 "Amazon pay")
Amazon Pay, the payment arm of e-commerce giant Amazon, is considering broadening its partnerships with additional banks and card networks. This comes as the company aims to expand its line of credit products for consumers and small businesses.
Vikas Bansal, Whole-time Director of Amazon Pay, said, "As we think about expanding our credit offering, we will absolutely consider whether we want to collaborate with more banks and card networks." Bansal made the remarks when asked about the possibility of introducing a RuPay variant of the Amazon Pay-ICICI Bank credit card.
Launched in October 2018, Amazon Pay's co-branded credit card is in association with ICICI Bank and utilises Visa as the card network. The company reported that it has more than four million customers using this co-branded credit card.
In July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released draft guidelines proposing that credit, debit, and prepaid card issuers must offer eligible customers the option to choose from multiple card networks. One of the RBI's aims is to put an end to exclusive arrangements between card issuers and networks. "This is a draft and not a final guideline. Our partner bank is looking into this," Bansal noted.
Among other offerings, Amazon Pay has introduced various payment products such as Amazon Pay UPI, Amazon Pay Wallet, and Amazon Pay Later. "With the onset of the festive season, our aim is to continue to empower our consumers with an unmatched payment experience, facilitate friction-free transactions, and maximise their savings," said Bansal.
The platform has amassed a user base of over 80 million for its Amazon Pay UPI service, while Amazon Pay Wallet is the preferred mode of payment for more than 50 million customers. The company also highlighted that it has facilitated credit access for more than eight million users through Amazon Pay Later.
