Amazon's lending business has rebounded in recent years after scaling back during COVID.Amazon is expecting to roughly double its loans to sellers in 2023, though its underwriting process could get more stringent, Insider has learned.
The company's economists are forecasting that third-party sellers will owe it over $2 billion over the next year, according to internal document obtained by Insider. That's an over 80% increase from the first quarter of last year's $1.1 billion in outstanding loans. And it's more than double the balance Amazon reported at the end of 2021, when it reached $1.0 billion in total outstanding loans for the first time.
"The increased uncertainty of business repayment ability" by sellers"necessitates higher inspection of our on-balance sheet credit/lending products," according to the document.