Amazon Lending, the business loans arm of the online marketplace, has lent over $1bn (£790m)in business loans to SMEs over the past year.
The internet giant launched its business lending service in 2011, and has since provided $3bn of short-term loans to 20,000 businesses selling their products on its marketplace.
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Peeyush Nahar, vice president for Amazon Marketplace, said: “We created Amazon Lending to make it simple for up-and-coming small businesses to efficiently get a business loan. Amazon is providing capital to small businesses to help them expand inventory and operations at a critical period of their growth.”
The company said that half of the products sold on its service are from small businesses, and claims 300 million active customers.
Amazon’s loans have been issued to small businesses in the US, UK, and Japan, with amounts ranging from $1,000 to $750,000. According to Amazon, over half of businesses it lends to will seek a second loan.
Caleb Light, vice president of sales for Power Practical, a Utah-based producer of camping-related electronics, said Amazon Lending supported their direct to consumer model.
Light said: “Amazon stepped in and is a great partner for us. The loans from Amazon Lending enabled us to expand inventory and resulted in us having a strong and successful 2016.”
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