Amazon Pay FY26 loss widens 33% to ₹1,148.5 crore despite 18% revenue growth

Amazon Pay’s FY26 revenue from operations rose to ₹2,484.4 crore from ₹2,096.6 crore, but its net loss widened from ₹865.7 crore. The payments arm is adding agentic UPI capabilities with NPCI and ixigo as competition intensifies.

By ·Devil's-advocate pass

— Source publishedMon, 28 Sept, 2026, 14:42 IST·First seen Mon, 28 Sept, 2026, 14:48 IST·Source Medianama

The development

Amazon Pay reported a FY26 net loss of Rs 1,148.5 crore, widening 33% year-on-year, while revenue from operations rose 18% to Rs 2,484.4 crore. It rolled out agentic UPI payments on Smart wallet with NPCI and ixigo amid mounting UPI competition.

The numbers

  • FY26
  • March 2026
  • 33%
  • Rs 1,148.5 crore
  • Rs 865.7 crore
  • 18%
  • Rs 2,484.4 crore
  • Rs 2,096.6 crore
  • $200 million
  • August 2024
  • 70.72 million
  • 45.43 million
  • 11.63 million
  • August 2026
  • 421.87 million
  • 183.69 million
  • 95.93 million
  • 11%
  • Rs 1,767.6 crore
  • Rs 1,591.8 crore
  • 35%
  • Rs 1,140.6 crore
  • Rs 845.3 crore
  • 5%
  • Rs 224.9 crore
  • Rs 55 crore

Why it matters to operators and investors

Amazon Pay’s agentic UPI push with NPCI and ixigo highlights a partnership-led route to payments differentiation, making travel, commerce, and AI-agent ecosystems potential targets for strategic alliances.

What to watch next

  • UPI transaction-volume and active-user growth relative to PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm and bank-backed apps.
  • Evidence that agentic UPI receives broad NPCI enablement and moves from pilot functionality to meaningful transaction adoption.
  • Amazon Pay's share of payments at Amazon India checkout and any disclosed uplift in retail conversion, order frequency or Prime retention.
  • Changes in cashback and merchant-discount intensity, indicating whether Amazon is prioritizing market-share capture or loss containment.
  • Revenue mix disclosure showing growth in lending, insurance, travel, merchant services or other non-UPI monetization streams.
  • NPCI policy changes affecting UPI market-share caps, third-party-app participation, credit-on-UPI, data governance or transaction economics.
  • Further loss acceleration versus revenue growth in subsequent filings, especially whether operating leverage begins to emerge.
  • Prioritize agentic UPI rollout with NPCI and ixigo, positioning conversational payment flows as a differentiation rather than a standalone wallet feature.
  • Increase Amazon checkout integration, including payment-linked offers, Prime benefits and seller/merchant tools designed to convert payment activity into retail GMV.
  • Shift incentives from broad cashback toward targeted rewards for high-frequency users, travel transactions, repeat Amazon shoppers and higher-margin financial-product referrals.
  • Expand partner-led monetization in travel, utility payments, insurance, credit and merchant acquiring to improve revenue per active user.
  • Tighten cost controls around customer acquisition, transaction subsidies, fraud prevention and regulatory compliance as losses become more visible.

The counter-case

Revenue growth is not translating into operating leverage: losses widened nearly twice as fast as revenue, suggesting Amazon Pay may be spending heavily on incentives, distribution, compliance and technology simply to defend relevance in India’s low-margin payments market. Agentic UPI features may improve engagement, but UPI monetization remains structurally difficult and competitors can replicate product features quickly.