*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)
More than two years into the pandemic, Americans are ready to go out and splurge. With Covid cases falling and restrictions rolling back, many companies are seeing a surge in demand for everything from hotels to restaurants to sports games. Lindsey Roeschke, travel & hospitality analyst at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss trends going on in the industries right now.
Aditya Bhave, Senior Global Economist at BofA Securities, breaks down the spending categories seeing a jump in January and provides an outlook on consumer spending in a rising interest rate environment.
Kristen Helton, Director of Strategic Initiative at Amazon Care, talks about Amazon's initiatives in the health care industry and how companies are looking to offer the service as a new health benefit for employees.
Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA, breaks down the industries impacted by geopolitical tensions and provides insight into the strength of consumer spending.
Equip is a virtual treatment platform for eating disorders, and recently raised $58 million in a Series B round led by The Chernin Group. The company aims to revolutionize treatment for eating disorders by delivering virtual care teams and clinical expertise directly to families' homes. Equip says the need for its platform has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Eating Disorder Association's helpline has had a 107% increase in contacts since the start of the pandemic. Kristina Saffran, CEO and co-founder of Equip, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
U.S. stocks ended today's session sharply lower on the heels of rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Melissa Brown, Managing Director of Applied Research at Qontigo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
