{"id":3689,"date":"2021-12-10T23:56:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/?p=3689"},"modified":"2025-11-11T10:26:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T02:26:36","slug":"amazons-economic-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon&#8217;s dominance by its economic scale, impact share price of PayPal, Affirm, Fair Isaac, Visa, and Mastercard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/#Amazons_stock_price_performance_is_not_as_good_as_last_year\" >Amazon&#8217;s stock price performance is not as good as last year<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/#Visa_and_Mastercard\" >Visa and Mastercard<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/#PayPal\" >PayPal<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/#Affirm\" >Affirm<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/#Fair_Isaac\" >Fair Isaac<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/#Amazons_economic_scale\" >Amazon&#8217;s economic scale<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/#Changes_in_stock_prices_of_related_companies_this_year\" >Changes in stock prices of related companies this year<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/#Related_articles\" >Related articles<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Amazons_stock_price_performance_is_not_as_good_as_last_year\"><\/span><strong>Amazon&#8217;s stock price performance is not as good as last year<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If investors pay attention to the stock price of US stock Amazon (ticker: AMZN), they should clearly feel that Amazon&#8217;s stock price performance this year has not been outstanding (compared to last year&#8217;s fierce rise, it is simply not the same). Investors may worry about whether the competitiveness of the company has declined. You will get the answer after reading this article. Our article does not discuss Amazon&#8217;s stock price performance, but to look at Amazon from another angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Visa_and_Mastercard\"><\/span><strong>Visa and Mastercard<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to survey data from payment giant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202111\/1239895.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WorldPay, credit card payment  account for one-third of North American e-commerce spending in 2020.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not long ago, on 11\/18\/2021, Amazon announced that it would cancel the payment option of Visa (ticker: V) in the UK. The Visa stock price fell by 6.5% within a day (you may think it\u2019s okay! But it&#8217;s rare for Visa stock price to drop more than 3% in a day). On the same day, Mastercard&#8217;s (ticker: MA) also fell by more than 5% (this kind of decline is also not usually for the Mastercard  stock), causing the share price of PayPal (ticker: PYPL) to drop below US$ 200. The Chief Financial Officer of Visa immediately told the media that it would resolve the dispute with Amazon on the handling fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the past, Visa and Mastercard were relatively strong, and Amazon had to bow its head because consumers had few payment options. However, after more than ten years of financial technology companies have introduced various convenient payment methods, plus the new BNPL latest credit and payment method that has emerged in the past two years. Amazon no longer has to look at the faces of Visa and Mastercard, and canceling the payment option of Visa on the British Amazon website is just one of the means to force Visa and Mastercard to reduce the handling fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PayPal\"><\/span><strong>PayPal<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For details, please refer to another special article I published a few days ago, &#8220;Why has PayPal\u2019s stock price plummeted by nearly 40% from its peak?&#8221; focus on Amazon&#8217;s impact to PayPal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Affirm\"><\/span><strong>Affirm<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Affirm went public in January 2021, its stock price has fallen all the way. As of 8\/26\/2021, a total of 30% has fallen, and the decline seems to have no end to the downtrend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>8\/27\/2021 Amazon announced that Affirm is the &#8220;only provider&#8221; on its platform that enjoys BNPL services afterwards. Had it not been for Amazon to announce the establishment of a cooperative relationship with it, Affirm&#8217;s stock price might still be hovering at a low level. This announcement by Amazon has been up almost in a straight line in less than three months so far, and its stock price has risen by 100% (see the picture below, from Google Finance).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"563\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/AFRM-1600x1200-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/AFRM-1600x1200-1.png 563w, https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/AFRM-1600x1200-1-300x153.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 563px) 85vw, 563px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fair_Isaac\"><\/span><strong>Fair Isaac<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I once introduced this company in this blog that everyone in the US knows, the well-known listed company Fair Isaac (ticker: FICO) in the consumer finance industry. Investors will find that this seems to be a highly competitive company, but the stock price of this year has been contrary to the past normal. Since this year, the stock price has fallen 29.24% this year, and it continues to hit new lows. (As shown below, from Google Finance)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"494\" height=\"324\" src=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/FICO-1600x1200-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3709\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/FICO-1600x1200-1.png 494w, https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/FICO-1600x1200-1-300x197.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 494px) 85vw, 494px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no other reason. The way of consumer finance credit has undergone the earth-shaking siege of financial innovations (Fintech) in recent years, and the financial landscape has undergone fundamental changes (see my other article &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/04\/30\/what-caused-citi-to-abandon-its-retail-banking-business-in-13-countries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What caused Citi to abandon its retail banking business in 13 countries<\/a>&#8220;), the degree of reliance on it is gradually declining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Amazons_economic_scale\"><\/span><strong>Amazon&#8217;s economic scale<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>From the above discussion, it is fully proved that Amazon&#8217;s economic scale is strong enough to determine the survival of many listed companies (please note; Amazon&#8217;s own stock price, at the same time, is better, but has not changed significantly).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"187\" height=\"64\" src=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/az-1600x1200-2.jpg\" alt=\"economic scale\" class=\"wp-image-13938\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">credit: wikimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Changes_in_stock_prices_of_related_companies_this_year\"><\/span><strong>Changes in stock prices of related companies this year<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following is from Charles Schwab, all the companies mentioned in this article, stock price trends this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"610\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/price-1600x1200-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3703\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/price-1600x1200-1.png 610w, https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/price-1600x1200-1-300x183.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the graph, we only see two have positive returns: Amazon rose by 17.81%, and Affirm rose by 40.07%. And all other companies are all negatively performed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_articles\"><\/span>Related articles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/11\/24\/credit-card-threats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Several possible threats to the Visa and Mastercard credit card networks<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/05\/15\/oligopoly-enterprise\/\">The world&#8217;s most well-known oligopoly companies<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/23\/shift4-smb-payment-provider\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How Shift4, a small emerging payment provider focusing on SMB, makes money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/07\/30\/whats-the-credit-card-difference-among-american-express-visa-and-mastercard-at-least-8-differences\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/07\/30\/credit-card-difference\/\">What&#8217;s the credit card difference among American Express, Visa and MasterCard ? at least 8 differences<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/07\/12\/american-express\/\">American Express, one of the best investments of Buffett&#8217;s career<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/02\/11\/the-differences-between-visa-and-mastercard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The differences between Visa and Mastercard?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/11\/01\/paypals-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PayPal\u2019s current crisis and appeal<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/06\/04\/has-the-moat-of-the-two-major-credit-card-networks-loosened\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Has the moat of ubiquitous credit card networks loosened?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/05\/28\/amazon-buy-mgm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Amazon acquired MGM?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\uff02<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/11\/10\/amazon-insider-activity\/\">Amazon insider activity contributes 2025 stock price weakness<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/10\/02\/aws-is-no-longer-impressive\/\">When AWS is no longer impressive<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/10\/28\/shopify-surpassed-amazon\/\">Shopify surpassed Amazon in some important e-commerce metrics<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/16\/amazon-vs-alibaba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon vs. Alibaba<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/04\/09\/williams-sonoma-surged\/\">Upscale retailer Williams-Sonoma, stock surged in recent years, What\u2019s special?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/10\/amazons-economic-scale\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon\u2019s dominance by its economic scale, impact share price of PayPal, Affirm, Fair Isaac, Visa, and Mastercard<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/03\/12\/booking-travel\/\">How does Booking, the lord of travel e-commerce, make money? Future Prospect Analysis<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Disclaimer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>The content of this site is the author\u2019s personal opinions and is for reference only. I am not responsible for the correctness, opinions, and immediacy of the content and information of the article. Readers must make their own judgments.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>I shall not be liable for any damages or other legal liabilities for the direct or indirect losses caused by the readers&#8217; direct or indirect reliance on and reference to the information on this site, or all the responsibilities arising therefrom, as a result of any investment behavior.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amazon&#8217;s dominance by its economic scale, impact share price of PayPal, Affirm, Fair Isaac, Visa, and Mastercard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[489,106,108,109,1305,130,126,113],"tags":[277,227,156,160,4,140],"class_list":["post-3689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-scale","category-consumer-banking","category-credit-card","category-credit-rate-agent","category-diversified-conglomerate-group","category-ecommerce","category-fintech","category-payment","tag-afrm","tag-amzn","tag-fico","tag-ma","tag-pypl","tag-v"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3689"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39842,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689\/revisions\/39842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}