Amazon drops Bill Me Later payment service after eBay deal |
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Amazon.com is ditching the Bill Me Later payment service today.
Speculation had been growing that Amazon would dump Bill Me Later following the company's acquisition by online auction giant eBay a few months ago. Now Amazon has finally pulled the plug on the payment processing service, which does a quick credit check on shoppers and, if approved, allows them to purchase items online and receive a bill in the mail.
I had heard rumblings of the change Tuesday, and received this statement from Mark Lavelle, Bill Me Later's vice president of corporate development and strategic planning, this morning:
"Effective December 31, 2008, Bill Me Later will no longer be offered as a payment option for Amazon.com customers. Based on the change of control of Bill Me Later, Amazon exercised their right in deciding to discontinue offering Bill Me Later as a payments option. More than 1,000 online stores, catalogs and travel partners, currently offer Bill Me Later, because our payment service offers a convenient, flexible way for millions of consumers to shop. We think Bill Me Later provided a valuable service to shoppers on Amazon.com, and we would welcome the chance to work with Amazon.com in the future."
Amazon spokeswoman Patricia Smith confirmed the split but said the company does not comment on vendor relationships.
Amazon started offering the Bill Me Later option this summer after taking a stake in the company -- estimated at 10 percent.
But apparently eBay's ownership of Bill Me Later was too much for Amazon. Amazon also declines to use PayPal, another payment service owned by eBay.
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