Amazon said to offer discounts to expand its payment system

(FILES) This file photo taken on December 28, 2016 shows the logo of US electronic commerce and cloud computing company Amazon in Vertou, France. Amazon said January 18, 2018 it had narrowed to 20 its options for a second headquarters for the sprawling technology and lifestyle company headed by Jeff Bezos, the world's richest individual. After 238 cities from North America submitted bids, Amazon announced its short list included three in the vicinity of the US capital Washington, and the Canadian city of Toronto. / AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE

Amazon.com Inc is offering to pass along the discounts it gets on credit-card fees to other retailers if they use its online payments service, according to people with knowledge of the matter, in a new threat to PayPal Holdings Inc and card-issuing banks. 

The move shows Amazon is willing to sacrifice the profitability of its payments system to spread its use. Swipe fees are a US$90bil (RM354.37bil)-a-year business for lenders such as JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc, networks including Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc, and payment processors like First Data Corp and Stripe Inc, which pocket a fraction of every sale when shoppers swipe cards or click “buy now.”