Amazon recently announced a new shopping experience that isn't burdened with checkout lines. Shoppers download the Amazon Go app, scan their phone at the door and grab each item they want. When they're ready to leave, they simply walk out of the store, view a digital receipt, and carry on with their day.

Amazon Go will initially launch in a single Seattle location, but knowing Jeff Bezos' vision to create “an everything store,” the retail giant is certain to expand well beyond that location.

The implications for grocery chains are obvious. They'll need to replicate the Amazon Go experience just to keep up. After all, once shoppers get used to skipping checkout lines, they won't go back. The experience of buying groceries is set to change forever.

What might not be as obvious are the implications for the world of financial services.

To start, Amazon indicates that it will be able to track individual items that you purchase in their store — creating a record week after week of your spending habits. Their app will track how often you eat their cupcakes and how much you drink their coffee, down to the specific brands you choose.

From there the Amazon Go app could easily show your personal spending trends, offering visualizations based on the types of foods you purchase and how often you purchase them. Amazon would then pair your purchase history at Amazon Go with your personal history at Amazon.com, creating a more unified view of your spending habits.

Finally, it wouldn't be a major leap for Amazon to partner with a data aggregator to include outside accounts in their app as well. This way they could also include money management recommendations right alongside their “recommended for you” tips — expanding their sense of becoming an everything store even further and offering a one-stop app for your entire financial life.

With Amazon already heavily promoting its Visa card and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency considering fintech charter applications, it wouldn't be surprising to see Amazon expand its presence within fintech.

What are the implications for credit unions?

First, credit union executives must realize that just like grocery chain owners, they'll need to find a way to offer a comparable digital experience. Without such an experience, consumers will go with the most convenient option (possibly the one offered by Amazon), and credit union apps will no longer have a prominent spot on their members' phones. If that happens, credit unions will lose what may be the key mode of interaction a decade from now, as branch visits continue to decline and mobile use continues to increase. In short, the way to get ahead of this trend is straightforward: Improve the digital experience today.

Second, credit unions will need to amplify their efforts to provide clean, accurate data — noting that they currently have an edge on Amazon since all of a consumer's purchases run through their system. By making better use of the goldmine of data they're already sitting on, credit unions will remain a step ahead of Amazon and may prevent the digital giant from gaining app dominance in their space. This shift will require painful decisions as credit unions restructure their budgets in favor of data professionals and services, but it's bound to pay off in the long run. After all, data analytics has been a major differentiator for Amazon. Credit unions can learn from Amazon's efforts on this front today and edge them out before Amazon starts carving into their space with a financial app.

If Amazon manages to be a one-stop hub for consumers' financial lives, credit unions will become less relevant in members' lives. Better to get ahead of the curve now — before Amazon expands the number of their grocery stores around the nation (and beyond).

Jon Ogden is director of content at MX. He can be reached at 801-669-5500 or jon.ogden@mx.com.

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Amazon Go Hints at a Move Into Financial Services

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