Amazon loses Debit, All credit to Visa Debit


I might not be the brightest chum on the planet, but this I must point out, how Amazon is losing a lot of business, and I as a Indian customer, lot of product choices, many thanks to a bottle neck in the Visa system. It is the case of "darkness below the lamp itself".

Source of Problem: Visa Debit card holders are not allowed to make international payments.

So Question arises, how big is this problem?

Lets see, a few facts:

1998: Harinarayan and Rajaraman sell Junglee.com to Amazon at $ 250 Million.
2012: Amazon brings Junglee.com to India. 
2013: Amazon.in starts its operations with books, movies and Kindle only.


Not very amazing facts, are they? well that is what exactly I want to point out. Amazon has not been able to make its mark on India, whereas Flipkart has made a tight grab on tier 1 cities in India, at the very least. Lets see, a few more facts:

1. Visa Debit cards in India cannot be used to buy from Amazon.com
2. Visa Debit cards in India cannot be used to buy Paypal Balance. 
3. Visa Debit cards in India cannot be used to buy Moneybookers Balance.
4. Visa Debit cards in India cannot be used to buy games on Stream.
&
5. Master Card Debit cards 'Can' be used to buy all of the above. 


The weight of point no.5 above really brings a different dimension to our story. So it seems, it is Visa's loss, and Master Cards gain here. Visa is the only one at fault here.. and no one can do a thing about it. Well apparently not, think again. Everything, and I mean everything is possible.

I don't know why Visa has not worked out these issues up till now, while its main competitor has, but indeed, that doesn't mean that other business relying on Visa should shut down.

Enter Ebay, Ebay.in and Ebay.com. Though I'm not aware of the exact technicality behind the upcoming fact, but hats off to them. Amazon, can really learn a thing or two on this Visa issue from them.

You see, as obviously, Amazon.in and Ebay.in would not have the issues I highlighted in this post, but while Amazon.com suffers, Ebay.com has worked out a way to route the money out.

Meaning, I can buy from Ebay.com, whereas, I can't buy a thing from Amazon.com using my Visa Debit card.


A possible explanation can be, that, Ebay.in accepts and keeps the money. While Ebay.com which owns Ebay.in (obviously), ships the product while paying off the producer/shipper. The payment are later routed through complex channels to Ebay.com. 

This can be easily understood as:

-A owns B 100%,
-I buy a product from B, it can and does accepts my payment.
-A ships the item, and pays the seller out of its own pocket.
-B later gives money to A, because a service is being provided here, which is a expense, and to a great length that is tax free for at least one of the parties.

So, summing it all up, it seems that even though I have this expression for Amazon:

Its Amazoning, that they don't want it. While spending there own money first on Junglee.com and now on Amazon.in

Time will tell if Amazon.in and Amazon.com can get the same sync Ebay.in and Ebay.com and work out this Visa issue. 

 




Comments

  1. gauravae86Saturday, May 10, 2014 9:38:00 AM

    Thank you! I searched a lot and this blog seems to give much relief! I am planning on buying a Kindle Paperwhite and researching all options and read about the issues with Indian customers using debit card to buy Kindle ebooks. I checked my SBI Debit card and it says MasterCard on the front and Maestro on the back. Can you please confirm that this card will definitely work to buy Kindle ebooks? Also kindly give some resources to support the same. Will I also face the issue of opening a new page everytime for password which doesn't work for so many Indian customers? (As I read so). Please help! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RikacometSaturday, May 17, 2014 5:56:00 PM

      I think you can buy Kindle Paperwhite on Amazon.in which is the Indian subsidiary of amazon.com, Even your Visa debit card should work on that page. I have recently talked to a few people in the banking sector, and according to them, to protect from fraud, Indian Debit cards are unusable on websites out of India, who haven't registered with RBI in someway.

      For games you can use the Greenmangaming.com which also supports net banking feature of most Indian banks.

      Delete
    2. gauravae86Saturday, May 17, 2014 6:13:00 PM

      This didn't answer my query! I asked if it's possible to buy ebooks from amazon.in via SBI Debit card. Is it?

      Delete
    3. RikacometThursday, May 22, 2014 5:17:00 AM

      If its a master/maestro card, yes it should work. On the Indian website.. Amazon.in (not .com) even your VISA debit card should work. Amazon didn't want to negotiate or were able to get some solution for their .com site, so they created a .in domain from scratch.

      Though I haven't exactly bought anything from Amazon (I'm more of a Flipkart Fan), I'm 90% sure that it should work. Let me know if you try to buy it, and it works (or doesn't). Maybe I can give you a tip from there on.

      Delete
    4. gauravae86Thursday, May 22, 2014 3:55:00 PM

      Even I'm more of a flipkart fan! But for ebooks on kindle, I need amazon. I'll try using my card and let you know if it works!

      Delete
  2. Yang.w.lishengSaturday, June 14, 2014 10:11:00 PM

    The VISA debit card will not work. It has been frustrating and enthusiasm has gradually petered out.
    Need to have a new bank account, for Mastercard then.
    Sucks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousThursday, June 26, 2014 2:21:00 PM

    Thank you so much for the information. I was wondering what is wrong with my Visa debit card and why amazon.com wasn't able to process my payments for Kindle ebooks, since I didn't have a problem buying stuff from amazon.in. I tried contacting amazon.com Customer service and they kept telling me to update my 1-Click payment method etc etc, and nothing worked. Your article makes the most sense. I have emailed the link of your article to amazon.com customer service. I hope they do something about this problem. I mean what is the point in selling the kindle device on amazon.in if we are not able to easily purchase kindle ebooks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. RikacometTuesday, July 08, 2014 12:07:00 PM

    Please remember that rules and regulations.. change with time. Amazon is currently bullish about the Indian market, and are making great strides in the upcoming opportunities in e-commerce. So its just a matter of time before they sort out this VISA debit card problem.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UmangMonday, August 18, 2014 5:06:00 PM

    Thanks a lot for this blog..I recently tried to purchase a kindle ebbok on my android kindle app and amazon wasn't able to process my payment because of the visa debit card.I didn't even know this kind of problem existed till now. I'll have to wait until amazon does something about visa debit cards before buying a kindle device..My advice to any potential future buyers of kindle device would be to try the kindle app in android or ios platforms so that he/she would know of any similar problems

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownTuesday, October 07, 2014 10:15:00 PM

    I have an SBI Gold international debit card(VISA) which I am neitheer able to add on PayPal nor able to purchase apps from Google Wallet! Is it a problem with VISA? Will the same card but MasterCard variant work fine?
    Any help appreciated

    ReplyDelete

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