Is the sky the limit for Amazon.com (AMZN) - Get Report ?

The e-commerce giant is now tapping into banking to further boost its all-important Prime program and tighten its hold on college students. And Amazon is likely to continue such efforts in more significant ways moving forward, according to analysts.

Wells Fargo (WFC) - Get Report and Amazon announced Thursday that they will team up for a partnership that offers a loan discount to Amazon Prime Student customers who apply for Wells Fargo's private student loan products.

Under the partnership, Wells Fargo is offering 0.5% interest rate discount to Amazon Prime Student customers. The 0.5% interest rate can be added to a 0.25% interest rate reduction for users who enroll in Wells Fargo's automatic monthly loan repayment plan.

"I think it's brilliant," said Tigress Financial Partners analyst Ivan Feinseth via phone, adding that Amazon will likely continue moving into banking.

Amazon already offers its own credit cards that users can use to pay for and finance their purchases on the site, and could next explore business lending, Feinseth said, suggesting that the e-commerce giant might test lending to businesses that use its cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Targeting the student demographic also highlights the e-commerce giant's creativity in supporting its Prime membership program.

Amazon Prime Student costs $49 a year, compared to $99 for a regular Prime membership, and comes with free two-day shipping discount, movie and TV streaming through Prime Video and photo storage via Prime Photos, in addition to various student-focused promotions.

"Students are a great target. You can get them indoctrinated into the whole Prime [program]," Feinseth explained.

The partnership speaks to Amazon's efforts to further expand its influence just as it has done by broadening its apparel and groceries offerings, Maxim Group analyst Tom Forte said, adding that it could make sense for Jeff Bezos' e-commerce empire to enter auto loans or home loans.

At the same time, the partnership highlights the company's plan to deepen its relationship with college students.

"To me, they made a definitive starting point to increase their outreach to college kids," Forte said via phone.

Amazon, for instance, has been opening pick-up locations on college campuses across the country including the University of California at Berkeley, University of Cincinnati and Purdue University in hopes of increasing the value of a Prime membership.

Meanwhile, Amazon reports second-quarter earnings on Thursday, July 28, after the market close.

On average, analysts are expecting $29.56 billion of revenue and $1.11 of earnings per share. Amazon had $23.18 billion in revenue and 19 cents in EPS over the corresponding period a year ago.

Revenue growth for AWS could serve as a significant catalyst for Amazon over the next 12 months, Forte wrote in a note earlier this week, adding that it will be worthwhile to pay attention to the company's comments surrounding Brexit and its plan for expanding its apparel and grocery offerings, as well as its and physical store footprint.

Overall, Amazon has had a solid year so far by aggressively investing in various avenues. It continues to build on its strong market share in cloud computing, is moving aggressively into private-label goods and is building out its own logistics network.

Amazon stock was trading up 0.6% Friday afternoon to $749.50. Shares are up about 11% year-to-date and 42% over the last 12 months.

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