For much of the past decade, India’s digital transformation has been synonymous with smartphones. At Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in Mumbai, PhonePe argued that the next phase of growth may come from a far simpler device: the feature phone. The digital payments and financial services company announced that its app would now support unified payments interface (UPI) 123Pay on feature phones, with the SMS-based, internet-free payments stack pre-loaded on HMD, Nokia, Lava and itel handsets. The company says that it is the first major third-party application provider to extend UPI services to feature-phone users across India through the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) UPI 123Pay framework, targeting an estimated 200 million-plus Indians who do not have smartphones. On the Nokia device demonstrated at the event, the PhonePe app allowed users to send money peer-to-peer, make merchant payments via QR scan, and check bank balances, all without mobile internet.
More than 200 million Indians still use feature phones, according to PhonePe , with many concentrated in rural and semi-urban markets where smartphone uptake among older and female populations lags. Secondary analyses from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) data place rural internet penetration at roughly 35 to 37 per cent, compared with over 70 per cent in urban areas. The opportunity is larger than it may initially appear.
