First it monopolized the online retail space; then it made a dramatic appearance in the bricks and mortar grocer sector with its acquisition of Whole Foods, and lately it has been preparing to take on both the pharmaceutical & healthcare sector, and even banking.
And it’s only just starting, because as Housing Wire notes, Amazon is now looking to get into the mortgage lending business. The company for which barriers to entry simply do not exist, was first reportedly planning on starting with offering checking programs first, then move into the debt product space after. And now, Housing Wire confirms that Amazon is currently looking to hire someone to lead their newly-formed mortgage lending division.
Here, a humorous aside from the report author, who refuses to provide the identity of the mortgage lender firm that Amazon has targeted:
Due to non-disclosure agreements, we probably shouldn’t reveal their identities. After all, with Amazon planning a move into mortgage lending, it’s best we work with them and not against them. Am I right?
… but gives the following hint:
We can say that if you look at the top 10 HMDA lenders and pick out the nonbanks, that’s where Amazon is recruiting their talent.
… and adds that “one person we spoke to turned down the job, but couldn’t say why.”
We are confident, however, that the next person Jeff Bezos speaks about the role of starting up Amazon’s mortgage lending division, will be delighted to accept.
The timing of Amazon’s entrance into the highly competitive sector is hardly coincidental: last month we reported that America’s formerly largest mortgage lender, Wells Fargo, just lost its title to Quicken:
Quicken revealed that it originated $25 billion in home loans during the quarter, compared with Wells Fargo’s $23 billion in home mortgages. Wells is the country’s leading bank in home mortgages; Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase & Co. reported $13 billion and $11 billion that quarter, respectively.
In other words, as of this moment, an “online” service is the most popular provider of mortgage loans in the US. It is this niche that Bezos has realized provides a major opportunity for Amazon, and he is not shy of making it clear that in just a few years, your mortgage lender will be none other than Jeff Bezos as Amazon continues on its unstoppable crusade of intergalatic domination.
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