Priyanka Sahay Moneycontrol News
Ahead of the Diwali sale season, Amazon has pumped in Rs 590 crore ($80 million) into its digital payments arm Amazon Pay, according to Registrar of Companies filings, sourced from data platform Paper.vc.
Amazon had earlier invested Rs 230 crore in Amazon Pay two months ago.
This is the fourth round of fund infusion in Amazon Pay in the last two years. Overall, it has received Rs 1,212 crore from the parent firm.
Amazon Pay’s India head Mahendra Nerurkar had said in March this year that the company will continue to invest aggressively in the business over the coming quarters.
The development comes as Amazon Pay is aggressively looking to push its wallet service beyond its marketplace to other online merchants across sectors such as grocery, fashion, automobile accessories, books, music and entertainment among others.
The company also recently launched card less EMIs for select Amazon customers. Amazon Pay EMI provides instant financing options to customers who may not yet have access to credit for purchasing high value products upto Rs 60,000 by splitting their purchases into installments at low interest rates.
“Our focus is to make digital payments the most trusted, convenient and rewarding choice for customers. We continue to explore ways to do this, in partnership with banks, processors, fin-tech companies and ecosystem partners. We have earlier invested in creating new transformational services like cash loading into the wallet at doorstep. We plan to further develop new innovative services for our customers and continue to drive adoption for Amazon Pay. We are committed to the long-term vision of a less-cash India and continue to invest in experiences which reduce customer friction, improve affordability and foster everyday habits, thereby building preference for digital payments," said a company spokesperson commenting on the development.
Amazon Pay competes with Paytm, PhonePe and Mobikwik, among others.
Softbank-backed Paytm raised $300 million from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway last month. Flipkart, parent firm of PhonePe, invested $66 million in its digital payments arm in August.
Although an annual affair, this year's sale is unique as for first time, both the players - Amazon and rival Flipkart - will start off the sale on the same date. Amazon’s Great India Festival will be on from October 10 to 15 while Flipkart’s Big Billion Days Sale also begins on October 10. It ends just a day earlier.
Consulting firm Redseer has estimated that the two companies will generate sales worth around $3 billion during this year’s festive season sale.
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