Amazon is launching its own currency later this month.
Amazon Coins will only be exchangeable for Kindle applications and games and will only initially be available to US customers.
The virtual coins will be valued at one US cent each, so a $2.99 purchase will cost 299 Coins. Amazon will prime the market by giving customers millions of free coins.
Amazon said: “When Amazon Coins launches in May, we will give out tens of millions of dollars in Amazon Coins…”.
Application developers have already been asked to get their software in for review but no other integration is required. Developers get the same 70 per cent revenue share as for normal credit or debit card sales.