Fintech unicorn Razorpay has invested approximately $30 million in the consumer payments platform POP, signaling a strategic move to enter India’s fast-growing consumer UPI space.
The fresh capital will help POP enhance its product suite, grow its merchant network in the D2C and lifestyle segments, and boost consumer engagement by expanding its POPcoins rewards program.
“The investment aligns with the company’s focus on helping D2C merchants drive customer loyalty. POP bridges a critical gap by combining instant rewards, seamless payments, and brand discovery in a single platform,” said Razorpay Co-founder and CEO Harshil Mathur in a media statement on June 17.
Launched in June 2024, POP is a UPI-based payments app built around a rewards-centric model. The platform combines payments, commerce, and credit features, enabling users to earn POPcoins—a multi-brand, brand-funded rewards currency—with every transaction.
According to the company, users can redeem POPcoins for discounts across an expanding network of merchant partners, enhancing overall consumer value and engagement.
Within just a year of its launch, POP has rapidly scaled to over six lakh daily UPI transactions and surpassed one million unique monthly active users. Additionally, the platform has successfully processed over two lakh monthly commerce shipments and issued more than 40,000 RuPay credit cards through a partnership with Yes Bank, highlighting its strong momentum in the consumer payments and commerce ecosystem.
“India doesn’t need another cashback-only app. With Razorpay’s support, we aim to build a loyalty-first payments ecosystem that helps businesses scale with purpose and impact,” POP Founder Bhargav Errangi said.
According to the NPCI database, POP currently ranks as the 21st largest UPI player in India. In May 2025, the platform processed 13.6 million transactions, with a total transaction value surpassing ₹500 crore, underscoring its growing footprint in the consumer digital payments space.
Razorpay’s investment in POP builds on its earlier acquisition of loyalty and rewards platform PoshVine, further enhancing its capabilities under the Razorpay Engage umbrella.
Meanwhile, India’s UPI ecosystem remains heavily dominated by PhonePe and Google Pay, which together account for over 80% of transaction volumes. Other players like Paytm and Amazon Pay continue to hold relatively smaller market shares.
However, the landscape is evolving, with new entrants carving out niche offerings. For example, fintech startup Jar recently entered the UPI TPAP space through partnerships with BharatPe (as TSP) and Unity Small Finance Bank (as PSP), reflecting the growing competition and innovation in this sector.
This shift also comes amid ongoing industry discussions around the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR). Although reports recently surfaced about the government considering MDR on high-value UPI transactions, the Union Finance Ministry has refuted these claims. Earlier this year, the Payments Council of India had requested a reassessment of the Zero MDR policy.
UPI continues to break records, with over 644 million transactions on June 1 and 650 million on June 2, surpassing Visa’s average of 639 million daily transactions during FY24, underscoring its emergence as the world’s most used payment platform.
