Amazon Coin is a digital payment method created by Amazon.com. Currently, the coins can only be used to purchase software for Kindle, Kindle Fire, and Android devices from within an app or from the Amazon Appstore.
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Function and value
Amazon has called Amazon Coins a "virtual currency". However, the Coins operate like other digital gift cards.
One Amazon Coin is worth one cent. However, like many coupons, they cannot be redeemed for cash. Additionally, they cannot be resold or transferred to another Amazon account.
Purchased Coins do not expire, but some promotional Coins expire just over one year from the date they are acquired.
When a customer buys software with Amazon Coins the developer is paid in conventional currency.
History
The company introduced Amazon Coins via a promotion in the United Kingdom and the United States, consisting of giving free coins to all users of Kindle and Kindle Fire devices. Existing Kindle owners were given Coins valued $5/£4, as were customers who had ordered the Kindle Fire HDX in late 2013, upon receipt of their devices. However, in 2014 the company began allowing all Android users in Germany, the UK, and the US to earn, buy, and spend Amazon Coins via the Amazon Store via Android phones and tablets. Moreover, observes Lance Whitney writing for CNet: "Shoppers can get discounts when they buy the coins in bulk and earn coins through certain apps".
In 2014, with the release of the Fire Phone, Amazon offered app developers 500,000 Amazon Coins for each paid app or app with in-app purchasing developed and optimized for the Fire Phone.