Amazon and American Express:
Business Credit Cards

KCL Fintech Soc -  Sophie Bieber, London 29.06.19

Although many may think that the biggest current threat to modern banks is that of online challenger banks such as Monzo, Starling or Revolut, many executives within the financial world say the greatest threat in fact comes from Amazon and other tech giants.

As banks continue to satisfy the increasing online demand from their customers, they are becoming more reliant on companies that provide “cloud-based infrastructure” such as Amazon, IBM and Oracle. [1]

Now Amazon is starting to branch further into the financial world. Recently they teamed up with American Express in a big play for small businesses. They have just launched the Amazon Business American Express card, which according to American Express has, “no annual credit card fee, features rich rewards, greater visibility into each transaction, and provides an enhanced checkout experience in Amazon Business and Amazon.com that empowers small businesses to make the best financing choice purchase by purchase”. [2]

The biggest advantage to this new card will be that small businesses can delay when they have to pay for a purchase. For instance, if a small hardware store knew that they were getting a big order in the next month but needed the supplies before, they could purchase the necessary items on Amazon and then pay for it after the orders came in. Integrated within the system as well will be access to  Spend Manager (an American express tool to organise employee and business spending) and other online tools.

This collaboration will attract customers towards using their services for supplies as well as cutting their annual interchange fees by an estimated quarter of a billion dollars in the US alone. [3]

Bain & Company said of Amazon’s entry into the financial sector, it “takes the competition into a different league. Consumer’s expectations keep rising as people grow accustomed to simple, convenient digital channels perfected by digital natives such as Amazon. If banks don’t reorient their approach and radically accelerate their rate of progress, they will watch technology firms steadily poach their business. ”

[1] https://qz.com/1265471/bank-executives-are-talking-about-the-threat-of-amazon-more-than-ever-before
[2]https://about.americanexpress.com/press-release/business-cards/introducing-amazon-business-american-express-card-small-businesses
[3] https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/31789/bank-of-amazon-could-woo-70-million-us-customers-within-five-years


​
​​Collective Equity Ownership Ltd. (CEO) is a secondary fund. We allow founders and shareholders of VC-backed companies to pool together their shares with other late-stage companies to diversify their portfolio.
​
If you know any cool founders, or someone with a lot of VC experience, get in touch! We love meeting new people!
​ceo@collectiveequity.com

Other Viewers have also read:

Amazon 1 Trillion

What is the fuss over the yield curve inverting?

Fear of trade wars?