhonePe's marketing DNA with the content and trust-driven strategies of rivals like Zerodha and Groww.
- PhonePe Invest manages ₹6,000 crore in mutual fund distribution and processes 2.3 million monthly SIPs.
- Despite 700 million PhonePe app users, the company has struggled to cross-sell wealth products effectively.
What Happens Next
🇮🇳 Why This Matters for India
For fintech founders in Hyderabad building niche wealth products, PhonePe's struggle highlights that a large user base alone doesn't guarantee adoption in a trust-intensive sector.
The Take
The rebranding to PhonePe Invest is cosmetic; the real issue lies in PhonePe's leadership culture, which treats wealth as another marketing channel. Until they hire and empower strong investment minds like Zerodha or Groww, user retention will remain a problem.
Source:
The Ken ↗