Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is focusing on its lending operation big time it seems. Many people don’t know this as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has never disclosed that it runs a lending operation for certain marketplace sellers on its website. Re/code recently came up with an article revealing that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has got serious about its lending operation by hiring Visa’s North America Credit Card Head (now ex), Nick Talwar.
It is surprising that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has never disclosed about its lending business owing to the fact that it is a public company. According to the article, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) sends invitations to certain sellers telling them that they can get more capital to sell their goods on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s website.
The revelation that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has hired Talwar didn’t come from a press release or announcement from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), but instead Re/code figured it out by checking Talwar’s LinkedIn profile. The profile informs that Nick Talwar is now general manager of Amazon Lending, it also highlights Talwar’s role in the company as ‘leading Amazon’s global expansion into the lending industry.’
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) currently operates its lending business only in Japan and in the U.S. The mechanism is something like this – Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) informs a seller that they can avail credit at a cheaper rate than the conventional rates offered by credit cards, if the seller accepts the facility, the dues are deducted directly from the seller’s Amazon account every month till the tenure of the loan.
Earlier, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s lending program was focused only on businesses but hiring Talwar has led to speculations that it might be planning to lend to individuals as well. Though unconventional, but lending from companies like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has seen a lot of growth in last few years as financial institutions have made it harder for small business to avail credit.
As of June 30, 2014, Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management owns over 2.4 million shares in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
Disclosure: None
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