Amazon has made its way into the world of digital payments. The Amazon Pay service is also available in Italy. It is therefore possible to make payments using the data registered on your account of Jeff Bezos's giant. Although very popular in the United States, it is not yet so widespread in Italy. It is a service ready to compete with Paypal also in our country. There is no cost, with the advantage of being able to buy any product in total safety, without having to enter every single time the data of your credit card, as well as the shipping address.
Also expected benefits for sellers. Whoever should propose this system for their customers, will have to pay Amazon 3.4% of sales, up to 2,500 euros. In addition, there will be a commission of 35 cents for each transaction made. Superata quota 2.500 euro, che viene calcolata su base mensile, le commissioni previste calano.
Come funziona Amazon Pay
Per poter sfruttare Amazon Pay tutto ciò di cui si ha bisogno è un account attivo. È dunque possibile visualizzare la pagina di riepilogo del servizio, collegandosi alla pagina iniziale (https://pay.amazon.it/) e poi cliccando sul pulsante "Per gli acquirenti". Una volta effettuato l’accesso, non vi saranno altri passaggi da effettuare.
Differente il procedimento, altrettanto semplice, per chi intende fornire tale servizio per la propria clientela. Dopo aver raggiunto la pagina iniziale di Amazon Pay si dovrà cliccare sul pulsante "Per i venditori", seguito da "Inizia oggi". Dal menù a tendina è possibile selezionare la piattaforma e-commerce utilizzata sul proprio sito. Cliccando sul pulsante "Iniziare la registrazione" si arriverà a tre domande alle quali rispondere:
- Paese nel quale la società è registrata;
- possesso di un sito web;
- prodotti in vendita.
Ecco i dati che verranno richiesti durante il processo di registrazione:
- carta di credito;
- indirizzo di fatturazione;
- numero di telefono;
- nome aziendale;
- contatti aziendali.
Metodi di pagamento accettati
Per poter effettuare i pagamenti attraverso Amazon Pay, è necessario associare il proprio account Amazon a un valido metodo di pagamento:
- carte di credito Visa, MasterCard e American Express;
- carte di debito Visa Electron, Delta e Maestro.
In no case, however, will it be possible to take advantage of Amazon gift vouchers to make payments using this method
Amazon Pay for buyers
Anybody who makes purchases on Amazon is already enabled, per se, to buy through the Amazon Pay service. In fact, it's impossible to make purchases without having an active account and, as explained, an account is all you need to be able to take advantage of the service offered.
Once you've placed the products you want in your shopping cart on a given site, you'll have different payment options to choose from. To take advantage of the Amazon method, alternative to PayPal or to the insertion of your sensitive data of the card you intend to use, just click on the "Amazon Pay" button.
Amazon Pay for sellers
Whoever sells their products on Amazon and is therefore already registered with a professional account, can proceed directly to the integration of the payment method on their site or digital platform. Otherwise, you will need to create a new Amazon seller account.
This process requires additional information in order to verify your activity and confirm your registration. Payments received through this method will then be credited, according to the timeframe of the contract, to the bank account indicated on the International Bank Account Information page. In this regard, it is necessary that the account holder is the same person responsible for opening the seller profile on Amazon.
Costs and Commissions
Opening an Amazon account is totally free, which means that taking advantage of the possibility of having your customers pay with Amazon Pay is free. The system requires, of course, precise costs and commissions, in the case that to take advantage of this is a seller and not a buyer.
At present, the fee schedule is quite similar to that proposed by PayPal, which allows you to freely make a choice or, alternatively, activate both services, in order to ensure its customers every possible option. For each transit volume there is a fixed cost of 0.35 cents. The latter remains unchanged, while the percentage to be paid to Amazon changes, depending on the entries received.
A volume of economic transit below 2,500 euros requires a deduction of 3.4%. This drops to 2.7% if the transit volume is between 2,500.01 and 10,000 euros. From 10,000.01 to 100,000 euros it falls further to 2.2%. The last bracket is 1.8%, relating only to traffic volumes above €100,000.
The higher a company's profits, the greater the discount Amazon is ready to grant, thus securing higher and higher transactions. These four brackets do not actually include all possible customers. In fact, there are some sellers who are able to guarantee transit volumes well above the 100,000 mark. These are relatively rare situations, if one takes into account most "normal" sellers. These sellers have the possibility to contact the company in person, finding a personal agreement that can satisfy both parties.
International Payments
Making international transactions can involve, in some cases, an extra fee, in addition to the one mentioned above. However, Amazon has agreements for certain countries, which allows you to pay 0%, so no extra, in the case of international transactions involving the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
The surcharge is 2% for transactions with Canada, the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Montenegro and the United States. The fee increases further to 3% for transactions with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. For the rest of the world, there is an extra 3.3% share.
Wanting to make a comparison with competitor PayPal, Amazon Pay has a clear advantage relative to international transactions. This is 0% added for transactions within European borders and Switzerland. At the same time Amazon's international rates are higher for receiving intercontinental payments.
To this is added a currency conversion fee, should the payment be made in a currency other than the Euro. In such cases it is not sufficient to calculate the current exchange rate. To this must be added a surcharge of 2.5% on the transaction amount.
Amazon: payment in installments
Amazon provides a mode of payment in installments in Italy. The users have therefore the possibility to activate a deferred payment, selecting a given number of installments, without the addition of interests.
The procedure differs from what regularly happens in the store. In fact, it is not a finalized loan, in which the capital is disbursed by a finance company that has a specific agreement with a shopkeeper. It is a deferment, on which, by law, it is not possible to apply charges or interest.
Then the amount is divided into five equal installments. If the amount is not divisible by five, the last installment will be lower than the previous ones. A payment option for those who have had an Amazon account for at least one year and a valid credit or debit card.
Security in payments
After agreeing to make a payment through Amazon Pay, there is no way to cancel it. Instead, you can make returns, requesting a refund of what you paid. This is regularly guaranteed by Amazon protocol, as owners of an active account well know.
In case of purchases through Amazon Pay you have the same kind of guarantee. The company protects its customers, allowing them to make returns and receive a refund of the amount paid, in case of non-receipt of goods or in case of receipt of damaged goods. This excludes digital services and gift vouchers, which cannot be refunded under any circumstances.
Claiming a return or refund is very simple. All you have to do is go to the Amazon Pay home page, click on the "Buyers" item, located in the top right corner, logged into your account. The order can be viewed in the "Details" area. The section "Do you have a problem with your order?" will allow you to contact the seller.
If the seller is not available, making regular communication between the parties impossible, you will be able to open a dispute. Also in this case you can go to the area "Do you have a problem with your order?", clicking on "Submit/Display Complaint".
Closing an Amazon Pay account
The opening of an Amazon Pay account does not present any cost. A certainty that remains so even as time passes. Under no circumstances will the user be asked to pay money to allow the account to remain active. This is a "gift" that the company provides for its members. A business plan very similar to the one that provides for the addition of Amazon Prime Video to the account of Amazon Prime users.
This does not detract from the fact that some buyers may decide to close their Amazon Pay account. To do so, they will need to contact the global giant's customer support, requesting a complete account closure. All this can be done through a message.
To be able to contact the assistance, it is necessary to go to the relative web page (https://pay.amazon.it/contattaci). To reactivate the service, if you want to, all you have to do is buy a good or a service from one of the sellers that support the Amazon payment system.