Amazon India To Let Users Pay Credit Card Bills With Amazon Pay

Amazon Pay

Amazon India has introduced a way for customers to pay their credit card bills through Amazon Pay, the eCommerce company’s payments arm.

Amazon joins companies like India-based digital wallet provider PhonePe, Indian eCommerce payment platform and Paytm and others that offer the option for credit card bill payment on their apps, Entrackr reported.

The feature allows making payments for any credit card bill via UPI or internet banking. Amazon Pay balance was not available as an option, according to Entrackr.

“As part of our commitment to our customers, we are constantly innovating and creating new experiences to make digital payments seamless across a variety of use cases,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to the news outlet. “This has led us to launch the credit card bill payment facility with which customers can complete a cumbersome process in a single click, using a variety of payment options.”

The spokesperson declined to say whether users would be offered rewards for paying credit card bills through Amazon Pay.

In separate news, Amazon partnered with Acko General Insurance, a digital insurance startup in India, in July to offer auto insurance in India. The deal allows customers to access the products with Amazon Pay to offer car and motorcycle insurance on Amazon’s app and mobile website.

Four years ago, Amazon introduced its Amazon Pay digital wallet to increase online payments. Today, it offers a credit card and processes payments for customer bills.

Last month, Amazon said its 100 million registered customers in India now have access to more financial services. In a bid to attract new customers and sell $13 annual subscriptions to Amazon Prime, the paid service that gives users access to extra services, the eCommerce giant added insurance and gold to its menu.

It’s the latest effort by the Seattle-based online retailer with a headquarters in Bengaluru, the center of India’s high-tech industry, to intensify the competition in the mostly cash-based economy.

Mahendra Nerurkar, head of Amazon Pay in India, said the company’s goal is to boost the number of Amazon Pay users. To date, he said, the company has signed up 4 million merchants.

“Apparently Chinese fashion designers are leaving the back pockets off jeans because no one uses them anymore (for wallets),” Nerurkar said. “We would love to make that happen in India.”