Amazon has been in the news lately for their continued push into banking related services but they are not the only ones making the push; TearSheet looks into three big name retailers also pushing their businesses into finance; Rakuten is Japan’s largest e-commerce site as their footprint includes video on demand, mobile messaging and they also operate the largest online bank in the country; Overstock.com has been building a marketplace for financial services named the FinancHub; two of the U.K.’s largest grocers, Sainsbury and Tesco, have opened banks via joint ventures. Source.
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Amazon recently closed its marketplace in China but is still working on...
Amazon has partnered with Synchrony Financial in order to launch the Amazon...
Amazon Lending first launched in 2011 and now is partnering with Bank of America Merrill Lynch according to sources; Amazon invites sellers to the program which provides loans between $1000 and $750,000; in June, 2017 Amazon announced it had lent $1 billion over the previous 12 months; recent reports show that Amazon has slowed growth of the product in 2017 to better understand credit risks. Source
According to a report from Banking Technology, Amazon could potentially be acquiring Capital One; Capital One uses Amazon's AWS cloud services; its credit card business could complement Amazon's current offerings for payment processing and credit cards while also expanding its services for Amazon's merchant network; according to Neil O'Brien, former director of digital banking at Santander US, "There has been speculation for a long time about a tech giant (GAFA – Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) buying a bank in the US, but the general sentiment was that banks were an undesirable target because of low margins and more importantly, high regulation."; the potential for a bank acquisition is now likely to increase given recent regulatory developments in the financial services industry. Source
Over the years Amazon has received lots of scrutiny from the public;...
American Banker outlines Amazon’s current offerings in financial services and the recent rumors around new products including checking accounts, small business credit cards and mortgages. Source
Amazon is I Talks with JPMorgan Chase to offer a co-branded Credit card for small business owners; the credit card would have rewards points for purchases and they would also look to add business insurance plans; this is first time Amazon will look to have a credit card specifically for small businesses. Source.
The continued push by Amazon into financial services could have a bigger effect on startups over banks; Nicolas Parmaksizian, global head of Capco digital, tells TearSheet, “If you combine an Amazon with a Capital One, you’re combining the amazing power of Amazon and Capital One’s data analytics, and that’s a challenging thing to compete with as a startup banking brand.”; digital only banks look to offer a better experience at a lower cost than the traditional banks, adding Amazon into the mix could drown out those startups before they ever get going. Source.
A recent report by Bain & Company just shares how successful Amazon could be if it were to enter banking; according to the report: "We could imagine Amazon's banking services growing to more than 70 million U.S. consumer relationships over the next five years or so — the same as Wells Fargo, the third-largest bank in the US. Although many retail bankers and observers have pegged the nimble fintech start-ups as the likely disrupters, it has become clear that established technology firms pose a bigger threat.”; the CNBC article shares several of the advantages Amazon would have in banking, products they could expand into and some of the talks that are already taking place with banks. Source