Amazon checks out JP Morgan over checking accounts product
If you are a bank prone to being an Amazon worrier then perhaps worry no more as Amazon is talking to JP Morgan Chase and Capital One about a checking account-like product.
According to people familiar with the matter who spoke with the Wall Street Journal, the e-commerce titan is looking for a partnership – and hence an opportunity for banks and fintech, and not a threat.
Such a deal would not be a massive surprise. As FinTech Futures reported in January, Amazon, Warren Buffett’s firm Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase teamed up to form an independent insurtech company for US healthcare ambitions. So they seem to be getting on.
In the latest twist with JP Morgan Chase, WSJ says Amazon’s target is younger consumers and people without checking accounts. Such a plan could assist Amazon in lowering fees it pays to financial firms and offer a larger and clearer window into customers’ income and spending habits.
Amazon, JP Morgan and Capital One all declined to comment on this latest development. That also isn’t a massive surprise.
As you all know, there is always talk of GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon) biting into the bank’s old order. Well, that’s changed a bit based on recent events.
As we’ve reported here, Amazon has form in other partnerships.
Last month, sources said Amazon Lending was partnering with Bank of America Merrill Lynch as it looks to expand its lendtech programme for small businesses that sell on Amazon’s websites.
Staying on the theme of lending, then last year, India’s second largest bank, Bank of Baroda, got itself an “exclusive” micro lending partnership with Amazon.
But before that, in 2016, Amazon and Wells Fargo Education Financial Services ended their partnership to offer US college students a discount on private student loans. It was a brief relationship… it only lasted six weeks.
I would not be so releived. What is the best way to get to know you? Get invited to your house “mi casa es tu casa” mindset and soon after I turn the table “TU casa es ahora MI casa”, i know everything about you, and the trick is done. Do you think Amazon want to know everything about the market of tomatoes through the purchase of Whole Foods?
The GAFAMAT (M for MS, A for Alibaba and T for Tencent) have money, data and customer experience at heart, they only miss business expertise, learning it takes time, partnering is a great shortcut. #WFTR18