Tech Brief: Amazon in Talks With U.S. Banks to Offer "Checking Accounts"

As the four-way ecosystem wars continue to escalate among the big Silicon Valley companies, ecommerce behemoth Amazon is expanding its sights on financial services market, initiating talks with top U.S. banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co and others to create a checking-account-like product targeting tech-savvy millennials and people without bank accounts, according to The Wall Street Journal. "Whatever its final form, the initiative wouldn't involve Amazon becoming a bank," the report further added. The move would result in Amazon having to shell out lesser transaction fees to credit card companies, banks and payment processors like Visa and Mastercard, per Bloomberg, shedding light on why this strategy could make perfect business sense. It may be noted that Amazon also offers a pseudo-debit card, Amazon Cash, that lets consumers add cash to an Amazon wallet and purchase items online without a credit card.