Group items tagged

Amazon One is a payment system offered by Amazon. It is based on biometrics and works by reading users' palm print.[1][2][3] It is used by retailers like Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go and Amazon Go Grocery,[4] as well as third-party retailers who purchased the technology from Amazon.

Amazon is reportedly looking to accept Bitcoin payments by the end of the year, and is investigating its own token for 2022. Amazon is also currently looking for a "Product Lead" to to develop Amazon's Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap. https://www.amazon.jobs/en/jobs/1644513/digital-currency-and-blockchain-product-lead

"Amazon has come out and flatly denied a British newspaper's report that the e-commerce colossus was planning to accept bitcoin (BTC, -4.04%) payments by the end of the year. 'Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true,' a spokesperson for Amazon told CoinDesk by email. "We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping on Amazon."

Amazon has partnered with Legal & General to create a blockchain system for managing corporate pension deals. The insurer will make use of the Amazon Managed Blockchain for its bulk annuity transactions.

Amazon customers in 12 countries will have their stored MasterCard card credentials tokenized. By replacing a consumer's physical card number with a token, payment information is unique to each individual transaction and can be used only by the merchant that requested it. The Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) tokenization technology keeps cards seamlessly up to date, because network tokens do not expire. When consumers receive a new physical card from their bank, their credentials are automatically updated. https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/82935/amazon-joins-mastercard-tokenization-initiative

Most Latin American consumers remain conspicuous cash users. Thus, CashTech could be very successful as specialists are looking for ways to bridge the gap between the digital economy and the cash economy, and many incumbents and startups have launched CashTech solutions in the region. For examples, banks have implemented cardless cash withdrawals through their apps, Amazon allows users in the region to pay for goods with cash through Amazon PayCode and Amazon Cash, and retail chain OXXO, which provides cash and correspondent banking services in its more than 19,000 stores in Mexico, has partnered with BBVA and Santander to offer cash-withdrawal services and with Ria Money Transfer to delivers cash remittances.

Amazon has announced a new payment system for real-world shops which uses a simple wave of the hand. Its new Amazon One scanner registers an image of the user's palm, letting them pay by hovering their hand in mid-air "for about a second or so", it says. The product will be trialled at two of Amazon's physical stores in Seattle.

"Avalanche price skyrocketed 35% from $12.23 to $16.55 mid-week. This followed the news that Ava Labs, the company behind the Avalanche blockchain project, had partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to scale blockchain solutions access to institutions, governments and enterprises. It is expected that the news will sustain AVAX's recovery to higher levels."

Bitcoin spenders can now use the lightning network to shop at e-commerce sites like Amazon. Crypto payment processing startup Moon has announced that any lightning-enabled wallet can now also be used through Moon's browser extension.

Fidelity, Deloitte, Amazon, and 20 other firms are backing a new blockchain accelerator program to mentor budding entrepreneurs in the space.

Binance experienced issues with APIs and withdrawal processing due to network issues with Amazon Web Services on August 23. Amazon has confirmed to The Block that AWS has experienced a temporary outage in the Asia Pacific (Tokyo) region.

SNAP program restrictions for online grocery shopping and delivery contribute to public health threats faced by as many as 35 million low-income Americans during the coronavirus. Major sources of groceries, like Amazon and Walmart, offer online grocery shopping for SNAP benefits through a preexisting USDA pilot program, but only in a handful of states. The incomplete access is another example of social inequity and internet divide exposed by the pandemic.

From payments to lending to insurance to checking accounts, Amazon is attacking financial services from every angle without applying to be a conventional bank.

Amazon is testing Affirm's are testing "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) payment platform firm with select customers, and plans to make Affirm more broadly available to its customers in coming months. On the platform, customers are told the total cost of the transaction up front and have the option to split the total cost of purchases of US$50 or more into simple monthly payments at checkout. There are no late or transaction fees.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) published Retail Central Bank Digital Currency: From Vision to Design, which outlines a framework that can help support policymakers in evaluating the interdependencies between central bank digital currency (CBDC) policy and technology choices. In a blog post, they summarized the key principles outlined in paper (see below). "The CBDC strategy framework starts with a central bank's policy goals and aligns those to design principles to create awareness of potential policy trade-offs. Then, the solution exploration phase aligns technology considerations to those principles, and competitive dynamics from the design are considered. Results from experimentation then feed back into design principles to make sure the technical solution aligns to policy goals."

Japanese online retailer Rakuten has begun accepting registrations for its new bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange, Rakuten Wallet.

Goldman Sachs is close to striking a deal with Amazon to offer small business loans to its US customers as the Wall Street bank turns to Big Tech to extend a push on to Main Street.

Visa launched its Global Crypto Advisory Practice to help clients and partners advance their crypto journeys. Through their work with more than 60 crypto platforms, Visa's global network of consultants and product experts have deep expertise to help financial institutions evaluate the crypto opportunity, develop concrete strategies, and pilot new user experiences and innovations like crypto rewards programs and CBDC-integrated consumer wallets.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) published their views on best CBDC design practices through an agile development lifecycle. This framework aligns the design of a CBDC to the goals of a particular central bank and its stakeholders. Each stage throughout this process encourages reflection on a central bank's policy vision and only recommends proceeding with a CBDC if alignment remains with all relevant policy goals.

Japan's equivalent to Amazon, e-commerce giant Rakuten, has started accepting account registrations for its new cryptocurrency exchange, Rakuten Wallet.