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Continuing its investments in India, Amazon announced today the launch of in-person payments via Amazon Pay for Android users in the country. Customers can now perform instant bank-to-bank transactions through the UPI platform on the localized version of the Amazon app, which allows them to pay their bills and other expenses with friends, lend or refund money. Money with their family, to pay for services, etc. Notably, the new p2p service will also allow customers to make payments from their bank account to local stores or to Amazon delivery agents at the door, who will badyze a QR UPI code in the Amazon app.
This service is based on the UPI platform supported by the Indian Government, regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and designed for the instant transfer of funds between bank accounts with the help of a mobile device. With the Amazon Pay service, customers can send or receive p2p payments by choosing a contact from their phone's address book or by entering their UPI ID or recipient's bank account.
When a contact is selected, the Amazon app automatically detects if the person is an Amazon Pay UPI registered customer and activates the bank transfer. If the contact is not registered for Amazon Pay UPI, the customer then has the option to pay through another Bharat Interface for Money (UPI) ID or the contact's bank account.
Amazon Pay also allows customers to more easily make repeated payments by displaying their recent transactions. And all payments are secured through multi-factor authentication involving the customer's phone number, SIM card details and UPI PIN, explains Amazon.
When the money is transferred, the customer and the recipient are informed by in-app notifications and SMS alerts.
"Our goal is to make Amazon Pay the most reliable, convenient and rewarding way to pay for our customers," said Vikas Bansal, director of Amazon Pay, in a statement. "Customers trust their Amazon app and we continue to expand the use of payments directly to the app. With this launch, we have the largest selection of Amazon Android shopping and payment usage cases that offers more convenience and control to our customers. "
This initiative will also help Amazon in its imminent battle with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in the region. According to a report from the Business Standard, Amazon recently launched a management program for B2B inventory provision and management of a number of popular neighborhood stores (kirana stores). The program, which operates in three cities in Karnatsaka, allows retailers and store owners to order online and have products delivered to their homes the next day, according to the report.
The plan is to expand this program across India if the pilot project succeeds.
There are approximately 12 million Kirana stores in India, which still account for the majority (around 90%) of retail sales in the country. However, only 3% are compatible with the technology. This represents a great opportunity for Amazon, as the stores themselves are starting to embrace technology to compete with online grocers.
Amazon Pay's P2P functionality can contribute to the retailer's larger plans to bring Indian customers and merchants into the digital age in the digital age, while promoting e-commerce in the region as well as cashless payments and other services in convenience stores.
In the same vein, Amazon confirmed in March that it was deploying Amazon Smile code, a scanned QR code to pay for items, in physical stores like Shoppers Stop, among others.
Amazon's various payment initiatives combined can help build customer loyalty to the Amazon brand and create new consumer habits.
However, Amazon is starting late for P2P payments in India. Its competitors, Paytm, Google Pay and PhonePe, already support p2p, with Google Pay in mind.
With the launch of p2p, Amazon is encouraging customers to use its service by offering a refund of up to 120 rupees by sending money via UPI.
This feature is available in the Amazon app for Android, via the new "Send Money" and "Ask for Money" links.
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