It looks like Amazon India is the latest entrant in the effervescent digital wallet market. The e-commerce giant is gearing up to launch its own digital wallet in the country by Q2 2016, according to a latest report from the Times of India. The news comes only days after its rival Flipkart launched the Flipkart Money Wallet.
The report says that Amazon India is looking at multiple acquisitions in the online payments space as the digital wallet market is buzzing with new entries. Apparently, Amazon India has initiated acquisition talks with digital wallet and payments startups. Last month the company acquired Emvantage payments services provider that was its first acquisition in India. “Building own wallet helps it restrict access to customer data in the company’s ecosystem and monetize customer insights”, a familiar source told the publication. Amazon had launched its digital wallet in the US, but it pulled the plug on it only after six months.
Amazon and Flipkart are already at war when it comes to conquering the top spots in the buzzing Indian e-commerce space. However, it remains to be seen how the two companies will fare in case of digital wallets as they will face a tough competition from the likes of Paytm, Freecharge, Mobikwik and others.