Amazon Rechargeable (debit card)

2018: Start of the first debit card of Amazon

In the middle of March, 2018 Amazon issued the first debit card thanks to which the company expects to stimulate users to make purchases online without opening of accounts in banks.

The debit card under the name Amazon Rechargeable issued with assistance of MasterCard payment system and the Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Banorte became available in Mexico. This country is not casually selected by the first place of implementation of the new project of the American Internet giant. According to the report of the government for 2017, only less than a third of adult population in Mexico use credit cards. The lack of access to bank cards and fear of online fraud are one of the main barriers of development of online trade in Mexico and many other countries.

Clients who have no credit or debit card will find an easy and practical way of transformation of cash into a payment method in Amazon Rechargeable — the product manager of Amazon in Mexico Fernando Ramirez said.

According to the analyst of Actinver Carlos Hermosillo Bernal, debit cards which are easy for receiving will help people to become a part of "white economy" that is especially important, so far as concerns trade promoting. The expert called the Amazon Rechargeable card the bridge between shadow and white economy.

As notes Reuters agency, the Mexican online retailers and operators of physical retail stores actively invest in e-commerce as it enjoys the growing popularity, though still occupies a small part in revenue of sellers. Retail networks often offer credit cards, but not debit, Hermosillo Bernal noted.

In 2017 especially for the buyers who do not have the bank card or preferring not to use it during the calculating, Amazon started in some retail stores, including 7-Eleven, the service allowing to fill up with cash the personal account on Amazon Cash.^[1]

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