With the focus on cashless payments intensifying in the country, Amazon is now also looking to cash in on the opportunity. Thus, Amazon has not only infused a massive Rs. 150 crore into its payments arm but also authorized an increase in share capital for the said subsidiary. It is planning to build out a bigger payment business alongside its widely popular e-commerce platform.
The American e-commerce behemoth’s payments arm in India is called Amazon Online Distribution Services or AODS. This company, as per a regulatory filing spotted by ET, has received a capital infusion to the tunes of Rs. 150 crores from its Indian parent. The investment is said to have been authorized in September whereas the documents were filed just last month.
In addition, the company has decided to increase the authorized share capital of its payment arm from Rs. 69 crore to a whopping Rs. 400 crores. This now makes a higher number of shares of the payments business available for raising funds. If shareholders approve the sale, it can go ahead and dispense stocks from this increment to further add capital to its coffers.
Further, Amazon India is aggressively working to set up its payments business in a country which is currently plagued with demonetisation. It had decided to try a hand at digital payments last year with the acquisition of Noida-based online payments provider Emvantage. This was followed by the e-commerce giant applying for a license of semi-closed wallet through its subsidiary company. AODS has also released their digital wallet solution ‘Amazon Pay’ in the country just recently.
This additional capital infusion into Amazon’s payments arm comes on the heels of yet another humongous Rs. 300 crore investment in its primary e-commerce arm in India. The total capital invested in Amazon India now stands at over Rs. 7,000 crores. This funding will enable the company to stay competitive against the maturing homegrown e-commerce giants. These primarily include Flipkart and Snapdeal, who are aggressively pushing the envelope to build a robust offering for their customers.
