Amazon introduces processing fee on bank discounts—how it affects you
What's the story
Amazon has introduced a non-refundable processing fee of ₹49 for customers availing instant bank discounts (IBD) of ₹500 or more.
The e-commerce giant explained that this charge is intended to cover costs associated with "aggregating, managing, and processing bank discount offers" on its platform.
The new policy affects all customers, including Prime members, and will be applicable across Amazon's customer base without any exemptions.
Impact
Fee affects overall savings
With the introduction of this fee, customers will have to consider an additional charge while calculating their savings from bank discounts.
For example, a ₹5,000 purchase with a ₹500 bank discount would now cost ₹4,549 instead of the earlier ₹4,500.
This move could potentially affect consumer shopping behavior as shoppers may tweak cart values or rethink payment methods to maximize their savings.
Exemption
It only applies to discounts of ₹500 or more
Amazon's help center clarifies that the processing fee won't be refunded under any circumstances, including order cancelations or returns.
However, this charge only applies if the bank discount is ₹500 or more. If customers use bank discounts below this threshold, they won't incur the additional charge.
The processing fee is common on other platforms, including Flipkart.