Amazon PayPhrase lets shoppers make payments with words rather than numbers

Amazon PayPhrase lets shoppers make payments with words rather than numbers
Tags: Online Retailing, Payments
October 29, 2009

Amazon this week unveiled its PayPhrase service, which aims to make online purchasing quicker and easier both on its site and on other participating sites on the Web.

Customers sign up and are given a unique, short phrase — "Feisty Mango" or "Fiction Vixen," for instance. When making the first purchase with a phrase, the user will need to enter a valid credit card, but future purchases will only require the use of the phrase and a PIN.

The company suggests using multiple PayPhrases as a way to manage payment accounts without the need for additional debit or credit cards — for instance, a phrase could be created and funded for a child's allowance.