Amazon.com (AMZN) has quietly launched “Checkout by Amazon,” an e-commerce checkout service for online merchants that is taking on eBay’s (EBAY) PayPal Merchant Services offering, several analysts noted today.

Derek Brown, an analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald who had previously noted that such a service might be in the works, says the new service allows Amazon.com customers to use their stored payment and shipping information on participating merchant sites. He notes that the service provides businesses a way to manage shipping charges, sales tax and promotions, as well as post-sales activities, including refunds, cancellations and charge-backs. Brown, who has a Sell rating on eBAY, says the development “has added to our concerns around eBay shares.”

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Amazon.com (AMZN) has been aggressively rolling out a variety of Web-based services, including on-demand computing power and data storage. Could the company’s next move be to go after eBay (EBAY) subsidiary PayPal’s dominant franchise on online payments?

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Derek Brown asserts in a research note this afternoon that Amazon “may soon launch a PayPal-esque Payments service for use by consumers and merchants across the Web, potentially siphoning growth and/or profit from eBay’s crown jewel.” Brown says that Amazon could launch such a service as soon as late summer or early fall of this year.

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