Amazon has today announced a new virtual currency that will be used inside apps and games developed for its Kindle Fire tablet family. Called “Amazon Coins” and set to arrive in May, Amazon believes the move is “another substantial opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increase monetization even further” for developers.

It’s unclear exactly how users will acquire Amazon Coins, but we’re expecting Amazon to reveal more closer to release. What we do know at this point is that the currency will be used to purchase “apps, games, and in-app items.” According to Amazon’s press release, the retail giant will “give customers tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Amazon Coins to use on developers’ apps in the Amazon.”

The company is asking developers to submit their apps and games for approval by April 25, ready for the arrival of Amazon Coins the following month. Software that’s already available won’t need to be modified to accept the new currency, and developers will continue to earn their 70% share on Amazon Coins — just they do with real money.

Amazon sees this is a new way to get customers spending their cash.

“Developers continue to report higher conversion rates on Amazon compared to other platforms,” said Paul Ryder, Vice President of Apps and Games for Amazon. “Now we have another new way to help developers reach even more of our millions of customers. Amazon Coins gives customers an easy way to spend money on developers’ apps on Kindle Fire in the Amazon Appstore—and we’re giving customers tens of millions of dollars in Amazon Coins to get started.

• SourceAmazon