Amazon Pay is a payment service offered by Amazon that is similar to PayPal. It allows you to use the payment methods associated with your Amazon account to make payments for goods, services, and donations on third-party websites and apps. It is also possible to use Amazon Pay through Alexa.

For example, if you have already entered your credit card, debit card, or bank account information into your Amazon account, you can then use any of those payment methods to pay for purchases on any third party website or app that accepts Amazon Pay. This is similar to PayPal, which allows you to use your PayPal account to pay for things on any website or app that accepts PayPal.

When you use Amazon Pay, you can choose from a wide variety of payment methods – whether to pay with your credit cards, debit cards, or personal checking accounts. It is also possible to use Amazon.com Store Card, Flexible Spending Account (FSA) card, Health Savings Account (HSA) card, or Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card if you have any of them set up in your Amazon account.

How Does Amazon Pay Work?

Amazon Pay lets you pay for purchases or services on third-party websites or apps without entering your credit or debit card information. It is an up-and-coming payment service that is rapidly gaining popularity.

Any website or mobile app that displays the “Amazon Pay” button accepts it as a payment method. Just click on that button, enter your Amazon email address and password to authenticate yourself, and you are all set. If you have an Amazon account, then you already have Amazon Pay and there is no additional set up.

You can also use Amazon Pay with Alexa. Just use a voice command such as, “Alexa, pay for gas.” This works at more than 11,500 Exxon and Mobil gas stations in the United States. Amazon Pay is free to use. It can save you from wasting time creating a new user account and typing in your credit card and shipping information at every new website or app you buy from. It can also protect you from cybercriminals who may try to steal your credit card or banking information.

You can use Amazon Pay at the tens of thousands of websites and apps that accept it. You can also use it to pay for gas at more than 11,500 Exxon and Mobil gas stations and to pay for your electric, water, and gas bill at more than 700 utility companies in the United States.

Cost of Amazon Pay

Amazon Pay is free for consumers. So, if you use Amazon Pay to pay for your purchases on a website or to pay for gas at an Exxon gas station, you will not have to pay anything extra on top of your purchase price.

For merchants and businesses that accept Amazon Pay as a payment method, they are charged a fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. This is the industry standard transaction fee for credit card payments charged by the likes of PayPal and other payment processors. There are no setup costs, monthly fees, or monthly minimums required.

The bottom line is, as a consumer, Amazon Pay is free to you. And Amazon Pay does not cost any more to the businesses that accept it than the industry standard cost for payment transactions.

How To Sign up for Amazon Pay

You do not need to do anything to sign up for Amazon Pay. As long as you have an Amazon account and there are payment methods (such as your credit cards or debit cards) associated with your Amazon account, you can use Amazon Pay to shop on non-Amazon websites and at businesses that support Amazon Pay on Alexa.

There is no separate registration or setup process. Just look for the Amazon Pay or Pay by Amazon button on the websites you are visiting or in the apps you are using. For businesses that support Amazon Pay on Alexa, just say the specific voice command, such as “Alexa, pay for gas,” or “Alexa, pay my water bill.”

Using Amazon Pay Online and App

Using Amazon Pay on a website or an app is very easy. But first of all, the website or app in question must accept Amazon Pay. And not all websites or apps do. Those that do have an Amazon Pay or Pay with Amazon button on it. When you see that button, you can proceed to use Amazon Pay to pay for your purchase by following the steps below.

1. Click or tap on the Amazon Pay or Pay with Amazon button
2. On the form that appears, sign in with your Amazon.com email address and password
3. Once your Amazon account has been authenticated, you can then choose your payment method from a list of all the payment methods that are linked to your Amazon account,
4. Your payment method choices include – credit or debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, UnionPay, JCB), personal checking accounts, Amazon.com Store Card, FSA card, HSA card, and EBT card. Note that it is not possible to use your Amazon Gift Card balance as a payment method for Amazon Pay
5. Review the amount of your payment. If there is no issue, click or tap on Submit
6. You are done

You can use Amazon Pay on any website, mobile app, or Alexa Skill as long as it is integrated with Amazon Pay.

Using Amazon Pay on Alexa

One thing that is quite unique to Amazon Pay is that you can use it to make payments on Amazon Alexa through voice commands.

For those who did not know already, Alexa is a virtual assistant technology powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) created by Amazon. You can interact with Alexa on a variety of smart devices such as smartphones, smart speakers, smart TVs, desktops, laptops, cars, smart fridges, smart thermostats, smart watches, smart light switches, Wi-Fi routers, and more. Brands that support Alexa include Amazon, LG, GE, Ford, Toyota, BMW, Lexus, HP, Asus, Bose, Harman Kardon, Sony, Samsung, and more. You speak to the Alex-enabled smart devices and they will do what you ask them to do.

Just like you can use Amazon Pay on websites that support it, you can also use Amazon Pay on Alexa on services that support it. Two examples are:

Example 1: Pay for Gas at an Exxon or Mobil Gas Station

You can use Amazon Pay on Alexa to pay for your gas at more than 11,500 Exxon and Mobil gas stations in the United States.

1. Pull up to a gas pump at an Exxon or Mobil station
2. Make sure your phone has the Alexa app installed or your car has Alexa preinstalled (Alexa is preinstalled in select Ford, Toyota, Lexus, Volkswagen, Mini, or BMW models). Alternatively, you can use any Echo Auto devices installed in your car
3. Speak to your phone, your car, or your Echo Auto the voice command: “Alexa, pay for gas.”
4. Alexa will then confirm the location of the gas station and the number of the gas pump you are at
5. After that, Alexa will activate your gas pump
6. You can now pump your gas as you would normally
7. After you are finished pumping, Alexa will pay for your gas using the default payment method stored in your Amazon Pay account

Example 2: Pay Your Electric, Water, or Gas Bill

More than 700 electric, water, or gas utility companies in the United States have been enabled with Alexa and Amazon Pay. If any of your utility companies is one of those 700, you can pay for your utility bill using Amazon Pay by talking to Alexa through voice commands.

First, you have to set up Amazon Pay on your utility accounts:

1. Say, “Alexa, connect my electric bill,” or “Alexa, connect my water bill,” or “Alexa, connect my gas bill.“
2. Alexa will look up your utility account using the name, billing address, and email address stored in your Amazon account
3. If your electric, water, or gas provider is one of the 700 utility companies that have integrated with Alexa, your utility account will be linked to your Amazon Pay account

Now that you have set up your utility accounts on Alexa, all you have to do to pay for your utility bills is:

1. Say, “Alexa, pay my electric bill,” or “Alexa, pay my water bill,” or “Alexa, pay my gas bill.”
2. Alexa will then pay your utility bill using the default payment method stored in your Amazon Pay account

Right now, the number of businesses and locations that have enabled support for Amazon Pay on Alexa is still quite limited. But that could change rapidly in the near future.

Reasons to Use Amazon Pay

As a buyer, there are two main benefits that come from using Amazon Pay.

Reason 1: Quick & Easy Purchases

Typically, if you want to buy something at a new website or a new mobile app that you have never used before, you would need to, first, create a user account by choosing a username and a password. Then, you would need to set up your payment information by entering your credit or debit card number, card expiration date, billing address, and shipping address. Only after that can you start buying.

Needless to say, that is a lot of work just to buy something. If you already have an Amazon account – and most people do – all of the information you need to enter at a new website or app (your credit card number, billing address, etc) is already stored in your Amazon account. Amazon Pay lets you reuse that information and avoid re-typing it at every new website or mobile app you want to buy from.

With Amazon Pay, there is no need to create a new account or enter your payment and shipping information every time you buy from a new website or app. You just click the Amazon Pay button and Amazon will pay for your purchase using your payment information it has on file. It will also send over your shipping address to the website or app you are buying from. This way, everything is automated and you do not need to waste time entering data.

Reason 2: Security & Trust

When you buy from an unfamiliar website or mobile app for the very first time, you may be reluctant to give out your credit card number. After all, you do not know who is behind that website or app. What if it was run by criminals trying to steal your credit card number? And even if they are not criminals, they may not have the technical competence to keep your credit card data safe while storing it in their computer servers. Some hackers could potentially hack into their computers and steal your credit card numbers. Things like that have happened before and will happen again.

With Amazon Pay, you no longer need to give out your credit card numbers to unfamiliar websites or apps that could potentially be fraudulent or incompetent. This way, you can reduce the risk of having your credit card numbers stolen or misused.

Where Can You Use Amazon Pay

You can use Amazon Pay on any websites or mobile apps that feature the Amazon Pay or Pay by Amazon button.

According to Amazon, there are “tens of thousands” of websites that accept Amazon Pay as a payment method. Some examples are:

• Woot
• Bonfire
• Kylie Cosmetics
• Chico’s
• True Religion
• Edible Arrangements
• Glasses USA

You can find more online stores that accept Amazon Pay on this page.

And as mentioned in the sections above, you can also use Amazon Pay to pay for your gas at more than 11,500 Exxon and Mobil gas stations in the United States.

There are also more than 700 electricity, water, and gas utility companies that accept Amazon Pay as a payment option.