Amazon Flexible Payments Service
Amazon has introduced Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS) - calling it "the first payments service designed from the ground up specifically for developers. The set of web services APIs allows the movement of money between any two entities, humans or computers. It is built on top of Amazon's reliable and scalable payment infrastructure." The service has been introduced in "Limited Beta". More background - on the story behind Amazon FPS and some of the companies that will be using Amazon FPS - is available on the Amazon Web Services Blog.
Amazon says that "Amazon FPS takes a traditionally limited and inflexible payments process, and instead lets developers expose individual payment conditions that enable them to charge in new ways and customers to pay in new ways." Pricing is unbundled at the transaction level and based upon the funding mechanism used by the consumer to pay. An FAQ for FPS developers is available online.
A consumer facing web page at payments.amazon.com explains that "Non-Amazon (3rd Party) web sites can now use Amazon's trusted payments technology to let you conveniently purchase goods or services on their sites." All existing Amazon customers automatically are enabled for Amazon Payments. Payments can be made using a credit card, bank account, or the consumer's Amazon Payments Account balance. Amazon is emphasizing the convenience and security of Amazon Payments saying that it does not share payment information with any 3rd party without the consumer's consent.
The service is provided by Amazon Payments, Inc. which has been licensed as a money service business in many US jurisdictions.
Add your comment... (note that all comments are reviewed before they're published)