X

Amazon Pay looks to gas stations, restaurants in digital wallet push, says report

The online giant is reportedly trying to persuade brick-and-mortar retailers to accept Amazon Pay.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter
Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.
Marrian Zhou
The Amazon logo in a building in the downtown district
Roberto Machado Noa

Amazon  looks to be trying to become even more involved in shoppers' lives.

The e-commerce giant is pushing to expand its Amazon Pay digital wallet into brick-and-mortar stores, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday. The service is mainly used online currently.

Amazon reportedly wants to partner first with gas stations, restaurants and merchants that aren't direct competitors. It's unclear how Amazon Pay will be used in store. Apple Pay and Google Pay use NFC to let people tap phones on terminals at checkout to make transactions.

Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2017, the company said Amazon Payments had been used by over 33 million customers since it launched in 2013. Amazon in 2016 partnered with luxury clothing e-retailer Moda Operandi to let customers use their Amazon logins to buy items online and in stores.

Amazon isn't the only tech giant integrating a digital wallet into physical stores. Apple Pay and Google Pay are already accepted in lots of retail stores in the US. For example, since September, Apple Pay and Google Pay are being accepted at 7-Eleven stores across the US. Support for the digital payments rolled out gradually through the month, joining the Samsung Pay mobile payments option.