Amazon is reportedly looking to strengthen its hold in the ever-growing digital payments space in India by acquiring Tapzo, an India-based app aggregator that allows users to cut down on installing separate apps for different use cases. Tapzo will be taken over by Amazon Pay, the company’s digital payments division, valuing the former at about $35-40 million (roughly between Rs. 247 crores and Rs. 282 crores), the report adds. This development is possibly aimed at gaining an extra edge in a market dominated by players like Facebook (WhatsApp), Google (Google Pay), Flipkart (PhonePe), and NPCI(BHIM).
The Amazon-Tapzo acquisition was reported by PTI. Tapzo has over 35 apps built into the platform including the likes of Uber, Ola, and Swiggy. The app was launched back in 2010 and has since undergone numerous name changes – from Akosha to Helpchat to Tapzo. The company is raised Rs. 100 crores in funding from Sequoia India and Ru-Net in May 2015. Another round of funding was obtained from American Express Ventures, however the amount was not disclosed.
“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,” an Amazon spokesperson told Gadgets 360 in response to comment on the deal, not confirming or denying the acquisition.
Ever since the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was unveiled by the Indian government back in April 2016, digital payments have seen a boom in the country. Recent reports has emerged suggesting that Xiaomi is also in the final stage of launching its UPI-based Mi Pay payments platform in India, with only licence approval pending with the central bank. While the service was launched in China as an NFC-based platform, the Chinese smartphone vendor is keen on bringing it to a wider audience with the help of UPI.
Even Google has been on the front foot when it comes to digital payments in the country. The popular UPI-based Google Tez app was rebranded to Google Pay at the Google for India 2018 event, with pre-approved bank loans coming to the app in the coming weeks.
