ABOVE AVERAGE IS OVER:

Amazon Cash

This is a relatively new service from Amazon where consumers can load cash into their Amazon account via physical retailers, via a barcode. It's aimed at consumers that don't have bank cards -- but it raises some interesting possibilities, such as: If I was Amazon, what would I do next?

Right now, it works like this:

Consumers add money to their Amazon account by handing cash over in a retailer.

They can then spend it online.

But what if Amazon (or some other tech company) also:

Does a deal with retailers allowing consumers to use their Amazon (or similar) account in-store and not just online?

Allows consumers who actually do have bank cards/accounts to be paid, instead, into their Amazon account -- perhaps by offering no fees, or interest, or free services like Prime?

Then perhaps they mention that they also offer credit. Need a small loan to buy that TV in Walmart? No problem, we can do that. Just click here!

Note that there's no bank involved in any of that process, just a tech giant who already has a relationship with a consumer offering them some more services, on top of all the other services they offer.

Isn't That Just Amazon Being a Bank?

One could argue that what I just proposed is just Amazon becoming a bank -- and perhaps legally, they may require a banking license for certain products -- but I think that would be the same as saying that Netflix is a video store. Video stores are gone, replaced by a new way of consuming films and tv shows.

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