New Delhi, Sept. 24 -- PhonePe on Thursday announced plans to accelerate the expansion of its merchant network and take digital payment infrastructure deeper into India's towns and villages.

As part of the expansion, PhonePe plans to hire more than 20,000 frontline sales personnel on its rolls over the next year. The company will also deploy more than 50 lakh payment devices over the next 12 months, including SmartSpeakers and POS devices with approximately 50 per cent of these devices in rural India, taking digital payment acceptance deeper into Tier 6 towns and rural geographies.

The recently announced MDR framework allows the company to take a long view and invest in merchant expansion. Initiatives like a dedicated fund using 5 per c...