Amazon Stock Rose 1,000% Due to Small Business Loans Program

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is in talks to bring Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) on board as a partner for its small business loans program called “Amazon Lending,” as reported by CNBC on Monday. Amazon stock has risen more than 1,000% since the company launched its small business lending program in 2011. Through the Amazon Lending program, the company extends loans ranging from $1,000 to $750,000 to merchants who sell their goods on its online marketplace. As of 2017, over 20,000 businesses in the US, UK, and Japan had benefited from Amazon’s small business loans program. Amazon already worked with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) on its small business lending program. Bringing Goldman Sachs on board would expand the program and allow Amazon to serve more merchants. PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), Square, and Shopify also extend credit to their merchant customers. Square wrote $563 million in loans to 85,000 small businesses in the fourth quarter. Shopify also provides credit to its merchant customers.