Amazon, the massive e-commerce and cloud computing services platform, is planning to launch a digital currency project as it has started to hire staff in Mexico and the United States.
According to several newly posted job roles, the American company has named the new project ‘Digital and Emerging Payments ,’ which will allow the conversion of cash into digital currency.
“This product will enable customers to convert their cash into digital currency using, which customers can enjoy, online services including shopping for goods and/or services like Prime Video,” one of the job posts described the project.
Another role for a software development manager detailed that the project will focus entirely on the payment services in the emerging markets. However, Amazon did not provide much of the details on the new initiative.
“We are realizing our 3-year vision with a brand new initiative for emerging countries starting with Mexico,” a job post noted. “In addition to this initiative, owning end to end payment experience for our Brazilian customers is also on the plate.”
The company is hiring across several roles for the project. Though the initiative is for the emerging markets, it is onboarding senior managers in its Seattle headquarters too.
The Emerging Digital Payments Industry
Over the years, Amazon has invested heavily in operations across many countries. However, in countries like India, the e-commerce business is facing strong competition from locally grown but now foreign-owned platforms, which prompted Amazon to start several payment services.
Though Facebook is trying to launch its own digital currency and facing regulatory tensions, Amazon is probably taking the safer route, according to the vague description of the project.
Digital currency payments might be a hyped service in the coming years, especially with many large companies’ inclination to them. American electric car maker, Tesla recently revealed its intentions to accept Bitcoin as payments after a $1.5 billion investment in the digital currency.
