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Modest Proposals

Amazon

Why Amazon Should Launch a Bank—But Won’t

Sam Lessin

Dec 19, 2016 10:01 AM PST ·

Comments by James Bishop, Anthony Sexton and 3 others Shaunak Khire
John Danner
Amy Nichols

Last month Cross River Bank, an FDIC-insured, deposit-taking bank of Bergen County, New Jersey, raised $28 million from Battery Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Ribbit.

As was reported, VCs were interested in what looks like a boring bank because a division of Cross River is trying to build the next digital-only “future of consumer banking” play via a project called Almond.

In that light, the deal isn’t shocking. Startups ranging from Affirm to WealthFront have been looking to cleave off some of the most valuable parts of the banking ecosystem. And there has been a lot of chatter lately among the technorati about a tech company getting a banking charter and going after the consumer deposit-taking heart of the banking industry.

That said, I have been wondering why Amazon.com (and to a lesser extent Google and Apple) haven’t launched a consumer bank.

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