Amazon

Moves like Amazon Go and the e-commerce giant's acquisition of Whole Foods require banks to abandon their "defensive" innovation posture, write Richard Oglesby and Brad Margol from AZ Payments Group.

The $13.7 billion acquisition could have significant implications for swipe-fee revenue and other grocers' in-store branches. It also raises the question of whether the Seattle e-commerce goliath will soon set its sights on the financial services industry.

Until now, Amazon's moves seemed like cautious pokes at the deeply ingrained habit of going to a store and paying with a plastic card. Furthermore, any competitors may have seen Amazon's lacking retail store presence as a buffer that kept them at least temporarily safe from the same fate that befell the bookselling world. How naive they were.

Amazon is working aggressively to change the way people shop — especially in the grocery space — but not all of its activities focus on products and store design. The e-commerce giant has also influenced a lot about how people use their payment cards.

A deeper dive into the workings of the Amazon Prime Reload program should give the card payments industry serious cause for concern.

In a move that will certainly cause friction across the card payments industry, Amazon announced a new service called Amazon Prime Reload, which incentivizes newcomers to the program to load funds using a debit card or bank account with a 2% cash back on purchases.

The agency recently sent a letter to nine banks urging them to stop offering deferred interest cards, arguing that consumers are often unaware of the risks involved.

Amazon.com Inc.’s lending business is accelerating, highlighting one more way the online retailer is making money from e-commerce beyond simply selling products in its web store.

Bill would replace much of Dodd-Frank but is unlikely to become law; online retailer is expected to expand Amazon Lending program to small businesses in the U.S., U.K. and Japan.

Amazon customers in Japan can now charge purchases to their mobile phone bill through a new deal with Bango.