*By Michael Teich*
Amazon inked a new partnership with American Express, but don't expect the financial industry to be the next area the tech giant jumps into.
"The thing that people misunderstand is that tech companies don't want to manufacture financial products," said Lex Sokolin, Global Director of Fintech Strategy at Autonomous Research. "It's about making the ecosystem and the platform more powerful, and finance is just a feature inside of that."
American Express announced Tuesday it will launch a co-branded Amazon credit card for small businesses. The move accelerates Amazon's foray into financial products and strengthens its position as a lender. The goal, Sokolin said, is to enable small businesses to finance their activities, getting more products on Amazon's platform, and ultimately driving more commerce.
Plus, the opportunity costs of devoting itself to the financial industry are too high.
"Amazon has tremendous high-growth, super interesting, blue oceans to explore,” he said. "They could be investing in building a mortgage business, or they can build artificial intelligence business."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/amazon-bolsters-financial-prowess-with-new-credit-card)
Restaurant inflation was up 8.8 percent from a year ago in March, according to the latest consumer price index, and customers say they're more carefully considering their culinary spending. Cheddar News correspondent Ashley Mastronardi visited Isabelle's Osteria in midtown Manhattan to ask patrons how the higher prices are impacting their wallets.
Longtime CNN host Don Lemon is out at the cable news network a little over two months after apologizing to viewers for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, CNN announced Monday.
The SAG-AFTRA National Board over the weekend voted unanimously to express solidarity with the Writers Guild of America and its plans to go on strike amid ongoing negotiations with studios and streamers.
Lila Snyder, CEO of Bose, joins Cheddar News anchor Hena Doba to discuss her journey to the top of the corporate world, the business of selling top of the line speakers, and how new technologies such as machine learning are shaking up the industry.
