Mumbai: SBI and Amazon today signed a Memorandum of Understanding, identifying areas of cooperation to build a digital India which meets the aspirations of the next generation of customers and small businesses.

SBI and Amazon will develop trusted and frictionless payments and commerce solutions for customers and small businesses, capitalizing on the exponential growth in internet penetration to drive the adoption of e-commerce and m-commerce in India.

Commenting on the occasion, Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI said that as the premier Bank of the country, we are always exploring ways to fulfill the aspirations of our millions of customers. Our partnership with E-Commerce platforms like Amazon would give a fillip to e-commerce in India and brings lots of value to our retail and SME customers. We are working on ways to enrich customers’ payment experience and opening up the windows of e-commerce to our SME customers.  E-commerce as an industry is at inflection point and SBI stands with all the stake holders – the retail customers, the SME clientele, the large logistics companies, others – in facilitating this defining change.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Manager, Amazon India, said: “E-Commerce in India is in its infancy. Customers are beginning to discover the vast selection, lower prices and the sheer convenience of shopping online. Amazon is committed to investing for the long term to earn customer trust and establishing E-Commerce as a preferred way of shopping. Moreover, India is a land of entrepreneurs, and E-Commerce has the potential to transform the livelihoods of millions of small businesses by helping them sell nationally and globally.

In SBI, we have a fantastic partner whom customers and businesses trust through long-standing relationships, sometimes over generations. Moreover, SBI shares Amazon’s philosophy of building customer trust and investing for the long term. We have a great opportunity to work together to transform how India shops and sells.”

Source : Lokesh Shastri