Amazon.com (NASDAQ:$AMZN) may be having unforeseen problems for its Amazon Payments platform, a program that allows account holders to pay for merchandise from other vendors using the account and payment information already connected to their Amazon accounts.
These problems are coming not from consumer fear of sharing information, but from merchant being unwilling to release their customer transaction data to Amazon.
Amazon has long been known as a company that profits off the losses of others, so it should come as no surprise that there are few companies out there eager to relinquish any control over their customer base. With so many companies unwilling to share purchase data from customers with Amazon, the platform has hit a bit of a dead end. In an attempt to quell this data sharing fear, Amazon Payments Vice President Patrick Gauthier said in a CNBC interview, “The reality is … we definitely segregate the data and the data that we use about payments is only for processing payments.”
Whether or not this statement will be enough to calm the fears of merchants is yet to be seen. Even if a company is willing to share its customer purchase data, the question is, would they? Would they want to aid in the profits of a rival company, especially one so large and dominating in the market as Amazon?
Despite these questions, Amazon Payments has undoubtedly seen some success. Amazon released information on the platform, stating that 33 million customers have now used Amazon Payments, with over 50% of those customers being members of Amazon Prime. The payment volume for Amazon Payments has doubled, and merchant coverage, in fact, grew 120% in 2016 – so, obviously, there are merchants out there willing to participate.
How much further Amazon Payments can annex the market, we will just have to wait and see. Maybe in a few years time, an Amazon Payment button will be at the checkout next to PayPal – then again, maybe not. Amazon users may have to content themselves with purchasing from the ever-growing scope of the online retailer.
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