Amazon’s payment system is now allowing merchants to set up recurring payment functionality that taps into the 240 million Amazon users that have stored credit card information.Many news articles about the new service seem to see this as Amazon further looking to compete with PayPal, but from my perspective, it looks like a more direct move to compete with Apple.For one, the commissions on the payments are very low compared to Apple’s whopping 30% commission on all payments, including subscriptions. Amazon starts with a 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, and then discounts according to volume.Furthermore, Amazon’s payment system allows for variable subscription pricing, something Apple has adamantly denied publishers. So now, merchants can charge $5 one month for a subscription, $10 the next, and not lose an account or have to convert them all over again as they do with Apple customers subscribing through the iTunes store.According to Reuters, “Amazon has been testing the new service over the last several months with start-ups including Ting, a mobile phone company that is part of Tucows Inc. Those who used recurring payments by Amazon spent 30% more on Ting’s website.”However, there is one possible major negative for publishers. Merchants have historically been wary of handing over customer data to Amazon, which has a record of rapidly expanding into new areas and competing with sellers.But content publishers may be less threatened by that history, as it’s unlikely Amazon will get into the content production business. The company is more likely to focus on its distribution dominance by partnering with other content producers, like HBO, under licensing deals.