Amazon Extends Extra Credit to Brazilian Nubank Customers

Amazon is reportedly offering customers of Brazil’s Nubank several special payment options.

Company officials told Bloomberg News in a report published Wednesday (Nov. 5) that this includes more credit to shop with Amazon as well as more installment options.

“This partnership will make it easier for customers to buy and access credit, which are two very important things for Brazilians,” Juliana Sztrajtman, Amazon’s country manager for Brazil, told Bloomberg. “We’re starting a very important chapter in terms of access for Brazilian customers, and we believe it greatly changes the way we work, bringing us closer to what Brazilians are looking for when they buy online.”

According to the report, the new feature will be introduced gradually and become available to all customers over the next few weeks. To start with, customers will get the option to pay in as many as 24 installments with interest, with eligible Nubank clients receiving the opportunity to get additional credit. Nubank will eventually offer interest-free credit and debit functions to customers using their cards to spend on Amazon.

“This partnership combines Nubank’s credit platform with Amazon’s unique catalog, and the result is a new and improved shopping experience for millions of Brazilian customers,” Fausto Ibarra, vice president of Digital Ecosystem at Nubank, said. “We see payment flexibility as a decisive factor for online shopping.”

The Bloomberg report noted that this move spotlights the growing competition in Brazil’s eCommerce space. Amazon recently said it would waive all logistics fees on a service that enables sellers to outsource their order fulfillment to Amazon, essentially making its Brazil marketplace free through the crucial holiday season.

Another player in digital commerce in Latin America, MercadoLibre launched an eCommerce partnership last month with Casas Bahia in Brazil in a bid to take on Amazon.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence found that Brazilians are among the most digitally engaged people on the planet, using their devices for everything from banking to gaming.

Juan Soto, general manager of LatAm for Nuvei, told PYMNTS there are roadblocks for merchants who don’t recognize how consumers in the region behave, with granular insight into payment preferences and market-by-market differences requiring a careful, calibrated strategy when it comes to payments.

Approach eCommerce with a cookie-cutter strategy, he cautioned, “and you’re not going to be able to succeed in terms of acceptance rates or increased revenues.”