Amazon, Google Vie for Piece of India Digital Payment Market
- Big tech, credit-card giants to compete for payment licenses
- India’s digital transactions set to reach $1 trillion in 2023
Cash is still king in India but digital payments are gaining ground.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/BloombergTechnology giants Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Google and credit-card providers Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are among those vying for unprecedented access to India’s burgeoning digital retail payments market.
The companies are part of four consortia preparing to apply for licenses to operate retail payments and settlement systems in the country, people familiar with the matter said. More companies could band together before a March 31 application deadline.
In a market where cash is still king, digital payments are quickly gaining ground as India’s 1.3 billion people are starting to embrace online shopping and services such as online gaming and streaming. With India’s smartphone user base approaching 1 billion and Credit Suisse Group AG predicting $1 trillion in online payments in the country in 2023, the companies chosen to enable such transactions stand to reap lucrative commissions.