Global E-commerce giant Amazon has received a capital infusion of $10.5 Million (Rs 67 Crore) from its Singapore-based arm Amazon Corporate Holdings Pvt Ltd and its US-based parent Amazon Inc, filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). In September 2016, The giant had raised Rs150 Crore by increasing their share capital to Rs 400 Crore.
The funding comes to boost payments arm, which is operated by Amazon Online Distribution Services Pvt Ltd., has also been rebranded to Amazon Pay (India) Pvt Ltd. Amazon had applied for a license to operate a digital wallet last year and was granted approval on March 22, valid for five years.
According to a spokesperson from Amazon, ” We recently launched Amazon Pay where customers can fund their pre-paid balance using internet banking and credit or debit card for smooth purchases and payments. With this, customers can go cashless and enjoy fast and easy checkouts, quicker refunds coupled with a secured shopping experience.”
Amazon makes it way in India in 2013. So far, they have invested $2 Billion in their Indian arm and has taken down their Indian rival Flipkart. On his visit India, Jeff Bezos had committed an additional $3 billion investment last year.
Manish Tewary, VP category management at Amazon India, said: ” In our Great Indian Sale from May 11 to May 14, the number of users topping up the Amazon Pay wallet balance grew 10 times over non-sale days.”
Amazon’s rising focus on digital payments can be gauged from recent developments at the firm. After buying out Noida-based payment gateway firm Emvantage, The authorized share capital of Amazon Online Distribution Services was recently hiked from Rs 69 crore to Rs 400 crore, according to filings with the RoC. Read more about Amazon Pay.
As mentioned in Bloomberg, Amazon’s push to enter payments space comes at a time when all major e-tailers, Flipkart, Paytm and Snapdeal, have launched their own wallets. The volume of transactions through prepaid payment instrument (PPI) has also risen, particularly in the months after demonetization. According to RBI data, a volume of payments through PPIs rose from Rs 1,320 crore in November to Rs 2,150 crore in March. Read more about Indian Startup Ecosystem.
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