Amazon Acquires Indian Online PSP

Amazon Payments just got a little bigger.

The company announced yesterday (Feb. 16) its plans to acquire online payment service provider EMVANTAGE Payments for an undisclosed amount.

What this acquisition gives Amazon is a greater presence in one of its emerging international markets, while giving it the chance to build up its payments solutions for customers in India who are looking to buy online. And, as shown in the U.S. market, Amazon has a great ability to gain consumer trust using its payment methods (such as Amazon 1-Click).

EMVANTAGE’s current employees will join the Amazon Payments team in order to help Amazon gain an understanding of what’s needed to continue developing payments solutions that best fit the needs of the Indian eCommerce market. The acquisition is set to close in Q1 2016.

EMVANTAGE is most known for its development of payments solutions that consist of a payment gateway, mobile payments solutions and prepaid card solutions.

“EMVANTAGE is a valuable addition to our team as we accelerate our payment offerings, ensuring the best-in-class online payment experience anywhere that customers shop with us,” Amazon Payments India Director Srinivas Rao said, as cited by The Economic Times.

Trust, for Amazon, has been one of its greatest strengths in giving it dominance in the online marketplace space. In a PYMNTS research project, which digs deep into that million-dollar question of how digital shoppers shop, pay and think about trying new payment solutions, it was determined that trust is a major driver behind a consumer’s reason for choosing Amazon.

“The number one determining factor on whether a consumer chose to make a purchase online was trust — not selection or price, but trust. Trust is paramount to digital shoppers, and it’s evident at every stage of the shopping journey,” Patrick Gauthier, VP of Amazon Payments, told PYMNTS in Aug. 2015 when the research was revealed.

Amazon also recently released numbers showing that 23-plus million customers have used their Amazon accounts to make a purchase on a third-party merchant website with a Pay with Amazon button. Altogether, those customers span more than 170 countries.