Amazon Will Now Manage Subscription Payments for Startups and Businesses Forging into PayPal's territory, Amazon expands its reach with online payments.

By Laura Entis

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Starting today, Amazon will manage subscription payments for small businesses and startups.

That means that Amazon users can now use credit card details stored on the site to pay for automatically recurring subscriptions -- such as digital content subscriptions, membership dues or recurring donations and pledges -- directly on a startup's or business's website.

The ecommerce company has been piloting its new subscription-management service for the last few months with a select group of startups, Reuters reported. One of those companies is mobile-phone business Ting. Justen Burdette, a product manager at Ting, told the outlet that customers who paid for recurring subscriptions via Amazon increased their spending on Ting's website by 30 percent.

Related: Stephen Colbert Throws Punches at Amazon

Amazon's new service can help small businesses and startups attract customers who may otherwise have been hesitant to hand over their credit card information to a new business because, like PayPal, it allows users to click a button on a startup or business's website and pay for a recurring subscription with their Amazon credentials. The company, like its competitors, will charge a transaction fee. (Amazon's standard transactional rate is 2.9 percent + $0.30 per-transaction for transactions of $10 or more.)

That said, Amazon may face a little bit of backlash from these startups, as the giant corporation has been known to extend its offerings into new markets and in the future could become a competitor of these smaller companies, instead of an ally.

The timing of this announcement couldn't be more perfect. It has been widely rumored that Amazon will be announcing its first smartphone on June 18. By offering to manage subscription payments, this could help get more mobile-app makers on board.

For more details about the service, check out Amazon's page on automatic payments.

Related: Amazon Is Being a Big Tease About Its 3-D Smartphone, May Reveal It June 18

Laura Entis is a reporter for Fortune.com's Venture section.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

JPMorgan Shuts Down Internal Message Board Comments After Employees React to Return-to-Office Mandate

Employees were given the option to leave comments about the RTO mandate with their first and last names on display — and they did not hold back.

Business News

Zillow Predicts These 10 Places Will Have the Hottest Housing Markets in 2025

Zillow predicted that the hottest housing market of 2025 will be Buffalo, New York. Here's why.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

'Masculine Energy Is Good': Mark Zuckerberg Tells Joe Rogan He Thinks Companies Need More Aggression

On the most recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said corporate culture has become "neutered."

Business News

'More Soul-Crushing Than Ever': Popular Hiring Platform Finds Around 20% of Its Postings Were 'Ghost Jobs'

Is that job listing too good to be true? There's a one-in-five chance that it might be.

Growing a Business

5 Risk-Taking Lessons From Founders Who Bet Big and Won

Discover the bold moves and strategic risks that catapulted these entrepreneurs to success. Learn how their fearless decisions can inspire your own path to growth.