Amazon hired Visa's North America credit card head Nick Talwar to run its new lending business. Amazon is beginning to provide capital to sellers on its marketplace. Prior to Visa, Talwar worked at peer-to-peer lending service Prosper and ran Citibank’s consumer banking business in Sweden.
While Amazon still isn’t talking publicly about the program, it has recently made a splashy hire to expand the initiative: Visa’s North America credit card boss Nick Talwar. According to Talwar’s LinkedIn page, he recently joined Amazon as general manager of Amazon Lending, “leading Amazon’s global expansion into the lending industry.” Prior to Visa, Talwar worked at peer-to-peer lending service Prosper and ran Citibank’s consumer banking business in Sweden. The big-time hire suggests Amazon has lofty ambitions for its young lending business. Amazon Lending, which, according to a job posting, only currently operates in the U.S. and Japan, is aimed at providing Amazon sellers with quick access to capital at rates that are normally cheaper than most credit card interest rates. Repayment is automatically deducted from sellers’ Amazon accounts each month.