Amazon Launches Local Register

Throughout the summer, Amazon has striven to race with the best of its tech competition, unveiling the Fire smartphone back in July and here entering the payments arena with Local Register. In following with the logical ties to online shopping, Amazon forays into brick-and-mortar shops with a secure card reader and accompanying app. Though the realm has been long dominated by Square and, more recently, PayPal Here, Amazon seeks to differentiate itself through a low flat-rate charge on transactions, refined device design and powerful real-time analytics.

As a result: there is a 1.75% charge on transactions across the board (compared with about 2.75% from Square) through January 2016, at which point the rate will rise to 2.5%; the Local Register app updates every 30 minutes with sale overviews and selling patterns, crunching those numbers into suggested staff sizing and stock necessities. The card reading device itself is stabilized and doesn’t swivel about.

With the mobile payments industry still youthful and ripe, Amazon’s new offering looks like a front-running challenger for small business options. Enjoy a preview through the video below, while budding entrepreneurs can head to the Local Register site to learn more.