ICICI Bank on Monday (Sept. 27) announced it has partnered with Amazon India to offer overdraft protection up to 25 lakh rupees ($33,856) for Amazon India sellers and small businesses, according to a press release from the bank.
The partnership, which is fueled by API integration, allows sellers to snag an overdraft from the bank in an entirely digital process, from application to sanction to disbursement, including for customers of other banks who are registered Amazon India sellers.
ICICI Bank’s overdraft protection uses advanced data analytics to develop a scorecard to evaluate a seller’s credit-worthiness based on their financial profiles using Credit Bureau scores.
“ICICI Bank has always believed that access to timely credit and ease of doing business are key parameters for the growth of the MSME businesses,” said Pankaj Gadgil, head of the self-employed segment, SME and merchant ecosystem at ICICI Bank.
“The partnership stands to enable sellers to avail instant overdraft up to Rs. 25 lakh in a completely digital manner,” he said. “We believe that this new proposition resonates our effort in developing path-breaking innovations for MSME customers and will empower them with new avenues of business expansion.”
Vikas Bansal, director of Amazon Pay India, said the retail giant is “prioritizing our efforts to help sellers on amazon.in bounce back from the disruption owing to COVID-19.
“Our mission is to enable easy and trusted access to credit for sellers with transparent policies and at low costs,” he said. “Our partnership with ICICI Bank will provide sellers across India with an OD facility instantly and digitally at affordable rates to meet all their current and future requirements.”
Related: Amazon Investigating Bribery Claims in India
Meanwhile, Amazon is investigating whether its legal representatives in India used legal fees they paid to bribe government officials. The probe stems from a whistleblower case.
Amazon has been looking into the alleged bribery for about two months following a complaint about dealings between a member of the Amazon India legal team and an outside counsel.
Amazon had no comment other than saying it has “zero tolerance” for corruption.
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