Amazon.com put its toe in the online-payments waters in its typically conservative fashion. Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS) is in limited beta and is designed specifically for developers. The company explains that "the set of web services APIs allows the movement of money between any two entities, humans or computers."

To learn more about the service, see "Amazon Payments from the Online Seller's Perspective" (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m08/i13/s03).

Amazon.com is being shy with online merchants about the online payment service, targeting developers instead. When I talked to a couple of sellers for my article about the service from their perspective, they were not knowledgeable about how the service might work for them, but they appeared open to a service that many consumers already feel comfortable using.

I then asked several auction-management service providers if they would be integrating Amazon Payments into their ecommerce services for sellers. The response was one of "wait and see."

Marketworks Chief Marketing Officer Paul Lundy said, "We are taking a look at it and if it starts to gain significant traction we will discuss integrating."

Infopia Vice President of Marketing Ralf VonSosen said, "We are talking with Amazon about their new payment offering, but have not committed to a path of action. Given the current "free" offers from Paypal and Google Checkout, the lack of any merchants inquiring or demanding access, the lack of incentives by Amazon, and the newness of the solution, we are taking a wait-and-see approach to moving forward in supporting or incorporating the payment solution into the Infopia platform."

Vendio SVP Marketing and Business Development Michael Levit said Vendio is looking at Amazon FPS, BidPay and PayPal Express. They are talking to merchants to find out what they want, and it's a "prioritization exercise," he said.

Perhaps Amazon.com does not want developers of websites and applications that compete with the Amazon.com marketplace. Or it may simply be taking it very slow in how it rolls out the service, one that is sure to increase demands on its fraud-prevention efforts.

If you have thoughts on the Amazon FPS web service as an online seller or developer, please post your comments on the AuctionBytes Blog:
http://tinyurl.com/22tw32

Related Stories

"Amazon Launches Online Payment Service - for Developers"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m08/i03/s00

"Amazon Payments from the Online Seller's Perspective"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m08/i13/s03