Amazon Adds More Countries to Virtual Payment Program

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: May 13, 2014 10:15 am

Last Updated: April 27, 2020 3:39 pm

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced Tuesday morning that it is adding France, Italy and Spain to the countries where its virtual currency, Amazon Coins, are available. And keeping with its practice of giving Coins away at launch time, the company said it will bestow millions of euros worth of Coins on customers in the newly added countries. The Coins are valued at 100 Coins to €1.

Coins may be used by customers to purchase apps and in-app items at Amazon’s Appstore at a discount using a PC, an Android-based phone or tablet, and Amazon’s own Kindle Fire tablets. Customers will receive 500 free Coins automatically when they update the Amazon client and download an app. Coins may not be used to purchase other products and services available at Amazon’s vast retail site.

Amazon will continue to pay app developers the standard 70% share whether customers use Coins or another method of payment. The announcement also notes that 75% of apps developed for Android will run without modification at the Appstore, and Amazon provides a free tool that developers can use to test compatibility. Coins were first introduced in the United States in February of 2013.

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