Paytm vs PhonePe: Which One Is Better?

Digital wallet or UPI (United Payments Interface) was launched in 2015 by the state-owned National payments corporation of India (NPCI), the organization that manages all the digital payments in the country. It is quickly closing the gap with cards as the leading payment mode in India today.

E-wallets like Paytm and PhonePe quickly became a savior for the people after demonetization that place in November 2016. The rest we know is history. India has now become a crowded digital payments space, with many platforms competing against each other to provide customers with the smoothest transaction experience.

This article compares the customer experience and the features of two of the widely used payments app Paytm and PhonePe to understand what aids an app to fight competition and retain its user base. Let’s quickly have a look at which one you choose between these two best payment apps. Stay tuned till the end to know in detail.

App Preview: Paytm -UPI, Money Transfer, Recharge, Bill Payment

Download: Google Play Store

Size: 54 MB 

App Preview: PhonePe – UPI, Recharges, Investments & Insurance

Download: Google Play Store

Size: 40M

Introduction: Paytm and PhonePe

Paytm: It is India’s #1 Payment App, trusted by 45 Crore+ Indians. You can download the Paytm app for a bank to bank money transfer via BHIM UPI & instantly pay at shops & at online websites/apps like IRCTC, Flipkart, Uber, Zomato, and Swiggy. The main services of Paytm include bill payment for mobile, DTH services, and online purchases. Paytm has now evolved as a sophisticated mobile payment application with recorded 250M+ users in the past 8 years and a capacity of 5000 transactions per second.

PhonePe: PhonePe is a payments app that allows you to use BHIM UPI, your credit card and debit card or wallet to recharge your mobile phone, pay all your utility bills and also make instant payments at your favorite offline and online stores. You can also invest in mutual funds and buy insurance products on PhonePe.

Paytm vs PhonePe

Phonepe can transfer money faster than the others. It also has partnered with so many different companies where you’ll get discounts or cashback by paying through Phonepe. Another feature of Phonepe is that you can link your Freecharge and Airtel money account with it and you can pay on Phonepe using money from those wallets. On the other side Paytm is the biggest company in the e-wallet business and Paytm wallet is accepted in more places than any other e-wallets. Talking about the UPI, Paytm UPI is slower than the other UPI apps, but it has some cashback offers on money transfer almost all the time Paytm also has so many services like Movie booking, Bus booking, Train ticketing, Gold purchase, and many more. They also have their own banking service, so you can keep 1 extra bank account for you to do the online transactions. That’s how Paytm vs PhonePe comparison starts.

Paytm vs PhonePe: Interface

◼️ Phonepe home page is more clear. In Phonepe, all icons have much spacious. Phonepe home page icons are a little bigger than in Paytm. So, you can easily get your icon. Because of clarity and bigger fonts in Phonepe, you can easily access the required icon.

◼️ On Paytm’s home page icons are on the down the page. So, you have to give some time to find out your required icon in Paytm. Paytm has more services than Phonepe, like Paytm Mall. So, it is difficult to show icons in big fonts. That is why Paytm fonts are smaller than Phonepe.

If we are talking about the interface then I will surely choose Because of clarity and bigger fonts in Phonepe, you can easily access the required icon. While in Paytm, there are very few icons that appear on the home page. You would have to click on the ‘More’ button to find out extra utilities.

Paytm vs PhonePe: Main Features

◼️ Paytm has RBI approved secure e-wallet and is having Zero banking charge. Paytm is having its own Payments bank and Having features like ticket booking- flight, train, bus & movie, UPI Payments, etc. In Paytm there is a transaction limit of 1L for wallet & 1L+ for UPI bank transfer.

◼️ With PhonePe you can do Bill Payments, DTH recharge, ticket bookings, UPI transactions with Zero banking charge same as Paytm. In PhonePe there is a transaction limit of 10000 for wallet and 1L for UPI bank transfer.

Paytm vs PhonePe: By the Numbers

◼️ PhonePe has now crossed the 250 million user mark. PhonePe also reports 100 million monthly active users and clocked 2.3 billion app sessions in October. This comes at a time when digital transactions are at an all-time high. PhonePe says that in October, they registered 925 million transactions on the app while September saw 750 million transactions. According to the Economic Times, the number of payments recorded on UPI by PhonePe was 340 million.

◼️ Paytm has 350 million users who have at least once used its payments platforms, either through wallet, or UPI, or card, and about 17 million merchants. At Paytm, more than 50 million users use “card or wallet standalone products” on a monthly basis. According to the Economic Times, the number of payments recorded on UPI by Paytm was 157 million.

Paytm have larger vanity numbers but PhonePe’s stats are very impressive—particularly in terms of UPI payments.

Paytm vs PhonePe: UPI Payment Facility

◼️ In the Phonepe app, you can easily make a UPI payment to your contacts, other account holders with IFSC code. Or you can transfer money in your other account.

◼️ In Paytm you have to take a few more steps to make a UPI payment. The best thing for UPI payment in Phonepe is, you can easily see your contacts using the Phonepe app. Moreover, once you complete the payment, the beneficiary person’s name and account number will be saved on the home page.

In this comparison too Phonepe is better than Paytm. I myself mostly use PhonePe for UPI transactions.

Paytm vs PhonePe: Recharge

◼️ Both apps are giving the Recharge facility of mobile or DTH or other utilities. But, Phonepe completes this process quickly than Paytm.

◼️ Paytm takes more time to reach the required page and visit more pages to recharge through Paytm like the payment options page and offer page. In Paytm when you tap on the Recharge icon, it directs you to the page where you can recharge any type of service, like DTH, Electricity, Piped Gas bill, Water, Apartments, and so on. Hence no need to select the separate utility on the home page.

In this comparison, Both the apps have advantages and disadvantages in this section. So, here is a draw.

Paytm vs PhonePe: Merchant Payment

◼️ PhonePe gives you an easier interface for merchant payment than in Paytm. PhonePe has QR icon on the top of the home page. Phonepe saves the merchant name and account number on the home page just like the beneficiary name and account number saves your time the next time you want to pay to the merchant.

◼️ At the bottom, there is an extra option to pay the merchant with the QR code in Paytm. For this, you have to click on the ‘Pay’ icon at the top of the home page. The same page will be displayed where you scan the QR code or tap the automatically saved merchant name.

Because of easy access to the payment page, Phonepe saves your time. So, I think in this section Phonepe wins.

Paytm vs PhonePe: Best & Useful Services

◼️ You can book travel tickets on both apps. Besides it, you can check the train status as well.

◼️ You can not book a movie ticket in Phonepe, while in Paytm this service exists by browsing the cinema halls in your city or in other cities. Moreover, you can browse the movies in different languages. So, movie ticket booking is very easy on Paytm.

In this comparison, Paytm is easier than Phonepe for this section too. Because through just a single click you may reach all types of travel booking section.

Paytm vs PhonePe: Cashback

◼️ PhonePe provides the cashback benefit on the maximum transaction without activating the offer while in Paytm you have to activate the offer to get the cashback.

◼️ Sometimes Paytm gives more, some other time Phonepe gives more. It depends upon the circumstances. Like, if you are making a first-time transaction, maybe you get a higher benefit.

In this comparison, If there is no cashback offer available, you may get other benefits as well. Hence, Phonepe is better than Paytm for the cashback offers.

Paytm vs PhonePe: Customer Care

◼️ PhonePe’s Help section is very broad. So, if you have any queries, search in this section, read properly and you can solve it. Your maximum queries may be resolved by the Help section.

◼️ Paytm’s 24X7 help named customer care service is also helpful to resolve the issue. This section is under the 3 parallel lines at the top left corner. From here you can check your queries and raise a new problem/query.

In this comparison, Again Phonepe is better than Paytm in this section. So, Phonepe is the real winner.

Paytm vs PhonePe: Verdict

According to my comparison, you can see that somewhere Paytm is better while in some cases, PhonePe is better to use. But overall Paytm is more popular and cluttered with features. After using both the apps for quite some time now, I felt that PhonePe even though was launched after Paytm and inspite of the huge user base that Paytm has gained over time, Hence, on the basis of the above comparison, I have found that Paytm and PhonePe are better against each other under the separate features. Phonepe is easier and faster than Paytm. But, Paytm gives you more services than PhonePe in a single app. That’s why Paytm is less easy and it takes more time to access compare to PhonePe. In my opinion, PhonePe has it all covered and is catering to bigger user needs! So, it’s a win-win for PhonePe.