Amazon Pay will be acquiring an Indian payment firm called Tapzo as the Seattle based company continues to expand in the world’s sixth biggest economy. The buy-out will enable Amazon to further compete with other giants of ecommerce including Walmart/Flipkart and eBay for a share of this most important national online market.
Tapzo, which is claimed to enjoy usage by five million users, is one in the latest investments Amazon Pay has been making in fintech firms in India. Other names in online business related to payments that Amazon (according to reports) already has a stake in include Capital Float, Acko and ToneTag.
As is normal, Amazon hasn’t directly commented on the deal and details of the terms and financials that have emerged come from unnamed sources. These rumours suggest a purchase price in the region of $30 – 40 million USD and the founders Ankur Singla and Vishal Pal Chaudhary are understood to be cashing out with a cash and stocks deal.
Regarding the deal, Amazon has been quoted as saying:
Our commitment to the vision of a less-cash India remains the same. Our goal is to make it easier than ever before for customers to make digital payments by improving the customer experience, affordability and daily routines.
– Amazon spokesperson
Tapzo has been known as by several names since launch in 2010 including Akosha and Helpchat before adopting its current name two years ago. Based in Bengaluru it has reportedly raised Rs 100 crore over the years to fund development with investors including Sequoia India, Ru-Net and American Express Ventures.
It does seem like we’ve been writing an awful lot about India in the past few weeks, whether it’s Walmart finalising their acquisition of Flipkart, Alibaba considering a partnership with Reliance Retail or the possible implementation of new ecommerce laws. The competition to access the wallets of the 600 million Indians who are online shows no sign of slowing up.
