FreeCharge expands payments network to 1 lakh merchants

FreeCharge, the Snapdeal-owned e-wallet service, can now be used to make payments at around one lakh merchants across the country. The company has reportedly achieved this milestone within eight months of the product's launch.

"We are excited to be a part of over 1,00,000 merchants' digital payments journey. In the last 8 months, we have expanded our reach in various sectors like F&B, travel, e-commerce, retail, entertainment, ticketing etc. making our wallet ubiquitous in consumer's daily lives," Govind Rajan, CEO of FreeCharge, said in a statement. "We have built a robust ecosystem by fostering a series of partnerships to achieve our mission of becoming the Digital Payment OS of India. We thank our merchants for their strong support. This milestone echoes the merchants' and consumers' trust and faith in FreeCharge."

FreeCharge recently partnered with payment aggregators like ePaisa, CCAvenue, Ezetap and Pine Labs that allowed users to make payments through their FreeCharge wallets both online as well as at bick-and-mortar outlets.

A spokesperson for FreeCharge told the International Business Times, India that offline partners include McDonalds where at the time of making the payment, users have the option to pay through FreeCharge. The system uses a home-grown innovation called "On-the-go-Pin" that is used to make the payment. The spokesperson added that the service doesn't require a data connection to work.

The spokesperson also added that FreeCharge aims to double its reach by the end of the year.

According to the statement, the Snapdeal-owned company aims to reach 5 million merchants in next 18 months.