Amazon Pay Powers P2P Payments In India

Amazon Pay announced Monday (April 29) the launch of person-to-person payments for Android users located in India.

In a press release, Amazon India said customers can now make instant bank-to-bank transfers using the Amazon Pay app. The eCommerce giant said the service can be used to settle bills and expenses with friends, lend or return money to friends and family, pay rent, cover the cost of services, pay for subscriptions and make payments at local stores. The app can also be used to pay an Amazon delivery associate at the doorstep by scanning UPI QR codes via the Amazon Pay app. The app is built on the Indian Government’s UPI platform, which enables customers to send or receive person-to-person (P2P) payments by selecting a contact on their phone or entering a UPI ID or bank account of the recipient.

“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 we continue to expand payment use cases directly on the app. With this launch, we have the largest selection of shopping and payment use cases on the Amazon Android app which provides added convenience and control to our customers,” said Vikas Bansal, director of Amazon Pay in the press release.

The P2P service is part of Amazon’s push into the Indian marketplace. It’s betting the feature can help Amazon bring Indian consumers who predominately use cash into the digital age. The company said in March it would launch its Amazon Smile code, a QR code that consumers can use to make purchases in physical stores. By offering payment methods that are easy to use and digital, Amazon is hoping to become a household name in India for more than just eCommerce. Amazon isn’t alone in the digital payments market, however. It has tough competitors in the form of Paytm, Google Pay and PhonePe. According to TechCrunch, Google Pay is the leader in India.