In an article titled Amazon’s Impending Invasion Of Banking, I wrote:
“Amazon has no incentive to cut banks out of the lending or deposit business. Amazon can make more money by providing technology services to help financial institutions underwrite, process, and service loans. Banks will gladly pay for this, because Amazon will do it for a lower cost that what banks incur to do it today.”
My argument then, as it is now, is that Amazon is poised to be a vendor—not a competitor—to financial institutions.
Google’s Banking Forays
Four recent stories regarding Google signal that it, too, is following a similar path and is on its way to becoming the next big fintech vendor:
1) Google checking account. In November 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported:
“Google will soon offer checking accounts to consumers, becoming the latest Silicon Valley heavyweight to push into finance. The project, code-named Cache, is expected to launch next year with accounts run by Citigroup and a credit union at Stanford University, a tiny lender in Google’s backyard.”
2) Google debit card. In April 2020, Tech Crunch revealedthat:
“Google is developing its own physical and virtual debit cards. The Google card connects to a Google app with new features that let users easily monitor purchases, check their balance or lock their account.”
3) Google AI tool for Paycheck Protection Program loan processing. In May 2020, Google released marketing materials which said:
“Google Cloud is offering the PPP AI Lending Solution, which enables lenders to integrate underwriting components into their existing lending systems to allow them to accelerate and automate the process of handling the massive volume increase in loan applications.”
Read more: Google: The Next Big Fintech Vendor
