If you've ever shopped at Amazon before, you must have noticed that PayPal is not listed among the available payment methods despite its popularity in the e-commerce sector.
Of course, there's a really big "why" to this. I mean, PayPal is accepted at millions of retailers out there and most consumers will definitely choose it over other payment options—so why is Amazon still holding back from accepting it?
Amazon should probably have solid reasons for not accepting PayPal and if you're wondering why they're still holding back, this guide compiles everything you need to know.
Why Doesn't Amazon Accept PayPal?
Amazon's incompatibility with PayPal is not one that hasn't resounded in the e-commerce space. Many consumers and PayPal users alike have been requesting a possible partnership between the two companies for a direct payment solution, but they seem not to find a way out of that.
While most of us might see this as selfishness, it is more of a marketing strategy—at least at Amazon's end.
Amazon features its own digital payment service, Amazon Pay, which was first launched back in 2007 as a way to help its shoppers make seamless and convenient payments without having to leave the site.
Amazon is ranked as the most popular shopping app in the US with over 310 million customers and there's no doubt that a good number of them will prefer the convenience offered by digital payment services when shopping. So Amazon just could not help but figure out a way to canalize these millions of customers back to its digital payment service, Amazon Pay which offers the same perks as PayPal when shopping.
You'll typically face this same situation when looking to use Apple Pay on Amazon.
We can't really say this is selfishness right? After all, they are still their customers.
While Amazon Pay is one of the major reasons why Amazon doesn't support PayPal—but it isn't the only reason. And if we are to look into the origination of this competition, we'll find out that it has been dated for a very long time.
Bringing facts to facts, Amazon's competition with PayPal all started indirectly back in 2002 when eBay, one of Amazon's top competitors, acquired PayPal. We all know how PayPal expanded its reach from there right? And the thing is PayPal noticed an increasing popularity while still being a subsidiary of eBay—making the payment giant an indirect competitor to Amazon.
Of course, Amazon had to give a response and they did so in 2007 when they decided to launch their prime payment service as well, Amazon Pay. Since then Amazon has always promoted and encouraged users to use Amazon Pay for making payments leaving no room for its competing payment solutions.
PayPal finally became a company on its own in 2015 but it was already too late for it to integrate with Amazon since it'd shift this one's userbase to the negative side of the scale and this brings us back to our first point discussed earlier.
How to Use PayPal on Amazon
Yes, Amazon does not integrate with PayPal and can't be used as a direct method of payment on the Amazon website—but there's still a popular and official way to use PayPal on Amazon—and that's through the PayPal Debit Card or PayPal Business Debit Mastercard.
In fact, according to PayPal, these cards offer the best way to make payments with PayPal on the Amazon platform.
These PayPal cards are different—while one is available for personal accounts (the PayPal Debit Card) the other is available for PayPal Business accounts (PayPal Business Debit Mastercard).
To use these cards on Amazon:
- Shop as you normally do and proceed to the checkout.
- At the checkout scroll to the "Payment Methods" section and select "Add a payment method".
- Now enter your PayPal debit card details and follow the prompts to link your card.
- After adding your PayPal debit card to your Amazon account, you can proceed with making the payment.
You won't need to add your PayPal debit card to Amazon next time you want to use it on Amazon since you've already done so.
How to Pay With PayPal on Amazon Without Card
PayPal only works with Amazon through the PayPal debit card and if you're looking to pay with PayPal on Amazon without having to use this card, you'll only have to use your bank account as a bridge for the payment.
In this case, you'll have to withdraw funds from your PayPal balance to your bank account and then use your bank account for direct payments on Amazon since Amazon accepts bank account payments.
Can I Add My PayPal Account to Amazon?
No, you cannot add your PayPal account to Amazon because the two platforms do not integrate.
Can I Use PayPal Credit On Amazon?
No, you cannot use your PayPal credit on Amazon. Amazon doesn't accept PayPal in the first place and by so doing, it blocks any other features PayPal has to offer including PayPal credit.
You can only use PayPal on Amazon through your PayPal debit card.
Final Thoughts
PayPal is a popular payment service that's accepted by millions of websites out there and has seamlessly figured out its way through the e-commerce sector.
Amazon does not integrate PayPal as a direct payment method and this is without doubt due to the long-lasting competition between the two giants since Amazon's introduction of its leading payment service, there's a great possibility that Amazon might never feature PayPal as a payment method.
However, if you need to use PayPal on Amazon, you can always do so through your PayPal debit card (if you're an individual) or your PayPal Business Debit Mastercard (if you're a business).
While this isn't a direct solution, it is the best possible way we have to stick to if we need to make these platforms work together in one way or the other.