e-commerce
Payback inks strategic partnership with MobiKwik
MUMBAI: India’s multi-brand loyalty program Payback has tied-up with mobile wallet MobiKwik to extend the strengths of the two platforms to more than 50 million consumers. This partnership will provide MobiKwik’s 15 million customers value from Payback-enabled loyalty benefits for their transactions at MobiKwik and all other Payback partners.
The mobile industry in India is growing at an increasing rate and M-Wallets are the next big trend. The partnership between the two promises to reach out to the customers by offering them with loyalty points.
Payback India CEO and MD Rahul Rana said, “Mobile wallets are a fast growing category as India embraces technology and witnesses strong growth of e-commerce. People prefer to store their cash digitally and use it seamlessly via mobile and online transactions. This partnership will allow MobiKwik customers to earn rewards when an online transaction is made. Further Payback customers also get access to a seamless payment experience with wide merchant coverage. Our endeavor is to continue to partner with newer categories in online and offline commerce such that Payback Customers can have greater choice in earning and redeeming their rewards at the click of a button.”
MobiKwik provides a user friendly, app-based interface for recharges, bill payments, shopping, and money transfer to friends and family, through the MobiKwik wallet. MobiKwik’s wide merchant coverage ensures that existing Payback customers can redeem their points for MobiKwik wallet balance, and thus use MobiKwik at coffee shops, to make e-commerce purchases, buy bus, flight, and movie tickets, recharge mobile phones and DTH. MobiKwik is now enabled across more than 20,000 merchants including Café Coffee Day, Jabong, Snapdeal, BookMyShow, Domino’s Pizza, eBay, HomeShop18, Infibeam, Purplle, MakeMyTrip, Naaptol, Pepperfry, ShopClues, TastyKhana, and JustEat.
MobiKwik CEO and founder Bipin Preet Singh added, “We are happy to be associated with Payback as it will benefit the MobiKwik users at large. The aim behind this partnership is to create loyalty for MobiKwik users and attract Payback users to adopt MobiKwik as their mobile wallet option. With this increase in our network strength we are confident of leveraging on economies of scale to deliver higher value to our customers.”
e-commerce
Flipkart cuts around 300 jobs in annual performance review
E-commerce giant trims ~1.5 per cent of workforce as IPO preparations continue.
MUMBAI: Flipkart just gave performance the pink slip because when the annual review bell rings, even the biggest cart sometimes needs to lighten its load. Flipkart has let go of approximately 300 employees as part of its annual performance management cycle, Moneycontrol reported on 7 March 2026, citing people familiar with the matter. The exits represent roughly 1.5 per cent of the company’s total workforce of around 20,000 people across its businesses.
The move follows Flipkart’s standard practice of asking employees placed in lower performance bands to leave during yearly reviews, a process the company has carried out periodically in recent years. A similar exercise in early 2024 saw around 1,000 employees (nearly 5 per cent of the workforce) exit.
The latest round comes amid Flipkart’s continued push for operational efficiency and cost discipline, mirroring broader trends across the Indian startup ecosystem where funding slowdowns have shifted focus toward profitability.
The development also arrives as Flipkart advances preparations for a potential domestic IPO. The company has held early discussions with investment banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Kotak Mahindra Capital to explore feasibility. Industry sources indicate a possible listing timeline of late 2026 or early 2027, though the final size and schedule remain undecided.
In December 2025, Flipkart received National Company Law Tribunal approval to shift its holding company domicile from Singapore back to India. a key regulatory step that simplifies the group structure ahead of a public market debut.
Controlled by Walmart, Flipkart remains one of India’s largest e-commerce platforms, locked in fierce competition with Amazon. In a market where every rupee counts and every headcount is scrutinised, the latest cuts aren’t just housekeeping, they’re part of a bigger balancing act between growth ambitions and the road to listing.
