Amazon Pay To Introduce Credit On UPI Option

Amazon Pay is planning to launch credit options using the unified payments interface (UPI) to its customers. The company is partnering with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

According to the Financial Express, Vikas Bansal, Amazon Pay India’s whole-time director, said, “Improving customer experience and value proposition is one of our key goals, and we’re partnering with NPCI to work towards this initiative. Credit on UPI is a significant milestone we’re looking forward to achieving.”

Over 100 million customers are using Amazon Pay UPI for different transactions, like shopping, bill payments, online purchases from merchants, and sending money to others. Besides this, Amazon offers instant credit through Amazon Pay Later. This feature enables customers to buy items on Amazon and pay for them in monthly instalments.

Amazon Finance India collaborates with financial platforms Axio, IDFC FIRST Bank and Karur Vysya Bank to provide Buy Now Pay Later services. Amazon Pay Later has attracted 9 million customer registrations, boasting a payment success rate of 99.9%.

The availability of credit for UPI transactions has been restricted due to uncertainties surrounding the interchange fee structure and low adoption among smaller merchants. Vikas Bansal suggests that Amazon’s extensive network of merchants could help establish a discount rate that incentivizes all stakeholders.

“If the MDR is set too high, it could negatively impact the merchant ecosystem while benefiting banks. Therefore, it’s important to structure it in a way that provides incentives for all participants in the ecosystem,” he explained.

Amazon Pay has enrolled more than 8.5 million brick-and-mortar sellers in over 350 urban and rural areas. Moreover, it’s accepted by over 10,000 online sellers providing diverse services like taxi booking, food delivery, movie and bus ticketing, and travel reservations. Major brands embracing Amazon Pay include Uber, Zomato, Swiggy, Dominos, and BookMyShow.

Alongside, Amazon Pay has joined forces with RBL Bank to enable UPI payments, partnered with ICICI Bank for FASTag recharges, and introduced the Amazon Pay ICICI co-branded credit card.

In February, Amazon Pay obtained a payment aggregator licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), building upon its previous acquisition of a prepaid payment instrument license from the regulator.