The stock market can be a mystifying place. It has its own language with its symbols and charts, its acronyms and rates and percentages. And it can seem like there’s only a few who can crack this code and reap the rewards.
Historically, investing opportunities in India have largely been limited to small pockets of people in the country. Few had access to the stock market, and those that did usually worked through an intermediary, like a bank or a broker. For most Indians, sustainably growing wealth through investing has been out of reach.
But we’re changing that.
At PhonePe, we look to drive financial inclusion at scale in India and connect every Indian with the financial tools and resources they need to succeed. Our one-stop-shop lets users pay bills, shop local merchants across the country and manage their finances. Now, we’re helping users grow wealth through share.market, a stock broking app connecting investors and traders directly to stocks, mutual funds and our curated investment offerings, WealthBaskets, exclusive to the share.market app.
We’ve seen a real transformation in the last decade as Indians move from a saver’s mindset to an investor’s mindset. People are seeing opportunity in the stock market, and share.market, powered by PhonePe, puts stock broking right in the palm of their hand. It’s an app built on the idea that everyone should have access to and control of their investing and wealth creation journey, and we want to help all investors build well-rounded and balanced portfolios that support short- and long-term goals.
You see, on an average year-on-year rolling basis, only 30% of investors stay active after the first year. Most people don’t monitor the markets every day or have time to research every stock and fund, and they end up feeling like maybe investing just isn’t for them. So, as we developed share.market, our focus wasn’t just on making investing more accessible. We’ve taken a customer-first approach to democratizing markets and designed the app to help users grow and make wiser investment choices rooted in quantitative research.
It starts with a seamless onboarding experience. New accounts take just 24 hours to become active, and once live, first-time and seasoned investors gain access to built-in educational resources and real-time market intelligence and insights to help them build their portfolios. The app, which is also available on a desktop computer, is sectioned into three areas: understanding the markets, choosing and tracking stocks and WealthBaskets.
WealthBaskets are one of the ways we’re working to create a better investment experience. These curated collections of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are research-driven and help take the guesswork out of investing by aligning across themes, sectors or market trends, so investors can conveniently create active and diverse equity portfolios with the click of a button.
Since 2015, PhonePe has sought to offer every Indian equal opportunity to accelerate their progress through access to financial tools and services. PhonePe launched into financial services in 2017 and was recently recognized as the 2023 Most Trusted Brand for Digital Payments. We’re India’s largest payments app with over 485 million registered users and have also digitized over 36 million merchants, reaching 99% of postal codes across the country.
And it is this reach that makes me so excited for share.market’s potential. The ferry driver in Majuli and the rice farmer in Ziro Valley have the same access as the banker in Mumbai and the student at Delhi University. This technology is a bridge over long-standing barriers to wealth growth for Indians, and we will continue to drive financial inclusion and lasting value for all.
