Report: Another big name throws hat in mobile payment ring

Mobile payment keeps getting more popular, at least on the provider side.



According to Re/Code, Amazon.com is launching a mobile “Pay with Amazon” button that will let consumers automatically use their Amazon payment information to make purchases on other retailer’s e-commerce apps. While not exactly a mobile wallet app, the Pay With Amazon button is definitely an attempt to obtain a piece of the mobile payment market which Apple, Samsung, Google, and several other entities are trying to take an early lead in.



Amazon has been offering Pay with Amazon functionality on some other e-commerce websites, but this marks Amazon’s move into app-based mobile payment with the solution. Pay with Amazon online revenue has grown 180% year-over-year, with retailers in countries such as Germany and Japan, as well as the U.S., using the option for e-commerce sites. Amazon also plans to significantly increase its Pay with Amazon e-commerce business overseas.



Amazon, which beta tested a full-scale digital wallet solution earlier this year but did move into full rollout, hired former PayPal executive Patrick Gauthier earlier in 2015 to lead a new online and mobile payments business. Gauthier told Re/Code that online merchants who have used Pay with Amazon see better conversions and more repeat customers.



Mobile payment is getting crowded with a host of players, and Amazon is certainly a huge presence in digital retail. Even though so far it only has an online golf reservation service using the mobile button, Amazon has to be considered a potential major competitor in mobile payment.



There may be competitive issues that other mobile payment providers don’t have, although Gauthier said Amazon would take appropriate steps to ensure the retail side of its business did not obtain any information it could potentially use against other retailers from the payment side. How much trust does Amazon have with its fellow digital retailers? We are about to find out.