Amazon launches online payment service; users can now pay via Amazon account at third-party site

E-commerce giant Amazon Inc has launched its payment gateway Amazon Payments that will enable users to opt for their Amazon accounts to pay on third party e-tailing sites. This will happen on partner sites which will list 'pay by Amazon' as a payment option for the consumers. The 'Login and Pay with Amazon' service is compatible with tablet, mobile and desktop devices. The affiliated retailers will also get fraud protection from Amazon without any extra fee. The move is seen as a major challenge for payments leader PayPal. Its existing clients include Gogo.com, Autoplicity.com, and Build.com.

Amazon is charging all online sellers on a per-transaction basis. These fees are based on a percentage of the transaction amount plus a per transaction fee. The standard transactional rate is 2.9 per cent + $0.30 per transaction for deals of $10 or more. Along with this, it is offering volume discounts for a transaction volume of $3,000 or more in a period of last three months. While it seems that the service is not yet available in India, seeing Amazon's thrust in the Indian market, it may get introduced in the country as well.

Reportedly, Amazon has more than 200 million customer accounts which is one of the largest customer bases and thus has the potential to take on payment gateway leaders like PayPal. Along with that, Amazon enjoys a lot of confidence from its customers which will further encourage more and more users to opt for its payment method. However, it all also depends on how many merchants Amazon can bring on board for the service.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)