The Amazon Community Lending programme is now a long-term offering that comes after an initial pilot phase launched in 2021. The program aims to support urban and rural small businesses in socially and economically distressed communities through short-term loans at competitive and affordable rates.
According to the official press release, the programme has loaned USD 35 million to over 800 sellers since its launch, which means it has surpassed its initial goal of USD 10 million, which was set during the pilot phase.
In the upcoming phases, the programme aims to loan more than USD 150 million to small businesses selling in the Amazon US store. According to the same source, Amazon sellers account for more than half of all units sold in the Amazon store.
Small businesses that manage to obtain a loan from Lendistry through the Amazon Community Lending programme can use the funds to cover strategic business needs such as staffing and operations costs, product development and manufacturing, inventory, and marketing in order to grow their customer base and build brand awareness.
Aside from ensuring capital, the programme offers small businesses access to supplementary resources from Lendistry such as on-demand educational classes and one-on-one consulting webinars. Amazon’s Seller University and Amazon Small Business Academy are both available for small businesses through the initiative.
In September 2022, Amazon has introduced Amazon Layaway as a new option for financing purchases.
This new payment option gives customers the opportunity to hold items and complete the payment in five instalments, either by credit or debit card, without having to go through a credit check or pay any associated fees.
To reserve the items they want to purchase, customers must make a 20% initial payment of the total purchase cost, the remaining balance having to be paid off in four monthly instalments, after which they can come into possession of said items.
The creation of the Amazon layaway programme follows a customer demand for a year-round, pay-over-time, online payment option where a credit check is not required. The programme is beneficial for Amazon in that it is being provided with no-interest loans sourced by consumers.
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