Amazon to take on PayPal and Google Checkout

TechCrunch is reporting that Amazon plans to launch an online payment system soon that will compete with Google Checkout and eBay's PayPal.

Amazon's existing checkout system for its retail site is one of the more sophisticated on the web. The company also allows third parties to sell new and used goods through Amazon's Marketplace and Auction services. But this will be the first time Amazon makes its payment system available for independent sellers to include on their own websites.

Apparently the service will work much like Google Checkout. When you find an item you would like to pay for, you click a button on the web site and you'll be redirected to an Amazon page to complete the transaction.

The beauty of these services is that you can submit your personal information to just one site and pay for goods purchased online at hundreds of websites. And while competition is generally a good thing, if this market gets too crowded, frequent online shoppers will wind up having to sign up for accounts with dozens of checkout services, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Tags: amazon, checkout, eBay, google checkout, GoogleCheckout, payment