Amazon. com will launch its business loan program for small sellers later this year in eight more countries including China, where credit is becoming a key factor in competing for new vendors and grabbing market share.

Until now, the e-retailer has offered the service only in the United States and Japan. Amazon Lending, founded in 2012, now plans to offer short-term working capital loans in other countries where it operates a third-party, seller-run marketplace business, the head of Amazon Marketplace, Peter Faricy, said.

The countries are Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The service is on an invite-only basis and is not open to all sellers on Amazon's platform.

Other large retailers including eBay Inc's PayPal and Alibaba Group Holdings, which run third-party marketplaces, are also turning to credit to boost their vendor base.

– (Reuters)