Payment gateway PhonePe is believed to have called a pitch for its digital duties. The account size is estimated to be Rs 50 crore. The incumbent agency for the brand is Lodestar UM, which also manages its media and other duties.

The pitch is believed to have been called a few weeks ago and all leading agencies are said to be participating in it. Sources claim digital is a small part of the account. In the last few years, PhonePe has spent close to Rs 30 crore on digital.

In 2023, PhonePe had called for an integrated media pitch and after a long, thorough process the account was finally retained by Lodestar UM. The size of the account was estimated to be around Rs 400 crore.

PhonePe and LodestarUM were reached out for comments but did not respond until the filing of this story.

With over 360 million registered users, PhonePe says that it has digitized over 27 million offline merchants spread across tier II, III and IV towns and beyond, covering 99 per cent pin codes in the country. The company forayed into financial services in 2017, providing users an option to buy 24-karat gold, and has recently also launched silver on its platform. Since then, PhonePe has introduced several mutual funds and insurance products like tax-saving funds, liquid funds, international travel insurance, life insurance, COVID-19 insurance amongst others.

In 2022, PhonePe raised $100 million as part of an ongoing round, which has now helped it pull $450 million in recent weeks despite the market downturn. This helps the digital payment firm to compete in the market after its separation from the parent firm Flipkart.