*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)
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Google's Android is phasing out sharing data with third-party apps, much like Apple did with its policy. But what does this mean for advertisers and users alike? Cheddar's Michelle Castillo takes a closer look.
Cheddar's Michelle Castillo visits the Beyond Meat Innovation Center in El Segundo, California, to learn more about the process of turning plant proteins into something more like meat.
The crypto lobbying boom kicked off last year, sparked by a broadly-worded provision in the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo takes a deeper look.
U.S. auto safety regulators have launched another investigation of Tesla, this time tied to complaints that its cars can stop on roads for no apparent reason.
U.S. stocks ended Wednesday's session mixed following the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, and amid ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Dan Eye, Chief Investment Officer at Fort Pitt Capital Group joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
