# Professor Lawrence White outlines the legal obstacles Amazon would face if it looks to offer banking services

1 Faculty News March 5, 2018 ![TheStreet logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/thestreet.jpg?itok=2XiyrQ8_)>

Excerpt from [TheStreet](https://www.thestreet.com/story/14510586/1/could-amazon-be-a-bank-look-no-further-than-walmart-s-failures.html) -- "'Right now, Amazon cannot be a bank. There is a very clear legal prohibition against \[commerce companies\] becoming banks,' \[[White](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/lawrence-white)\] told TheStreet. 'Walmart tried 10 years ago and got the door slammed in its face.'"

[Read more](https://www.thestreet.com/story/14510586/1/could-amazon-be-a-bank-look-no-further-than-walmart-s-failures.html)