Amazon Pay launches Android P2P payments in India
Android users in India now can make instant peer-to-peer (P2P) payments via Amazon Pay through the government-backed UPI platform, reports Jane Connolly.
“Our goal is to make Amazon Pay the most trusted, convenient and rewarding way to pay for our customers”
The new service will also, TechCrunch reports, allow customers to make direct payments to local stores from their bank accounts or even to Amazon delivery associates on their doorsteps, via a UPI QR code.
Users will be able to transfer direct to other registered Amazon Pay UPI customers by selecting the contact on their phone. If the contact is not registered for Amazon Pay UPI, the customer can instead pay into the contact’s bank account or through another Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM).
Multi-factor authentication – involving the customer’s phone number, SIM details and UPI PIN – is used to ensure security.
As a launch incentive, Amazon – which is lagging behind P2P rivals Paytm, Google Pay and PhonePe in India – is offering its users up to INR 120 ($1.73) in cash back.
Vikas Bansal, director of Amazon Pay, says: “Our goal is to make Amazon Pay the most trusted, convenient and rewarding way to pay for our customers. The customers trust their Amazon app and continue to expand payment use cases directly on the app.”
As part of its plans for India, Amazon appears to have the country’s 12 million small, independent stores – known as Kirana stores – in its sights. Amazon recently launched
a pilot programme in three Indian cities, aimed at managing the B2B inventory supply and management of such businesses. If the pilot is successful, the programme will be expanded across India.
