Amazon calls PayPal’s $4 billion Honey add-on ‘security risk’

Bloomberg

PayPal Holdings Inc made a big bet in November with its $4 billion acquisition of Honey, a web browser extension that helps online shoppers find the lowest prices. Now Amazon.com Inc is warning customers not to use the tool.
Shortly before Christmas, Amazon said Honey posed a security risk, which was reported by Wired. The warning perplexed some online shopping experts since the tool has been available for several years and Amazon makes no similar warnings about other browser extensions such as price tracker camelcamelcamel.com.
“Amazon’s fight against Honey while letting a dozen other tools go on is confusing,” said Juozas Kaziukenas, founder of New York e-commerce research firm Marketplace Pulse. “I don’t buy their security risk message. They just want Honey and PayPal to be squashed.”
There is no love lost between Amazon and PayPal, which spun off from e-commerce competitor EBay Inc in 2015. Amazon has its own online payments service that competes with PayPal and doesn’t allow PayPal payments on its site.
PayPal executives were surprised by the Amazon warning about Honey and are communicating with Amazon to resolve it, according to a person familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity.
If PayPal thinks Amazon’s warning is unwarranted, it can accuse Amazon of deceptive practices, requiring Amazon to explain why it did so.