PhonePe, the digital-payments firm, has given employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to its 2,200-strong workforce, worth about Rs 1,500 crores. All full-time employees on the rolls were eligible for the same — including software engineers, product managers, on-ground sales agents and customer-experience agents — based on their tenure, performance and role. These ESOPs were granted in addition to the regular pay hikes, which were as per market standards.
The Walmart-owned company has completed five years in operation. By offering the ESOPs at a minimum of $5,000 across all levels, PhonePe has allowed its employees a chance to generate wealth. It is hoped that the move will motivate the staff to perform better, collaborate effectively, remain loyal and work in the interest of the organisation. It will also offer them a chance to be active participants in the growth and success of the Company, and make them realise that the organisation’s success translates into their own success.
Although PhonePe’s employees worked remotely through the pandemic, the Company was able to perform very well, having taken advantage of the situation.
Despite stiff competition from Paytm, Amazon Pay and Google Pay, PhonePe succeeded in crossing a milestone of 250 million registered users. With more than 100 million monthly active users, it was able to process more than a billion digital payment transactions in the month of January alone. In two years, it hopes to cross 500-million registered users.
Recently, Flipkart’s investors have pumped in primary capital into PhonePe at a post-money valuation of $5.5 billion.
