<story><title>Banks beware, Amazon and Walmart are cracking the code for finance</title><url>https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/banks-beware-outsiders-are-cracking-code-finance-2021-09-17/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jasode</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s been a long history of non-finance companies branching out into finance.&lt;p&gt;- Sears: had Allstate for insurance and Discover Card for credit.  Unlike most &amp;quot;branded&amp;quot; credit-cards, Sears did its own underwriting for the Discover Card i.e. they owned the Greentrust bank behind that card.  (That is unlike Amazon Prime card being underwritten by Chase Bank.)&lt;p&gt;- G.E. General Electric:  financial services GE Capital like loans and leases&lt;p&gt;I remember finding out that many music stores use GE Capital to finance the inventory of all their guitars hanging on the wall.  (Industry lingo of &amp;quot;floor planning&amp;quot;.[1]) Sort of strange to realize that a lightbulb company has a bigger subsidiary that sells financial services.  It&amp;#x27;s more profitable to make money by selling money than by manufacturing lightbulbs.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.google.com&amp;#x2F;search?q=ge+capital+floorplan+financing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.google.com&amp;#x2F;search?q=ge+capital+floorplan+financi...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>MomoXenosaga</author><text>I see a lot of fintech startups but there is absolutely 0 money in providing basic bank accounts for paupers.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s why companies like Revolut and Bunq always end up doing what ordinary banks are doing: upselling. Shitty insurance and expensive creditcards is where the money is. Also transaction fees up the wazoo. 
Looking into it made me realize traditional banks aren&amp;#x27;t really evil- they are kept under tight government regulations that forces them to take any customer. Even the ones that make them no money. No I&amp;#x27;ll be sticking with €15 per year account.</text></comment>
<story><title>Banks beware, Amazon and Walmart are cracking the code for finance</title><url>https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/banks-beware-outsiders-are-cracking-code-finance-2021-09-17/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jasode</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s been a long history of non-finance companies branching out into finance.&lt;p&gt;- Sears: had Allstate for insurance and Discover Card for credit.  Unlike most &amp;quot;branded&amp;quot; credit-cards, Sears did its own underwriting for the Discover Card i.e. they owned the Greentrust bank behind that card.  (That is unlike Amazon Prime card being underwritten by Chase Bank.)&lt;p&gt;- G.E. General Electric:  financial services GE Capital like loans and leases&lt;p&gt;I remember finding out that many music stores use GE Capital to finance the inventory of all their guitars hanging on the wall.  (Industry lingo of &amp;quot;floor planning&amp;quot;.[1]) Sort of strange to realize that a lightbulb company has a bigger subsidiary that sells financial services.  It&amp;#x27;s more profitable to make money by selling money than by manufacturing lightbulbs.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.google.com&amp;#x2F;search?q=ge+capital+floorplan+financing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.google.com&amp;#x2F;search?q=ge+capital+floorplan+financi...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>beerandt</author><text>All manufacturers (or wholesalers or retailers) that grow big enough will run into the problem of: their potential market running out of customers that can pay cash up front, or easily obtain credit to purchase their product.&lt;p&gt;Even &amp;quot;cash&amp;quot; accounts at things like trade businesses, where the account is more about convenience and workflow (and the professional getting paid only after the work is  done) than it is credit or financing, are taking on &lt;i&gt;some&lt;/i&gt; risk of non-payment at the end of the month in order to make business flow much faster and more smoothly, than it otherwise would.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s just a matter of what industries or businesses have the capital and the will, as well as the right risk models and opportunity costs to try and implement it all &amp;quot;in-house&amp;quot; or as a subsidiary.</text></comment>