Skip to content
CCG Insights

Insight

  • Insight

Amazon Reboots Its Lending Efforts

Amazon Reboots Its Lending Efforts

Amazon Reboots Its Lending Efforts
Amazon’s seller site

The common perception of Amazon is the company can do no wrong and moves from victory to victory, but the e-commerce giant has several notable failures in its recent history.

Amazon Restaurants, the company’s food delivery service, was launched in Seattle in 2015 and shut down this Monday, June 24. According to analysts, Amazon simply came to the market too late and could not scale up quickly enough. But Uber Eats was also late to the market. Perhaps because it already has thousands of drivers on the roads in major metropolitan areas, Uber is able to leverage its resources more effectively than Amazon.

Is it the same for lending? Amazon launched a lending service for its marketplace sellers eight years ago, but has seen little growth — its book grew just 2.6% last year. Critics point out that Amazon relies solely on its own data for underwriting and does have access to bank data, but the case is similar with its competitors.

The service is comparable to that offered by PayPal and Square. In its quarterly letter to shareholders, Square reported that its seller service, Capital, “facilitated approximately 70,000 loans totaling $508 million, up 50% year over year.” PayPal’s Dan Schulman said on the company’s April 24 earnings call that “Our merchant lending business is right now over $10 billion, since we started.” Amazon reported $661 million in loans in 2015.

The Financial Times noted of Amazon:

Now Amazon appears to be gearing up for round two, having placed job ads for dozens of positions across Europe, Asia and at its Seattle headquarters. The listings suggest that the company wants to overhaul its existing loan products, expand into several new countries and “turn the finance industry on its head”.

Amazon has been notoriously secretive about its financial services projects — Amazon Lending does not have a public website, and has banned press from attending its presentations at industry events.

But its latest pitch to prospective employees asks applicants: “Are you interested in helping us disrupt an entire industry?”

The FT points out that Amazon’s service has no public website, but multiple third party sites claim to offer access to Amazon loans.

A line of credit for small businesses is the number one product at 31% of small banks, according an 2018 FDIC report.


Subscribe to CCG Insights.

You Might Like These, Too

Trust Still Reigns With Bank Customers

Trust Still Reigns With Bank Customers

Consumers Still Flock to Basic Mobile Features

Matt Harris of Bain Capital Ventures on Fintech's Future

Matt Harris of Bain Capital Ventures on Fintech’s Future

Legacy Systems Are Failing Commercial Bankers

Legacy Systems Are Failing Commercial Bankers

Leaders in Bank Consulting

About CCG Catalyst
Latest Insights
CCG

PHOENIX • NEW YORK • LONDON • SINGAPORE

Phone: +1-480-744-2240  • Contact Us

© 2023 CCG CATALYST CONSULTING. Privacy Policy & Terms of Service.
Request a Call Back
Linkedin Twitter
Subscribe
to our Insights
Subscribe
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
BANK
FINTECH
FUSION
  • About
  • Services
  • Insights
  • Fintech
  • Research
  • Team
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Careers
  • Events
  • RFI / RFP
  • Terms
  • Privacy
Linkedin Twitter Search
Subscribe for Insights

CCG INSIGHTS FOR BANKS, FINTECHS, AND CREDIT UNIONS

The Fed, Real-Time Payments, Alexa and Apple P2P, Part of Payment Revolution
  • Weekly digest of what's new
  • New research snapshots
  • Exclusive access to banking and fintech research
  • Industry news
  • Invitations to webinars and webcasts