According to published reports Thursday, Amazon may soon introduce a mobile payments solution.
Based on details contained in the online retail giant’s filing with United States Patent and Trademark Office, Amazon’s “Anonymous mobile payments” platform is described as a system that would allow mobile users to complete transactions without revealing personal details to the retailer.
Although the multinational ecommerce company is wise to make consumer privacy a major component of its envisioned payment solution, Amazon could have a difficult time catching up to long-established industry leaders in the secure mobile payments space.
Even for Amazon, it could be a monumental challenge to face off against PayAnywhere, GoPayment, Square, and other smaller solutions providers. Nonetheless, the economic incentive behind becoming a big player in mobile payments might motivate Amazon to introduce the technology it has designed.
“With the ease provided by mobile apps and wireless Internet, things like checks and mechanical registers are starting to seem like dinosaurs,” explains PayAnywhere in a recent blog post. “Mobile solutions allow retailers to accept payments at storefronts via readers that attach to smartphones and tablets. With the addition of data analytics and promotional tools, the vast benefits of mobile are drawing thousands of new converts each month. As more and more merchants adopt mobile readers for credit card processing, consumers by and large are coming to favor the option.”
To read the complete patent filing from Amazon, click here.
