In 2018, you would be hard-pressed to name a company more relevant to society than Amazon.
What started as an internet bookstore has evolved into the world’s largest e-commerce retailer, a cloud computing company, an original content producer, and an online grocer, amongst other things.
At the time of writing, Amazon was trading at $1,516.19 per share and is the fourth most valuable public company. Amazon is the largest internet company by revenue, the most valuable retailer by market capitalization, and the second-largest employer in the U.S.
Amazon has achieved this astronomical success by constantly staying ahead of the curve and branching out their product offerings. For example, Amazon’s 2017 purchase of Whole Foods Market strengthened their presence as both a brick-and-mortar retailer and merchant of food and beverages. Today, Amazon is rolling out their line of grocery stores that require no cash or credit cards as purchases are billed directly to a shopper’s account via automation.
More recently, the mega-company has shaken up the health care industry after rumors swirled that they were looking into opening brick-and-mortar pharmacies. Amazon already sells their own brand of over-the-counter medicine and not long ago announced a partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to create an independent health care company.
All of this got LendEDU thinking: What other sectors could Amazon get into? For example, would consumers be willing to use Amazon for their banking needs, a mortgage, life insurance, or for investment advisement?
We polled 1,000 consumers who purchased something from Amazon in the past 30 days to find out.
Amazon for Virtual Currency Products
Considering Amazon’s tendency to keep up with the times, we wanted to gauge consumer openness to using an Amazon-created virtual currency (similar to Bitcoin).
Just a little over half of the respondents, 51.7 percent, answered “yes” to the idea of using an Amazon-created cryptocurrency – perhaps dubbed Amazon Coins – for future purchases on the website. Additionally, of those with Amazon Prime, 58.27 percent said they would consider using a cryptocurrency created by the company.
Of the respondents, only 21.9 percent answered “no,” while 26.4 percent were unsure. The world of virtual currency is a confusing one, so Amazon would proceed with caution. However, the potential for using an Amazon-created virtual currency to make purchases on the site even more streamlined is certainly tantalizing.
Amazon for Banking Products
Only Alphabet (Google) and Apple have larger market capitalizations than Amazon, and no major bank is really anywhere close.
So who’s stopping Amazon from launching its own line of banking products?
Among our respondents, 44.5 percent were open to the idea of using an account created by Amazon as their primary bank account, while 39.1 percent were unsure, and 16.4 percent rejected the idea.
However, more respondents, 49.6 percent, were willing to use a savings account created by Amazon, while fewer respondents – 14.9 percent – were not open to the idea of an Amazon savings account.
Perhaps those who were unsure need to see an Amazon banking product be successful in action before they dive in feet-first. It makes sense that a good proportion of Americans do not want to be the guinea pigs when their money is at stake.
That being said, it does not appear as though trust is a big problem for Amazon. A combined 87 percent of respondents answered with either “yes, very much so,” or “somewhat” when asked if they trusted Amazon to always have the consumer’s best interest in mind.
Further, the plurality of respondents, 38.3 percent, answered they would have “about the same level of trust” in Amazon handling their finances instead of a traditional bank. Meanwhile, 17.2 percent actually would trust Amazon more, while 21 percent were unsure, and 23.5 percent would have less trust in Amazon.
Amazon for Lending Products
We asked our recent Amazon consumers how open they would be to using the company for a few different lending products, including mortgages, personal loans, and auto loans.
Respondents were most ready to use Amazon for personal loans. A majority of them, 50.3 percent, answered “yes” when asked if they were open to the idea of using the company for a personal loan for things like a large purchase or debt consolidation.
Poll participants were least willing to use Amazon for a mortgage; only 30.2 percent stated they would use the site for a mortgage, while 31.6 percent would not even try, and 38.2 percent were undecided.
Readiness to use Amazon for auto loans was somewhere in between the two aforementioned lending products. While 45.3 percent answered “yes” when asked if they would be willing to use Amazon for auto loans, 25.7 percent were unsure, and 24 percent were unwilling.
Out of all of the scenarios discussed in this report, Amazon offering lending products would likely be the least probable. If the mega-company entered the loan industry, they would need to set up massive infrastructure that would involve rate-setting, debt collection, an approval process, among many other things.
On the subject of getting approved for a loan, 55.2 percent of respondents would be open to the idea of using a credit monitoring service, like Credit Karma, that was created by Amazon. However, 24.3 percent were unsure of such an idea, and 20.3 percent did not want to use Amazon in that way.
Amazon for Investing Products
What about using Amazon for investing? Entrusting a company to make more money from your hard-earned money can be difficult, but as we saw earlier, Amazon commands just about the same level of trust as do the traditional financial institutions.
So why not let Amazon make your investments?
Among our respondents, 36 percent were open to the idea of using an investment account for retirement savings that was created by Amazon. However, 28.7 percent, the smallest proportion, were unwilling to do such a thing, and 35.3 percent were unsure.
Interestingly, more consumers were less likely to use an Amazon-powered robo-investment app to make more immediate market investments. Thirty-six percent were unsure of this idea, while 30.5 percent stated their willingness, and 33.5 percent were not ready to make such a move.
The logic here could be that investment accounts meant for retirement typically employ safe, traditional investment strategies that are almost guaranteed to give you more money than what you started with. Conversely, robo-investing is geared more toward short-term gains, which often require aggressive plays in the market.
In other words, consumers would be more willing to trust Amazon to play the conservative long-term investment game where success is likely. It would be more difficult to trust Amazon, a company with no investment-advisement experience, in making daily investments.
Amazon for Insurance Products
Amazon certainly has enough money to offer insurance products and to back their policies when something does go wrong, so why not get into that industry?
Our respondents were most ready to use Amazon for an auto insurance plan; 44.5 percent answered “yes” when asked if they would be willing to use Amazon for auto insurance, while 28.1 percent were unsure, and 27.4 percent answered “no.”
Succeeding an auto insurance plan was an Amazon-crafted life insurance plan, which 37.5 percent of poll participants would be open to using. Meanwhile, 31.7 percent were unsure if they would use such a product, while 30.8 percent would not.
Finally, 35.8 percent of consumers said they would be open to using a health insurance plan created by Amazon. However, 32.9 percent were not sure, and 31.3 percent were not open to an Amazon health insurance plan.
Just recently, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. announced that they would be joining forces to create an independent health care company. The company would aim at reducing health care costs. Whether that could someday include a health insurance offering remains to be seen.
Amazon has already launched an exclusive line of over-the-counter health products that can be bought on the company’s site. It is speculated that the company is also looking into the prescription drug space, even going as far as launching Amazon brick-and-mortar pharmacies.
We asked our respondents if they would trust Amazon to provide them with over-the-counter and prescription medicine. The majority of respondents, 54.7 percent, stated “yes.” Only 20.7 percent said they would not trust Amazon, while 24.6 percent were undecided.
In terms of the immediate future, consumers should keep their eyes focused on Amazon’s maneuvers in the health care industry.
Full Survey Results
Note: Results from only Amazon Prime users are written in blue.
1. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using an account created by Amazon as your primary bank account?
a. 44.50% of respondents answered “yes” (52.33%)
b. 16.40% of respondents answered “no” (12.84%)
c. 39.10% of respondents answered “unsure” (34.83%)
2. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using a savings account created by Amazon?
a. 49.60% of respondents answered “yes” (57.95%)
b. 14.90% of respondents answered “no” (10.75%)
c. 35.50% of respondents answered “unsure” (31.30%)
3. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using a mortgage created by Amazon for future home purchases?
a. 30.20% of respondents answered “yes” (36.28%)
b. 31.60% of respondents answered “no” (26.81%)
c. 38.20% of respondents answered “unsure” (36.92%)
4. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using a personal loan created by Amazon for future large purchases, debt consolidation, or home improvement projects?
a. 50.30% of respondents answered “yes” (57.46%)
b. 24.00% of respondents answered “no” (19.58%)
c. 25.70% of respondents answered “unsure” (22.95%)
5. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using an auto loan created by Amazon for future car purchases?
a. 45.30% of respondents answered “yes” (51.36%)
b. 27.50% of respondents answered “no” (22.31%)
c. 27.20% of respondents answered “unsure” (26.32%)
6. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using an Amazon-created crypto-currency (ex. Amazon Coin) for future purchases on Amazon.com?
a. 51.70% of respondents answered “yes” (58.27%)
b. 21.90% of respondents answered “no” (18.30%)
c. 26.40% of respondents answered “unsure” (23.43%)
7. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using an investment account for retirement savings created by Amazon?
a. 36.00% of respondents answered “yes” (41.41%)
b. 28.70% of respondents answered “no” (24.56%)
c. 35.30% of respondents answered “unsure” (34.03%)
8. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using an Amazon-powered robo-investment app to make investments in the market?
a. 30.50% of respondents answered “yes” (36.60%)
b. 33.50% of respondents answered “no” (28.73%)
c. 36.00% of respondents answered “unsure” (34.67%)
9. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using a health insurance plan created by Amazon?
a. 35.80% of respondents answered “yes” (41.57%)
b. 31.30% of respondents answered “no” (27.13%)
c. 32.90% of respondents answered “unsure” (31.30%)
10. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using an auto insurance plan created by Amazon?
a. 44.50% of respondents answered “yes” (49.12%)
b. 27.40% of respondents answered “no” (24.40%)
c. 28.10% of respondents answered “unsure” (26.48%)
11. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using a life insurance plan created by Amazon?
a. 37.50% of respondents answered “yes” (43.18%)
b. 30.80% of respondents answered “no” (26.97%)
c. 31.70% of respondents answered “unsure” (29.86%)
12. If offered, would you be open to the idea of using a credit monitoring service (ex. Credit Karma) created by Amazon?
a. 55.20% of respondents answered “yes” (62.76%)
b. 20.30% of respondents answered “no” (16.85%)
c. 24.50% of respondents answered “unsure” (20.39%)
13. As a consumer, do you trust Amazon to always have your best interests in mind?
a. 46.50% of respondents answered “yes, very much so” (52.49%)
b. 40.50% of respondents answered “somewhat” (37.56%)
c. 5.80% of respondents answered “indifferent” (3.85%)
d. 5.10% of respondents answered “somewhat skeptical” (4.17%)
e. 2.10% of respondents answered “very skeptical” (1.93%)
14. Would you have more trust in Amazon handling your finances instead of a traditional bank?
a. 17.20% of respondents answered “yes, more trust” (21.51%)
b. 23.50% of respondents answered “no, less trust” (20.55%)
c. 38.30% of respondents answered “about the same level of trust” (39.97%)
d. 21.00% of respondents answered “unsure” (17.98%)
15. Would you trust Amazon as your pharmacy to provide you with over-the-counter and prescription medicine?
a. 54.70% of respondents answered “yes” (61.80%)
b. 20.70% of respondents answered “no” (17.34%)
c. 24.60% of respondents answered “unsure” (20.87%)
16. Do you currently have an Amazon Prime subscription?
a. 62.30% of respondents answered “yes”
b. 37.70% of respondents answered “no”
Methodology
All data discussed in this report originates from an online poll commissioned by LendEDU and conducted online by polling company Pollfish. In total, 1,000 respondents who have made a purchase on Amazon.com in the last 30 days were polled on each question. These desired respondents were found via screener question. This poll ran over a two-day span, beginning on Feb. 23, 2018, and ending on Feb. 24, 2018. Respondents were asked to answer each question truthfully and to the best of their ability.
See more of LendEDU’s Research