Capital gains: Amazon Pay to get fresh fund infusion

Months after getting the go-ahead from the Reserve Bank of India to expand the scope of its digital payments business, Amazon India is preparing to make a big push into digital payments and compete with the likes of Paytm, Freecharge and e-commerce arch-rival Flipkart’s payment business PhonePe.

According to filings with the ministry of corporate affairs, Amazon India is preparing to raise its investment in its own payments arm by at least five times. Amazon has increased its authorized capital for Amazon Pay India Pvt Ltd to ₹2,000 crore ($305 million) from ₹400 crore, according to regulatory filings.

“The company is in need of funds for the expansion of business operations. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the authorised equity share capital to accommodate future funds requirements,” Amazon said in the filings. “Keeping in view the future funding needs of the company, it would be prudent to increase the authorized equity share capital adequately to be in line with the capital requirements of the company.”

Over the past six months, Amazon has infused capital into its payments arm at least twice, as it looks to gain a bigger chunk of India’s booming digital payments ecosystem. In May, Amazon pumped in ₹67 crore into the payments arm, while in July, it poured in ₹130 crore into the business. According to executives at Amazon India, the investments into the digital payments arm are likely to increase over the next 6-12 months.

An Amazon spokesperson said, “Our focus is to make digital payments the most trusted, convenient and rewarding choice for

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