8.3.2016

Good to Know: We want to get your thoughts. Take our poll below!

THE SKINNY

When You Can’t Beat ‘Em …

Join ‘em. Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Bank of America, and US Bank are all jumping on the instant cash bandwagon.

When You Don’t Really Have A Choice …

Their hands have been forced. In the U.S., moving money between bank accounts is slow AF. Mobile services like PayPal’s Venmo and Square Cash handled the issue…Customers love it … Now U.S. banks don’t want to get left behind.

When Your Age is Showing …

Banks have tried to pull an Instagram by offering their very own money transfer apps. Think Chase QuickPay. But, it isn’t quite the same ‘copy and paste’ job Instagram just pulled on Snapchat (read more on that later this week in our Internet & Tech edition). They want customers to believe that their apps are just as ‘hip and cool’ as the Venmos of the world with the help of star-power ads. But, some people aren’t buying it.

When You’re Not Leading From Behind…

The U.S. is playing ‘follow the leader’ with the rest of the world when it comes to faster payments. Note to self: The U.S. is doing the following. So, the Federal Reserve Board’s ‘Faster Payments Committee’ is telling banks to ‘pick up the pace’ on money transfers.

When You Need to Make A Move …

Meanwhile everyone and their moms in the financial ecosystem (including financial OGs like Mastercard and Visa) are in an arms race to build the “payments network of the future.” Mastercard snatched up a huge chunk of Vocalink, a UK biz with a mobile and internet payment network, and Visa’s strategically linked up with Paypal.

When You’re Just Happy to be Here …

Since people are still using the cash money and writing checks, there’s lots of opportunity to get in on the instant payments action. It won’t be easy for banks to catch up with Venmo and other peer-to-peer apps that are hybrid payment and social platforms. But, at least U.S. banks are making moves.

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS?

Now that banks are stepping up their instant payments game, are you willing to give up your current money transfer app (i.e., Venmo, Square Cash, etc) and give your bank’s app a go?

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That …

The U.S. is still trying to get consumers to dip their credit cards rather than swipe them. Turns out chip and pin cards aka EMV cards aka cards that keep us waiting at checkout for life are way more secure and help cut back on fraud. That’s great and all, but we hear that making just two purchases daily for a year with an EMV card adds up. It’s literally 85 minutes of our lives that we’ll never get back just waiting to check out. No bueno! Even retailers want to avoid installing EMV card readers because long lines aren’t good for biz. Only 28% of all U.S. merchants require dips v. swipes. Shopping at places that take Apple, Android, or Samsung Pay may be a better, faster option. Meanwhile, some of us will continue to struggle with the process.

And The Winner Is…

We hope China’s been practicing it’s surprise face and pageant wave. The U.S. Department of Commerce just crowned Asia’s largest economy as the 2017 Fintech Leader. Expect China to lead the world in payment exports.

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word …

Banks in Africa are are like that ex who took you for granted but now wants to make things right. Sure, they did the basics like setting up infrastructure but didn’t go the extra mile to take care of everyone’s needs. Banks on the continent dropped the ball on figuring out mobile money services and left potential bankers out of the loop. Now that fintech startups have stepped in to offer way better services that can help way more people, the banks are seeing the error of their ways. To right their wrongs, banks are teaming up with startups like MFS Africa and Nomanini to reach untraditional young consumers.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Hong-Kong based Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex told us its system had been compromised. Like thieves in the night, hackers allegedly made off with a cool US $65 million in real money. The exchange is looking into the breach. In the meantime, Bitcoin’s value dropped by 7.8 percent earlier this week.

China’s got a trust problem with its charity organizations. Alibaba’s CEO Jack Ma wants to use blockchain technology to make sure charities are using donations for the right purposes. Alibaba’s Ant Financial is leading the effort on this. Transparency FTW …

The charity world is pretty old school when it comes to donations. It’s all about those cash money donations. But, you can only give what you have. So, if people are short on dolla bills, charities are SOL. DipJar wants to change that up by allowing people to donate with credit or debit cards for “impulsive, on-the-spot giving.”

While Alibaba’s trying to figure out this blockchain situation, IBM seems to be way ahead of them. The tech company is all set to kick off the first major implementation of the technology for its business. IBM’s figured out how to use the technology to settle financial disputes between partners and customers. #NBD

One last thing on the checkout process, Venmo’s no longer for just easily reimbursing your friends. It’s branching out into checkout services for retail apps. Buying things you probably don’t need just got easier…

11.11.2014

Good to Know: November 11 is Alibaba’s Singles’ Day in China (and Veterans Day in the U.S. – thank you to all those who have served and are currently serving). Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce site, is responsible for what is basically the anti-Valentine’s day and also the biggest e-commerce day of the year. Sales have already reached over $8 billion. We’re starting to reconsider Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

THE SKINNY.

The InterWebs Is All Abuzz…

Because on Monday, November 10, President Obama ensured that we’d be talking about net neutrality all week when he came out with a strong statement and video in support of net neutrality rules that would keep the Internet open and free.

Why Is This Big Deal?

First, the back-story… For many years, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been working towards implementing net neutrality rules. However, the Commission’s efforts have been consistently challenged in court – first by Comcast and then most recently by Verizon. In January 2014, the D.C. Circuit struck down most of the Commission’s rules (namely no blocking and no discrimination). Subsequently, the FCC had started a lengthy, record breaking public comment process of trying to figure out what rules to adopt and how it would legally carry out implementation of these rules. Through this process, the FCC heard from about 3 million plus people, and many of you want the FCC to reclassify broadband services under Title II of the Communications Act (Title II) as a common carrier service.

What is Title II, and Why Should I Care?

By reclassifying broadband services under Title II, it is argued that this would prevent ISPs from discriminating against certain types of services and content and stop them from charging Internet users a premium just to access our favorite online shows (kind of like how you have to pay more for HBO). Proponents say going down the Title II route will protect the open Internet and allow us to do as we please online. ISPs/cable companies are not feelin’ this idea and think things should be left just as they are.

Ok? So What’s the Punch Line …

Well, there’s been intense debate about what rules are appropriate and the best legal approach to get there. Last week, we told you about the WSJ leak where we found out that the FCC was considering a hybrid legal approach, which pretty much everyone and their mother hated. Then yesterday, President Obama called for strong rules that would prevent discrimination and blocking while encouraging transparency. And, Obama recommended that the FCC (an independent agency) implement these rules by reclassifying broadband services under… wait for it … TITLE II! #MicDrop

What Does Obamacare Have to Do With This?

In a nutshell, the Democrats and Internet companies came out in support of the President’s statement. As expected, Republicans and ISPs were not pleased. Speaking of Republicans, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) went there and said that net neutrality is the Obamacare for the Internet. Needless to say, the Internet responded, and it wasn’t pretty.

Till Next Year …

President Obama’s statement is a game changer. Originally, we all thought we’d see an official FCC proposal come out this December but looks like things have been pushed back until the new year.

What Else Is Going On This Week?

They’re Having the Last Laugh …

Remember when Facebook told you that you’d have to download its Messenger app to send messages via your phone? And we were all like ain’t happening … Well, turns out that 500 million of us gave in. The social network now has over 1 billion users using messaging and has passed 500 million monthly users on its Messenger app in addition to 600 million active users on its newly owned WhatsApp.

Join the Social Movement ….

In the fight against Ebola, Internet companies are coming out big. Last week, Facebook released a donations function for its users to contribute towards these efforts. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife personally donated $25 million, and this week, Google donated $10 million to some non-profits and announced that it would donate $2 dollars for every dollar donated through its new campaign. Oh, Larry Page and fam also contributed about $15 million.

More Stolen Data…

The U.S. Postal Service is the latest victim in data theft. Though the public is just learning about it, back in September, databases containing about 800,000 employees and retirees personal information (names, birth dates, addresses, and Social Security numbers) were compromised. The government’s not sure who is responsible, but they think it looks like work of Chinese hackers.

The Streets Are Talkin’

Let’s talk more about Alibaba. Last week, we told you about Alibaba’s much anticipated first earnings report. The company killed it reporting its profit had increased by about 16%, and it’s now valued at $250 billion. Now, its CEO Jack MA is saying that AliPay (its financial services arm) will definitely be going public. Note to self: Should’ve jumped on the bandwagon earlier.