Amazon Coins virtual currency now available on Kindle Fire
Amazon has thrown a handful of its online coins at its US customers. The bookseller has handed 500 "Amazon Coins" to each of its Kindle Fire customers. 500 coins are worth $5 and can be used to buy apps and games and also virtual items within games used on the ereader. To further tempt Kindle punters Amazon is offering ten per cent discounts on future coin purchases. Although US only for now we would expect the system to be offered elsewhere in the world soon. The Coins, for now at least, appear more like a loyalty card system than a fully-fledged currency. We assume Amazon hopes to boost....
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Amazon is launching its own currency later this month. Amazon Coins will only be exchangeable for Kindle applications and games and will only initially be available to US customers. The virtual coins will be valued at one US cent each, so a $2.99 purchase will cost 299 Coins. Amazon will prime the market by giving customers millions of free coins. Amazon said: "When Amazon Coins launches in May, we will give out tens of millions of dollars in Amazon Coins...". Application developers have already been asked to get their software in for review but no other integration is required. Developers....
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A new report has predicted the demise of Amazon Coins, arguing that the initiative goes against industry trends and could incur a user backlash. 'Alternative Currencies: Is There Staying Power?' is a report from Mercator Advisory Group, which specializes in reports to the payment industry. It charts recent developments in four areas: cryptocurrencies, community currencies started regionally, in-game currencies, and loyalty points tied to payment cards. Jeffrey Green, director of the emerging technologies advisory service at Mercator, and author of the report, argues that Amazon bucked the....