Today, Amazon announced the launch of [Amazon Coins][1], a new Amazon-specific “currency” for buying apps, games, music, and other items from Amazon.

I’ve never been interested in schemes like this, for a number of reasons. First, why should I give money to a company for them to invest when I could be making even the smallest amount of interest in a chequing account. Second, there’s no guarantee the company I have purchased this type of currency from will continue to accept it indefinitely. And third, what happens when I’ve got $100 in Amazon coins and am a few bucks short from paying my rent?

I don’t see any value for consumers in a system like this. As [Garrett Murray][2] put it:

We already have money, it’s called money.

[1]: http://www.amazon.com/coins
[2]: http://log.maniacalrage.net/post/50374973629/amazon-coins-a-terrible-idea-for-consumers