Opinion | E-credit battle

Amazon is reported to have launched a service that offers its online shoppers in India virtual loans. Amazon Pay Later, as it’s called, extends interest-free credit for a month, with the option of paying bills in equated monthly instalments over a year at a modest charge. While this seems timed to help customers overcome a covid-19-caused cash crunch, it could also act as a pre-emptive flank for the company to defend its e-commerce business from any incursion by the JioMart-WhatsApp combine.

Now that Reliance and Facebook have joined hands, their JioMart and WhatsApp units are expected to storm the country’s online retail market with a payment facility that might include a credit option.