Amazon Debuts Express Payout for Faster Working Capital

Amazon Pay has unveiled a tool to give merchants faster access to working capital.

Express Payout is available now for eligible merchants via the company’s Seller Central, Amazon said Tuesday (March 21) in an announcement provided to PYMNTS.

“Express Payout for Amazon Pay helps businesses of all sizes grow,” said Omar Soudodi, director of Amazon Pay.

“With this new feature, merchants can reap the benefits of their sales and tackle the unexpected costs of expanding their business in an ever-evolving economic climate — with payouts at the fast speed Amazon is known for.”

According to Amazon, the new feature lets merchants receive deposits of up to $1 million in 24 hours, rather than waiting three to five business days for transfers to go through. In addition, the company says Amazon Pay’s integration with hundreds of banks and credit unions means merchants won’t need to wait for the money to transfer via the ACH network.

As PYMNTS noted last month, smaller businesses often have a tough time getting working capital, with the approval rate for business loans at big banks falling earlier this year to just below 15%, a 10-month low.

And as illustrated in the recent report “Digital Banking Rises to Meet SMB Needs,” 24% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) say they are worried about finding affordable funding, leading to an existential threat for many owners.

A number of digital channels have begun filling the gap, whether that means digital banks, or platforms such as Shopify and PayPal.

In a recent earnings report, Shopify said its Shopify Capital program advanced nearly $400 million in the previous quarter, a 21% increase from the same time last year. Since the offering began in 2016, the company has loaned merchants $4.7 billion.

Speaking to analysts, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein said that the capital offering has “acted as a lifeline for merchants, especially through the pandemic and this tough macro environment, allowing them to conveniently access capital when they need it most.”

Also last month, Walmart teamed up with Citi to bring the bank’s Bridge Built By Citi lending program to Walmart’s roughly 10,000 SMB suppliers, offering loans of up to $10 million.

This new offering to Amazon merchants follows January’s expansion of the company’s Buy With Prime program, which allows merchants to sell listed products straight from their website while still letting shoppers use the benefits of Amazon Prime memberships.

Initially an invite-only program, Buy With Prime is now open to all eligible merchants.