Payments.amazon.com is the official site of Amazon Payments (also known as Checkout by Amazon), an online payment processing service.
It is similar in nature to Google Checkout, Paypal and Ebillme services. Basically, the service allows businesses, consumers and website owners to use the same online credit card processing service used by Amazon.com customers. Pricing is according to a tiered structure, with monthly transactions below $3000 priced at 2.90% of the transaction amount plus $0.30 per transaction. This pricing level is identical to the pricing offered by Google Checkout and by Paypal, so the various services are competing based on features and not on price.
To sign up for an account with Amazon Payments, a business owner or e-commerce retailer needs simply to provide a business name, a billing address and US telephone number, and a business credit card number. Once you have an account, you can start integrating Checkout by Amazon into your website. There are various tools available to incorporate the service into your website. For most implementations, it is as easily as adding a snippet of Javascript into your site. If you use the optional Amazon cart, the process of implementing the service becomes easier. Checkout by Amazon can automatically calculate taxes and discounts. If you use Fulfillment by Amazon, it can also calculate shipping costs on your behalf. Amazon is a trusted name in e-commerce, and many potential customers feel uncomfortable about trusting their credit card numbers to a small business on the web, but would be totally comfortable using their existing Amazon accounts to purchase items from other retailers. Furthermore, Amazon customers tend to be more affluent and tend to cause fewer problems with returns and phone calls. Hence, using this service is a way to increase your pool of desirable customers.
If you use Checkout by Amazon, they will send you an email every time an order has been placed. It is then up to you to pack and ship your products to your customers. If you also have a contract with Fulfillment by Amazon, and store your goods with Amazon, then they will automatically ship your products without your involvement. Once the payment from the buyer has cleared, you will receive an email from Amazon Payments. To check the status of their orders, buyers can log into the payments.amazon.com website (and not the Amazon site). The service can also accommodate returns and chargebacks according to your return policy. If you have a dispute with a buyer, it also has a dispute resolution process, where both sides are required to submit evidence to substantiate their cases.
If the above introduction to the Amazon Payments service sounds interesting to you, you can learn more at https://payments.amazon.com.