Since Amazon relaunched its online Payments business in 2013, more than 23 million customers have used their Amazon accounts to pay for purchases on other businesses’ websites. That’s a trade-off that Amazon is more than willing to make. Among those companies now accepting Amazon Payments are Southwest Airlines, Comcast’s GolfNow online tee-time booking site and online store Red Dress Boutique, which reports that within a week of adding Amazon Payments, 20 percent of its orders used it, surpassing PayPal. Continue reading Amazon Payments is Gaining Traction with Smaller Retailers

Facing new competition in the mobile payment space, including the recently unveiled Apple Pay, eBay announced yesterday that it plans to spin off its PayPal business into a separate publicly traded company in late 2015. This is an about face by the online retailer, which had defended keeping the companies together after investor Carl Icahn aggressively pushed for a separation. EBay now says that a split will provide both companies with better competitive positions and allow them to focus on strategy. Continue reading Course Reversal: eBay Plans to Spin Off PayPal Biz Next Year