*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)
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Simple Goodness Sisters produces homemade cocktail syrup from their farms in Buckey, Washington. Cheddar News was joined by the sisters and Co-Founders themselves, Belina Kelly and Venise Cunningham, to talk more about the business and make a cocktail themselves!
The baby formula crisis hit a new level of concern in February. A facility that produces 40% of the baby formula in the U.S. was shut down for contamination, leading to bare shelves in supermarkets across the country. However, the issue is now getting attention at the federal level and changes are being made. Lauren Smith Brody, the founder of The Fifth Trimester and co-founder of Chamber of Mothers, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
