Amazon unveils new online-payment services
Amazon.com quietly unveiled on Tuesday new online-payment services it will offer to other online merchants--a move that puts it in direct competition with eBay's PayPal and Google's Google checkout.
The Seattle-based e-tailer describes Checkout by Amazon as a "complete checkout solution," with features such as Amazon's "one-click" payment option and tools for managing shipping charges, sales tax, and promotions. Google introduced a similar online payment processing system called Google Checkout in 2006, but analysts say it has been slow to catch on with merchants and consumers.
Amazon also unveiled Amazon Simple Pay, a service that allows consumers to use their Amazon account information to pay for purchases on other Web sites. However, as a competitor of PayPal, it's unlikely that Simple Pay will be accepted for purchases on eBay. In 2006, eBay banned its customers from using Google Checkout, according to its accepted payments policy.
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. Before joining CNET News in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers. E-mail Steven.
