Ahead of IPL 2023, Dream11 parent launches a UPI payments app DreamX

Dream11 users will be able to make UPI transfers to their friends and family, and pay for offline and online purchases by scanning QR codes

Dream Sports, the parent firm of India's largest fantasy sports firm Dream11, is launching a mobile payments app called DreamX, in a possible bid to expand the ability of users to spend their winnings from the platform.

This move comes just ahead of the 2023 edition of the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament that is set to begin on March 31. IPL tournaments are typically crucial for fantasy sports platforms as they witness peak usage from players and also help in significant user acquisitions to grow their respective bases.

With this app, Dream Sports will likely take on rivals such as PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm. That said, DreamX appears to be linked to the user's Dream11 account at the time of writing this article. One cannot sign up for the service on the DreamX app itself. Notably, Dream11 claimed to have 160 million active users as of December 2022.

"DreamX is a FinTech from the house of Dream Sports, India's leading Sports Technology company with brands like Dream11, Dream Capital, FanCode & DreamSetGo in its portfolio. It is currently in the beta phase and limited to our current set of users" a Dream Sports spokesperson said in a statement in response to Moneycontrol's queries.

Also read: 6 money lessons Indian Premier League can teach us

Currently available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store in public beta, DreamX is powered by UPI and Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).

Through this app, Dream11 users will be able to spend their winnings across a range of transactions including making UPI transfers to their friends and family and paying for offline and online purchases by scanning QR codes.

A screenshot of the DreamX app

It will also allow users to pay utility bills such as electricity payments, water bills, broadband, and landline bill or recharge their mobile phones, DTH, and FASTag besides the ability to order gas cylinders. One can also pay their credit cards, loans, insurance and policy premiums, which DreamX mentions in its app listing.

It also indicates that Dream Sports has partnered with Pine Labs, which has a Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) license, for this initiative. National Payments Council of India (NPCI) recently permitted PPI wallets to be part of the UPI ecosystem with an interchange fee of 1.1 percent for transactions above Rs 2,000.

Also read: The players to watch out for in IPL 2023

DreamX mentions that it will also offer rewards and showcase offers from Dream Sports' ecosystem that includes sports content and commerce platform Fancode, sports experiences platform DreamSetGo and investee companies such as digital collectibles platform Rario, besides Dream11.

It's worth noting that Dream Sports already offers payment solutions to online merchants through its DreamPay unit.

DreamPay Wrapper helps boost payment success rate and balance load during peak traffic periods while DreamPay Recon helps with payments reconciliation through automated settlement and reporting among others.

Note: The story has been updated with the response from Dream Sports