On October 29th 2009, Brad Stone wrote an article for the New York Times titled, “Amazon PayPhrase Tries to Make Paying Online Easier”. The Article beings with Stone providing a brief description of what a PayPhrase is, and how Amazon.com is implementing it into their online checkout. The article states that a PayPhrase is a certain phrase that a person can use to access Amazon.com and pay for purchased goods without using any credit numbers, just simply providing your “special” pin and your phrase. The article then quotes the General Manager of Consumer Payments at Amazon saying, “They do not have to share credit card with another third-party Web site, they do not to have to be signed in, and they get this consistent experience wherever they checkout” explaining how PayPhrase will also be implemented to other online checkouts supported by Amazon, such as Buy.com and DKNY. Stone then presents his objections to the idea, questioning the fact that since each phrase must be unique, it will not be long until people are forced to register for a phrase that is nearly impossible to remember (example given; “relentless dentist”). The article is concluded with the author predicting the future for Pay Phrase saying, “Although Amazon is not integrating PayPhrase into its mobile shopping tools right away, it certainly will at some point. With PayPhrase, Jeff Bezos and his crew may be looking into the future, and preparing to seize a cut of the mobile payments business”, implying that perhaps PayPhrase will be used with voice recognition to make mobile purchases in the future. The article in its entirety can be viewed at:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/amazon-payphrase-tries-to-make-paying-online-easier/?scp=1&sq=payphrase%20amazon&st=cse
Like many other aspects of new technology, I have mixed feelings towards PayPhrase. I believe that it is a good idea in the sense that a consumer will no longer have to spend the extra time providing a credit card number in checkout, and will be able to make fast effortless online purchases. With that said, I don’t know how secure this system could possibly be, I feel as though replacing a credit card number with an obscure phrase could not be very safe, with hackers ability these days there could already be a program to discover someone’s PayPhrase which is basically their bank account. Also, I feel as though being able to buy something with just typing in a word could start to cause people to spend money they really should not be spending, there is something to be said for having to provide your personal credit card number to make a purchase rather than just a two-word phrase.
In this technology-dominated world we live in, there is a constant need for innovation, and Amazon.com has certainly shown innovation with their implementation of PayPhrase. But systems like PayPhrase really start to make me wonder, is the basis of our consumption simply who provides the most convenient service? If they are doing away with credit card numbers now, who knows what the future holds, perhaps someday, somebody will be able to make a purchase by nodding their head at a computer screen. Has the world really come to a point where there is a necessity to spend thousands, possible millions of dollars on a system that saves a consumer five minutes?
I found it interesting that Amazon.com is resorting to a newer form of customer online payment besides Paypal. From my knowledge, Paypal has been a successful IT system that securely transfers and tracks credit card data almost effortlessly after the customer inputs their information once. Paypal has an easy checkout option for online shopping websites like Amazon.com that shortens the amount of time a consumer needs to type in their personal information. It sounds to me that Payphrase will involve a similar amount of time but may not offer similar security benefits. If consumers use Payphrase they will still need to provide their credit card information at least once; yet, as Chris commented, using a phrase instead of your secure credit card code does not seem as safe and might be easier for hackers to accesss private information. Overall, I think Amazon.com is on the right path trying to simiplify the checkout process for their consumers, because as everyone knows, time equals money and no one likes filling out personal banking information online; it's one of the main reasons why I avoid shopping online. Amazon.com might have been trying to reel in new customers with this faster checkout option; however, i think they need to invest more time into verifying the safety and security of this system before it is launched for public use.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, PayPhrase seems like an unnecessary step-down from PayPal. After reading an article that PayPal is breaking away from EBay, it seems redundant that a new method of payment that is almost identical to PayPal be introduced. The idea of entering a unique phrase seems bizarre to me, as it seems easy to forget. What happens if the user forgets the phrase? PayPal has a more practical method of asking your email address and password. It would be most beneficial for all online retailers and wholesalers to globalize and make PayPal a universal method of online payment.
ReplyDeleteI think that PayPhrase is a good idea, however, just like all other secret information, if someone gained access to your pin # and "phrase" it could be detrimental. i personally hate re-entering my credit card information when I am online shopping, but taking an extra minute to do so is not really cutting a large chunk out of my day. The Payphrase is a good idea, but it is also kind of dumb in a sense. I have used paypal before and it sounds very similar to payphrase. I agree with what Alex said about globalizing a payment method, such as paypal, for all online businesses to use.
ReplyDeleteHaving conducted my IT project on Amazon, I have researched the PayPhrase and looked into its effects. Brad Stone, the author of the article, questions the creation of payhrases. With millions of users on Amazon he predicts that it will become difficult to create a memorable payhrase. I'm not a big proponent of this argument. The user should write down his payhrase to avoid forgetting it. I have learned something new after reading this article. The payhrase is paving the way for e-commerce payments on cellphones. Since navigating web pages on cell phones can be difficult. A payhrase (possibly voice activated) can avoid the frustration of webpage navigation. I can see where Bezos is going with this with idea. Lastly, to comment on Chris' last paragraph. I do believe Amazon will receive more purchases with the payphrase technology. People might be spending more than they should, but Amazon could care less. Amazon's revenue will increase and they could care less if more people going into credit card debt.
ReplyDeleteI'm not fully convinced by Amazon's "payphrase", it seems like they have the right idea to create an easier check out, but I'm not sure if they implemented it correctly. I have purchased items from amazon and they remember your credit card number to create an easier checkout which seems to work just fine; the user just has to provide their username and password. The payphrase might make users more susceptible to fraud or hackers which would jeopardize Amazon's name and reputation. If it's not broken, then don't fix it.
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