Amazon launches Coins virtual currency

Web giant introduces new way to pay for apps and games with giveaway to Kindle Fire users
Amazon Kindle Fire tablet is dis
Amazon Coins can be used to to buy apps and games on the Kindle Fire. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images's customers can now use Amazon "Coins" to buy apps and games from the online retailer, after it launched its own digital currency.


Amazon said that the new currency was "an easy way to purchase apps and in-app items" for customers, and "another opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increased monetisation" for developers.


Purchased Amazon Coins never expire, the site says.

Amazon Coins joins a range of virtual currencies offered by larger sites, including Microsoft's Points for its Xbox Live marketplace and Facebook Credits. Sites generally do not allow people to swap accumulated points back into physical currency to avoid arbitrage (where users take advantage of currency fluctuations), money laundering and theft.

The virtual currency has already received a mixed bag of reviews from early users. Out of 46 write-ups, eight reviewers gave it five stars. "Do you like to budget? Then Amazon Coins could be for you. Buy your selected amount and then use them for the month," wrote one user.

But 13 customers gave the Amazon Coins just one star. "What is the purpose of this nonsense? Why waste time exchanging pennies for Coins? They can't be used to purchase merchandise. They can't be used to purchase ebooks," wrote a reviewer. "IMHO Amazon is wasting a lot of time and money creating massive nothingness."

Another was less serious, writing: "My kids are leaving these 500 free Coins all over the frackin' house. They get stuck in the vacuum, my wife slipped on one and fell hard on the tile floor, and I keep unsuccessfully trying to use them in vending machines before realizing they aren't real money. Then last night the dog ate one and we had to take her to the vet to have it extracted from her colon. Figures that the vet wouldn't take the other 499 coins as payment towards the bill. Thanks Amazon, this has been SOME GIFT."