Archive | June, 2017

Amazon gets serious about banking

12 Jun

Amazon Bank

The FT on Friday had an interesting piece on Amazon’s foray into banking (see http://on.ft.com/2t89A6L if you have access). It reckons that Amazon will be extending its lending to small businesses in the US, the UK, and Japan – focusing particularly on lending for working capital to sellers using its platform.

So here – in no particular order, are some points on this Amazon play:

  • It seems similar to the PayPal/Ebay story – recall that PayPal started off as the way to buy stuff on Ebay
  • It’s a global play – like Metro Bank, but unlike many other UK challenger banks (anyone remember Egg?)
  • The data it has access to on its borrowers gives it a genuine source of competitive advantage, both in the initial offering and the monitoring – to say nothing of control if they look like defaulting
  • It is going after a segment (small business banking) where there have been ongoing public policy concerns about a lack of effective competition

All in all, hard not to see it as good news all round.

La La Land and the vicars

3 Jun

All Gas Gaiters

Off last night to see La La Land for a second time at our local cinema club. I enjoyed it the first time, and was looking forward to seeing it again.

Why see it again? Was it that good? I had thought so, but I had noticed from Facebook that this wasn’t a universal view (search for elwin cockett la la land – Elwin’s an archdeacon, hence the title and picture 😎).

So why did it affect me so much? It’s the storyline – in our jobs and careers, do we chase our dreams, or do we make compromises?

So if that’s the theme, perhaps not surprising that the vicars don’t get it. But many of us have been there, and juggled with how relationships will work if our jobs pull us physically apart. Or whether to compromise on the job we want to take the job  that pays the bills. Or, as in the ending, we’ve thought about the great ‘might have beens’ of life and relationships.

I know they can’t sing – but that’s not the point. It’s more about Mia’s audition lyrics – ‘Here’s to the ones who dream, / Foolish as they may seem. / Here’s to the hearts that ache. / Here’s to the mess we make.’