Amazon injects Rs 130 crore in its Indian payment unit

Amazon has been challenging home-grown e-commerce companies on every aspect of the business. Besides its recent investment in seller service and wholesale unit, the company has infused Rs 130 crore into its payments entity, Amazon Pay India, according to regulatory filings made with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

The investment has come from Amazon Corporate Holdings Singapore and Amazon.com, Mauritius, according to the ET report. The resolution to put the funds was approved on June 28. Interestingly, the investment in payment unit comes at a time when the online marketplace has been pushing Amazon Pay aggressively.

To push the use of its wallet, the company has also been luring shoppers to use Amazon Pay for extra discount. The Indian arm of the company had received a wallet license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April this year, which enabled it to get rid of the two-factor authentication system for Amazon Pay.

Importantly, Amazon India had access to a semi-closed wallet system through QwikCilver. It invested in Quicksiver in January 2015.

Lately, Amazon is on investment spree in India, the company had invested Rs 341 crore in Amazon Wholesale India in May this year. In the same month, it invested Rs 1,680 crore in its seller services.

So far, the e-commerce major has committed to invest about $5 billion in India. According to media reports, the company has already invested more than 60 per cent of the committed amount.

Earlier, the Seattle-based company had investment about Rs 220 crore in its payment business. "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,” said an Amazon spokesperson to ET.

Meanwhile, the e-commerce giant is also in queue to launch UPI with a few banks in a couple of months. However, unlike others, the online marketplace will not launch a standalone app for UPI. Instead, it will use a pay button for UPI on its website.