Amazon charts course to expand Amazon Pay

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Nov 21, 2018

The neck-and-neck battle for digital dominance between Amazon and Apple continues as Amazon announces plans to expand Amazon Pay, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. 

As part of the expansion effort, the e-tailer plans to integrate Amazon Pay into more brick-and-mortar stores, allowing customers to pay digitally at the counter using the payment information attached to their Amazon account.

The e-commerce company plans to offer a slew of incentives for stores to integrate Amazon Pay as an accepted payment method, like lower processing fees.

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According to WSJ, the company plans to focus particularly on companies like gas stations and restaurants, whose goods aren't met with direct competition from Amazon's retail offerings. Most recently, Amazon integrated its digital payment method with Spanish hotel chain Room Mate Hotels. 

Digital payment methods are meant to offer consumers a fast, secure process for checking out, eliminating the need for a physical credit or debit card. While the increase in use of digital wallets in the U.S. is slow and steady – accounting for less than one percent of total domestic card transactions last year, according to Nilson Report findings – Amazon, Apple, and payment companies like Venmo and Zelle are banking on the method's continued rise in popularity. According to a report by consumer credit reporting agency Experian, payments made with digital wallets amounted to nearly $721 billion in 2017, with the use of digital wallets being particularly popular in Asia. 

Currently, Amazon's number one domestic competitor Apple has its digital payment method integrated into over 5 million brick-and-mortar stores throughout the U.S.