In an Active Week for Worldpay, the Big Processor Says It Will Be Amazon Pay’s First Acquirer

As if the announcement of its pending merger with Fidelity National Information Services Inc. wasn’t enough news for one week, Worldpay Inc. on Wednesday said it will acquire Amazon Pay transactions for online merchants. The news means Cincinnati-based Worldpay has become the first merchant acquirer to work with the retailing giant’s payments service, which is intended for non-Amazon sites.

While Worldpay’s announcement of the linkup says it will process e-commerce transactions for Amazon Pay, Amazon.com Inc. has aspired for some time to extend the service to physical locations, as well. Asked whether Worldpay might ultimately handle in-store payments for Amazon Pay, a Worldpay spokesman said, “Right now our focus is online merchants.” He added, however, that Worldpay clients should “check back frequently for any updates.”

With Amazon Pay, buyers are able to use their Amazon credentials to check out at merchant sites in what is billed as a smoother, quicker transaction. At least 33 million consumers use Amazon Pay, according to the last number available, released in 2017.

Seattle-based Amazon is billing the Worldpay deal as a means for merchants to expand their business through Amazon Pay. “Working with Worldpay will make it easier for merchants to grow their business by providing customers with a familiar and trusted experience throughout the shopping journey,” said Patrick Gauthier, vice president for Amazon Pay, in a statement.

Merchants will use an application programming interface from Worldpay to integrate Amazon Pay at their checkouts. Worldpay will provide gateway services as well as acquiring the transactions. “At Worldpay it’s our responsibility to make it quick and easy for our merchants to add new payment options, and enable their customers to pay in the way they want to,” added Asif Ramji, Worldpay’s chief product and marketing officer, in a statement.

Amazon in recent years has sought to expand the availability of Amazon Pay through voice commerce with its Echo devices and by signing physical merchants, including restaurants. In July 2017, the company launched Amazon Pay Places, which allows users to deploy Amazon Pay within Anazon’s mobile app. One early signup was the TGI Friday’s restaurant chain, which enabled the payment service at select locations.

Wednesday’s news comes just 48 hours after FIS announced its $43 billion agreement to buy Worldpay in a deal expected to close in the second half of the year.