Plans to Enhance Amazon Pay’s Visibility
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is evaluating the possibility of launching Amazon Pay as a standalone app in India, according to sources familiar with the situation. The move is part of a strategy to increase the usage of Amazon Pay within the country. Currently, Amazon Pay is integrated into Amazon’s main e-commerce app in India, where it facilitates various financial transactions, including money transfers, bill payments, insurance purchases, travel bookings, mutual fund investments, and digital gold acquisitions.
The decision to potentially separate Amazon Pay from the e-commerce app has been under consideration for approximately a year. The company has reportedly sought approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to proceed with this plan. Some Amazon executives believe that Amazon Pay would gain more recognition and traction if it were available as a standalone app, rather than being buried within the e-commerce platform.
Market Position and Competitive Landscape
Despite its current integration, Amazon Pay ranks sixth among apps on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the predominant online payment network in India. Official data from July indicates that Amazon Pay processed around 72.4 million transactions, which represents about 0.5% of the total transactions on the UPI network. In contrast, Walmart Inc.’s (NYSE:WMT) PhonePe processed 6.9 billion transactions, while Google LLC’s Google Pay handled 5.3 billion.
Amazon’s consideration of this strategic move aligns with a broader trend in the Indian market, where attempts to replicate China’s super-app models have had limited success. Competitors such as Flipkart have also adjusted their fintech strategies, with Flipkart consolidating its financial services into a unified vertical after previously separating from PhonePe.
Amazon has yet to comment officially on the potential shift, describing the reports as speculative. The company faces numerous challenges in the Indian market, and the final decision on whether to move forward with the standalone app could still change.
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