Virtual Skinny FinTech: Stick the Landing

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on August 14, 2016 in FinTech Edition, Newsletter 0 Comment

8.14.2016

THE SKINNY

When You Stick to the Plan …

Even though Britain said yes to Brexit, it’s still got lofty goals to be the center of all things fintech. (BTW, Brexit means that time Britain voted to leave the European Union then immediately regretted it).

When You Keep On Keeping on…

Two years. That’s how long it’ll take for Britain to exit stage left (if it actually happens). It’s also the deadline that Britain’s Competition Market Authority (CMA) is giving British banks to stop being stingy with their customers’ data.

When You Know What’s Up…

CMA is very aware that bank fees can be…excessive. Customers are paying up but aren’t getting what they deserve. Enter fintech companies. CMA is drinking the ‘fintech koolaid’ and wants banks to share customer data with fintech startups and third party apps. Bank customers must approve first of course.

When ‘Many People Are Saying It…’

CMA thinks by 2018, fintech will not only help save British bank customers money and get them better services but also earn the economy the top spot in “fintech” around the world.

When You Need to Watch Your Back…

About that Brexit thing. No one knows exactly how Britain saying ‘bye’ to the EU will play out. But, Germany’s taking full advantage. It’s on a full on recruitment mode to get fintech companies based in London to hop on over to Deutschland. Do you blame them?

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Lies, Fairytales, and Fallacies…

Chip and pin cards (we’ve covered this; those cards you dip instead of swipe) were supposed to protect us from thieves. But, it’s not as safe as you think. Payment technology company NCR just unveiled a way for fraudsters to still get at your money. Apparently, they’ve used their genius for evil to figure out how to make chip cards seem cardless. Then, it’s off to the races. Retailers are thinking, ‘more reason not to buy those EMV card reader machines.’ But, it’s not all a lost cause, even with this security flaw, chip and pin cards are still slightly safer than regular ole swipe cards.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Thanks to Square Capital aka Square’s lending business, the company’s stock is wayyy up. It should feel blessed. Square Capital doles out loans to the company’s existing merchants in exchange for a piece of merchants’ sales. It’s all love all around (for now). Merchants love that they can get loans fast (within a few days) and low default rates. Investors love it too. But, to keep growing, Square Capital will have to do something else (e.g., handing over $$$ to non-Square merchants).

The war on cash in Boston is on its way. Boston area eateries like Sweet Green, Amsterdam Falafelshop, and Clover Food trucks want to go cash-less. They’ve picked up on the trend that young people are choosing plastic over paper when it comes to payment. But, a little known law in Massachusetts makes it illegal to turn down cash. The law and how it’s enforced is all very wishy-washy. But, seems like shops are willing to take the risk.

Been Around the World, Uh Huh

India’s mobile phone game is strong (smartphones are up 220 million making it the second largest market in the world). Should be good news for financial inclusion but not so much. Not many rural and underbanked folks are using their phones for banking or payment. And, taxes for use aren’t helping. But, the Indian government won’t be giving up on this.

The Nigerian Central Bank likes to walk the road less traveled when it comes to remittances (transferring money across borders from one country to another). The rest of the world wants to cut down costs on remittances. But, no. Not Nigeria. It’s going the opposite way. No secret that Nigeria’s economy is struggling. So to ‘maintain the exchange rate’ it’s up-ing the price on remittances.

In other news dealing with the continent, the Brookings Institute (U.S. think tank) says more regulations protecting consumers will help grow financial inclusion and innovation in countries like Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria. Interesting since, a lack of banking regulations is a major reason money transfer service M-PESA is a success in Kenya …

Australia’s postal service is looking to the future. It’s looking into applying blockchain technology to the mail – mainly for identity reasons.

Virtual Skinny: Did You Hear?

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on February 11, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

2.11.2016

Good to Know: It’s that time of year again … Valentine’s Day is coming up. Dating apps are changing this up. Here’s 5 of them.

THE SKINNY

When You Listen to Kanye West who took advice from “50”…

Twitter’s switchin’ its style up to hopefully watch its money pile up.

When You Make Things Easy …

Following reports last week from BuzzFeed, the micro-blogging site is in fact making changes to its timeline. But, it’s not what you think. To clear the air, no Twitter isn’t turning into Facebook so we can all cool it with the #RIPTwitter hashtags.

When You Step away for a hot minute …

Some Twitter users follow many, many people. But, who really has time to check tweets all day? Twitter doesn’t want its users to miss the good stuff so it’s making two very similar but different changes. First up, the company will start placing more tweets at the top of users’ timelines (personalized, of course). And second, when users launch their Twitter apps, they’ll be greeted with the “best” tweets right out the gate. Confusing, but we’ll figure it out.

Keep ‘Em Coming Back For More …

Turns out CEO Jack Dorsey couldn’t do much to up Twitter’s user numbers (305 million monthly users) at the end of 2015. The company knows that it needs to make the platform more user-friendly, but it’s a work in progress.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

When Cam Newton Isn’t The Only “Sore Loser…”

The Indian government dealt Facebook a blow earlier this week when it put the kibosh on the social network’s Free Basics program. The effort was intended to help spread Internet access across India by offering a bare bones version of the Web (the technical term is zero-rating). Civil societies in India opposed the program and turns out that their advocacy game is strong. Ultimately, the Indian government essentially banned the program. The Zuck put out a statement expressing his disappointment in the decision but also his commitment to the country. Reports speculate that this decision could potentially negatively impact the company. But before we even get there, the Zuck had to put out yet another statement distancing himself from one of his board members, Marc Andreessen. What did Andreessen say? Let’s just say he referenced colonialism in a tweet convo … Yikes! Many people were understandably upset … Andreessen has since apologized …

When You Don’t Play By The Rules …

Parker Conrad, Co-Founder and CEO of online HR software company Zenefits, is back in the market for a new job. The company grew pretty quickly and became a $4.5 billion in almost no time.But turns out, things don’t work out when you cut corners. The startup operates in the highly regulated industry of insurance, but the company wasn’t exactly on the up and up with compliance, licensing, etc. The company wants to get right with its paperwork and processes so now Parker’s out, and the company’s Chief Operating Officer David Sacks is in …

Wha???

FBI Director James Comey wants people to know that the U.S. government doesn’t want special access to your devices. No, not at all. Comey said they’d rather just have companies like Apple, Google and Facebook to keep your encrypted data just in case the government needs it. *Head Tilt* While we’re talking encryption, two members of the U.S. Congress just introduced a bill that would ban states from passing laws, which would prevent manufacturers from encrypting smartphones. New York and California have already seen these type of proposals. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) don’t this is exactly feasible so they’re trying to stop the madness.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

HBO came out with its HBO NOW streaming service for all you cordcutters, but things aren’t picking up like people thought it would. The service only has 800,000 subscribers.

Verizon Communications is in the market for another Internet company. Looking at you, Yahoo.

Unlike Kenya’s government, Hungary is showing ride hailing app service Uber no love. The country’s considering banning the app.

Wanna step your selfie game up to Kardashian status? Easy … Just pony up US $55 for a Lumee lighting phone case.

Seems like everyone and their moms is on WhatsApp. But, Pope Francis does want he wants. He’s opting for messaging app Telegram to reach out to young peeps during Lent.

The Virtual Skinny: One Day …

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on January 14, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

1.14.2016

Good to Know: Earlier this week, the White House got itself its very own Snapchat account. If you haven’t quite mastered the app like DJ Khaled, here’s a 101 guide on how to get there. #BlessUp … But be careful, even DJ Khaled has screwed up while snapchatting (US $80K gone in 30 seconds) … Ouch!

THE SKINNY

When Growing Up Isn’t So Hard to Do …

Seventy million subscribers and available in more than 540 million households across the globe … Online streaming video service Netflix is growing like gangbusters.

When You’ve Gotta Watch Your Back …

Netflix may now appear as a mere blip in the broader content radar, but traditional media moguls should be worried … very worried. The New York Times advises that media execs should give Netflix’s potential some serious thought while at Davos, an annual pow wow of the who’s who in politics and business that’s happening next week.

Porque?

Well, the company’s been pouring a ridiculous amount of money into producing its own original content and decided to expand globally in just one day. Most people believe this approach should’ve failed, but Netflix seems to be defying the odds. It’s strategy seems to be working well. The company’s being compared to the early days of e-commerce company Amazon. Apparently, back in the day, some people thought Amazon’s unconventional approach would fail too.

Haters Gonna Hate …

As Netflix’s growth continues, naysayers don’t think it’ll be able to keep subscription prices for its content low. One skeptic thinks that the best Netflix can do is to reach a “modestly profitable business, just not a spectacular one.” Others beg to differ. They’re thinking more content down the line. Perhaps a Netflix-owned studio? And, dare we say theme-parks?

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

In More News …

As Netflix expands, some countries aren’t quite sure what to do with the service. And by some countries, we mean Kenya. Regulators in the East African country can’t seem to agree on whether Netflix is like old school television or more like YouTube or Facebook. If it’s the former, Netflix can expect some of its content to be censored if the government flags it as “inappropriate.”

When The Discussion Takes A Sharp Left …

The World Bank recently put out a report on the Internet and its impact on the global economy. The bank didn’t hold back and is basically telling people not to buy into the Internet-hype. According to the report, everything’s not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to the Internet’s economic and societal benefits. Turns out digital technologies are creating more of a division between the haves and the have-nots. Whether the Internet will play a positive role, ultimately comes down to the country and its governance system. The World Bank is piping up during an interesting time – just as Internet companies are pushing to bring access to less developed areas.

What You’re Not Gonna Do Is …

Egypt’s government is playing no type of games when it comes to protests leading up to the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring uprising against the country’s then-leader Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian government just arrested some people for allegedly using Facebook to incite more protests. If you’ll remember, back in 2011, people turned to Facebook and Twitter to organize and protest before the country shut down access to the social platforms. The current government doesn’t want a repeat so they’re taking action to shut down channels for protests (including cultural centers).

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

U.S. election season is in full swing, and civic platform Change.org is out with a new service – Change Politics. The goal? Get educated on where candidates stand on certain positions and even pose questions to them directly if that’s what you fancy.

New dating app ideas are a dime a dozen these days. The latest? “Once” will attempt to use the beat of your heart to help you find the one. FitBit or Android Wear device not included but necessary.

Snapchat needs more people … You know, it needs to compete with the Instagrams of the world. So, it’s trying to woo people over 35.

Speaking of competition, new app Upshot is moving into Snapchat territory. It’s basically Snapchat for events. You can privately share pics of a night out with friends, and they’ll disappear after a week.

Twitter is integrating live stream videos from Periscope into your tweet timeline now …

Making moves … SurveyMonkey’s got a new CEO, Zander Lurie – formerly of GoPro … Google nabs Caroline Atkinson, President Obama’s Economic Advisor, to lead its global policy team … More Yahoo VPs dip out on the company.