Making loans to the small businesses selling through its website seemed like a straightforward win for Amazon. However 8yrs after it launched the business is languishing.
In the past two years, growth has slowed significantly — outstanding loans almost doubled between the end of 2015 and end of 2016, to $661m, yet growth fell to just 4.7 per cent the following year, and was only 2.6 per cent in 2018, according to the company’s most recent annual report. It has since stopped issuing new loans in Japan, one of its first three markets, and reportedly cut staff while it tried to improve its understanding of credit risks.
https://www.ft.com/content/1eb61d50-81fb-11e9-b592-5fe435b57a3b?shareType=nongift