Topic: Payments
Google Assistant Will Soon Be Able To Pay For Things – Digital Trends (Jan 16, 2017)
One of the main motivations behind Amazon’s Echo and Alexa strategy has obviously been to drive e-commerce purchases through Amazon, and it looks like Google’s Assistant in its various guises may get the closest equivalent Google can offer – the ability to make purchases on third party sites and services. Payments integration is critical for reducing friction around online purchases, but of course it’s a double-edged sword too – making legitimate payments possible also enables illegitimate or accident purchases, as recent news stories surrounding Echo demonstrate. And of course security will be critical. With no equivalent to the secure enclaves and other technology used in smartphone payment systems, and given that Google Home doesn’t currently authenticate the user in any way, you have to wonder whether this will have to be a smartphone-only play.
via Google Assistant Will Soon Be Able To Pay For Things | Digital Trends
Amazon to Launch Credit Card for Prime Members – WSJ (Jan 11, 2017)
This is yet another example of Amazon pursuing its flywheel strategy of reducing friction and providing incentives for people to spend more time and money on Amazon. The 5% cash back feature for Amazon purchases will be compelling for many people, since it’s basically free money for things many of them would already buy there, but since it’s a higher percentage than for purchases made elsewhere, it may also shift some buying to Amazon. This is a smart move and I’m curious to see how many people sign up for this (something we will of course have to rely on third parties to tell us).
via Amazon to Launch Credit Card for Prime Members – WSJ