Amazon has been engaging with banking regulators over the past two years and is rumored to be considering starting a consumer lending arm. The e-commerce giant has already began offering loans to merchants that sell on its marketplace, and has originated over $1 billion in loans over the last 12 months.
Lisa Abramowicz is a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist covering the debt markets. She has written about debt markets for Bloomberg News since 2010. Amazon.com Inc. has profoundly changed the way clothes and books are sold and is now targeting food shopping. Its next project may very well be taking on the heart of Wall Street. The technology giant has had several conversations with banking regulators over the past two years on a wide range of topics, including "financial innovation," according to lobbying disclosures reviewed by American Banker. It already has a lending operation that it started in 2011 to support merchants that sell on its marketplace. This unit has grown increasingly popular, to the point where it originated $1 billion in loans over 12 months.
