Amazon has an answer to mobile payment services like Square and PayPal — and it looks to be quite the contender.
Much like those other two services, Amazon Local Register is an app and card reader combo that lets you process payments from your mobile device. Amazon says the device will run you $10 but promises to credit the amount in processing fees.
With no monthly fees or contracts, Local Register charges 1.75 percent per swipe until it increases to 2.5 percent in January of 2016.
And it's those fees, and a few other perks, that have the tech world pitting Amazon against the other major mobile payment competitors.
As a writer for Engadget points out, Amazon's fees per swipe — 1.75 and 2.5 — are lower than both Square and PayPal.
TechCrunch says Amazon's payment processing experience could be a win for sellers, with its "customer support ... and their existing secure infrastructure for accepting payments which is backed by all the experience of their online storefront."
So Amazon is bringing some stiff competition to the mobile payment market. Still, we had to ask, what's in it for the online retail giant?
Bloomberg says this is all part of the plan. "Amazon's push into mobile point-of-sale systems is part of an effort to provide more services for small businesses, which it says number 26 million in the U.S." 26 million businesses ripe for the mobile payment picking.
And while the processing fees are a given, there's also another important detail. Amazon says payments will not only be deposited to your account the next business day, but will also be available to spend on Amazon.com "within minutes."
Hmm ...
You can check out Amazon Local Register at localregister.amazon.com.
This video includes images from Beau Giles / CC BY 2.0 and Dom Sagolla / CC BY NC ND 2.0
