Updated on August 4, 2015

 

 

Amazon just launched their Local Register credit card reader which will let you process swiped credit card transactions for only 1.75% (less than Square and Paypal).

Amazon is using lower transaction fees to try to take market share from Square and Paypal in the credit card processing business.  Sign up before October 31, 2014, and you will qualify for the promotional rate of 1.75% until January 1, 2016.

If you have paid for goods and services using Square or Paypal, you may have had to pay extra to cover the credit card fees.  Miles and points collectors are often trying to meet the minimum spend requirements to get their next credit card sign up bonus – and looking for more merchants to accept credit cards at the lowest fee possible.  On the flip side, if you accept credit cards, this could reduce your transaction fees.  Passing on the savings to your customers may give you an small edge on the competition who still uses Square and Paypal.  The reviews on Amazon so far indicate a rocky start (they are overall bad – see below), but you have until October 31, 2014 to decide and still get the 1.75% promotional rate.

Click here to compare pricing, features, and compatible devices.

 

How Amazon Stacks Up Against Square & Paypal (rates as of June 30, 2014)

	Amazon	Square	Paypal
Swiped Transactions	1.75% *Limited Time Offer	2.75%	2.7%
Manually Keyed	2.75%	3.5% + $0.15	3.5% + $0.15

 

How does it work?

 

Off to a bad start

So far, reviews for the Amazon Local Register on Amazon are bad.  The main complaint being that Amazon requires you to setup a completely separate account.  As a result, the Local Register account won't work with your Amazon Payments account.  Having to maintain two separate Amazon accounts will certainly be frustrating.  Hopefully Amazon will allow the accounts to be linked as they currently do for many of their services (i.e. Amazon Payment, SellerCentral Merchant accounts, and regular customer Amazon accounts all use one login.)

 

Compatible Devices

There are not many compatible devices.  The list covers the most popular phones, however, I expect this to draw many complaints.

Phones	Tablets
iPhone 5s	Fire HD and HDX
iPhone 5	iPad
iPhone 5c	iPad Mini
iPhone 4s
iPhone 4
Samsung Galaxy S5
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S3

 

Compare Features

 

RELATED LINKS

• Wall Street Journal: Introducing Amazon Local Register
• TechCrunch: Amazon Launches Local Register, A Square Competitor With Lower Transaction Rates
• MacRumors: Amazon Launches iOS Compatible ‘Amazon Local Register' Card Reader
• CNET: Amazon takes on Square with Local Register card reader
• AndroidPolice: Amazon Local Register Launches, Aims To Undercut Square And PayPal Here With Lower Rates
• AndroidCentral: Amazon undercuts Square with own mobile card reader

 

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