Question of the Day: What percent of Amazon customers would use Amazon as their primary bank account?
Answer: About 45%
Questions:
- Would you consider using Amazon for your primary banking needs (checking and saving)? Why or why not?
- Why do you think Amazon wants to get into financial services?
- How do you think Amazon will try and differentiate themselves since there are so many banks to choose from?
- Do you think they will be successful? Explain.
Behind the numbers (from CNBC):
The survey also explored shopper's openness to Amazon disrupting the banking world. About forty five percent were amenable to using Amazon their primary bank account, while 49.6 percent would use a savings account created by Amazon.
Why checking accounts and why now for Amazon to get into banking world? This article from CNBC offered some insights:
This is the latest move by the e-commerce giant to solve one of the biggest barriers to shopping on its website: lack of a credit card. More than a quarter of U.S. households have no or limited access to checking and savings accounts. These so-called unbanked and underbanked households rely heavily cash or checks to fund their purchases, making shopping online difficult. Unbanked doesn't necessarily mean unconnected, about 6 in 10 unbanked consumers have a smartphone, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
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About the Author
Tim Ranzetta
Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.
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