Amazon wants to start offering bank accounts

Besides e-commerce and tech, Amazon also has its fingers in the brick-and-mortar retail, grocery, and shipping businesses, to name just a few. Its next target? Banking.

The plan: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the tech giant is building a product similar to a checking account, meant to attract people who don’t currently have bank accounts.

The partners: JPMorgan Chase was the primary partner named by the report, but talks are still in the early stages, and other deals may yet be struck.

Collaboration, not disruption: Amazon does not appear to want to compete against the banking industry’s titans. As the Journal puts it, “new regulations put in place after the financial crisis, while bad for profitability, are a protective moat against challengers.”

A good idea? For Amazon, yes. It can help limit the fees it pays for payment processing. The benefit for consumers is much less clear.