Amazon aims to capture the e-wallet space now

Amazon provides a tough competition to Paytm and PhonePe.

Amazon is all set to give competition to existing players in the payment space like Flipkart’s PhonePe and SoftBank supported Paytm. As per the Registrar for Companies(RoC), Amazon has invested an additional Rs 130 crore into its payments entity Amazon Pay India.

According to the documents, Amazon Corporate Holdings, Singapore and Amazon.com, Mauritius have freshly invested in the firm. Amazon has been pushing this move since 2017. The company offered additional cashbacks to promote its e-wallet.

An Amazon spokesperson commented, “We remain committed to our India business with a long-term perspective to make e-commerce a habit for Indian customers and to invest in the necessary technology and infrastructure to grow the entire ecosystem.”

The parent company Amazon has also invested Rs 1680 crore in Amazon India, the e-commerce arm and Rs 341 crore in Amazon Wholesale(India). CEO Jeff Bezos had committed an additional investment of $3 billion, thus taking the total investment to $5 billion in India.

The technology giant has been propping up Amazon Pay during its key scale events by offering additional discounts to users keen on using the wallet. In April, it got an approval from the RBI to start its own e-wallet in India.

With Amazon making a grand entry in the e-payment space, do you think Flipkart and the likes would get threatened? Please share your views with us.

Excerpts from The Financial Express and The Economic Times