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…

11.23.2015

Good to Know: ‘Tis the season for giving. Turn to Charity Navigator or the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance to avoid being scammed by an online charity this holiday season.

THE SKINNY

Re-Thinking Your Approach …

U.S. company Shotspotter wants to use its technology to help cities around the globe better respond to terrorist attacks like the ones we’ve seen in Paris, Beirut, Mali, Mumbai, Kenya, etc.

What Does It Do?

The technology, which is currently deployed in 90 cities around the world, relies on Internet-enabled microphones to hone in on specific areas where there’s gunfire or explosions. In a matter of 30-45 seconds, authorities are alerted of a potential attack. The company wants to expand beyond 90 cities so its teamed up with General Electric. Both companies think that incorporating the technology into street lamps is the best way to go for full coverage of entire cities. Understandable … GE’s been on its “smart cities” mission for a while and already has “smart” streetlights.

Why Not Cover the Entire Globe?

David Bray, an executive in residence at Harvard University, wants to see a Shotspotter-style system created worldwide. Bray thinks including Shotspotter-type microphones in devices like cellphones would do the trick. But, for that idea to work, governments need to partner with private companies like Google. The Internet company declined to comment. We’re thinking this raises all sorts of red flags for people’s privacy. Also, it probably isn’t a good look for government surveillance, which isn’t a fan favorite for Internet and tech companies.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

When You Make Light of a Pretty Serious Situation …

Brussels is on a high terrorist alert and issued a city-wide lockdown over the weekend. After the Paris terrorist attacks, authorities are still on the hunt for suspects in Belgium. Yesterday evening, Belgian police asked citizens to step away from the Twitter-verse to avoid tipping off suspects about their armed operations. Belgian citizens didn’t exactly follow orders. They turned fear into humor by kicking off a tweet-storm about their pet cats with the hashtag #BrusselsLockDown. On a serious note, Belgian police carried out 22 raids and ultimately arrested 16 people. Police are still unsure of suspected gunman Salah Abdeslam’s whereabouts.

Decisions, Decisions …

Austrian student Max Schrems will keep going after Facebook (FB). Schrems is partly responsible for the European Court of Justice recently throwing out the US-EU Safe Harbor, a longstanding data transfer agreement between the U.S. and European Union. Schrems has got major problems with FB’s privacy policy. An Austrian court has already let him file a personal suit against FB because of it. But now, he’s looking to team up with 25,000+ people for a class action against the social media company. He just needs the go ahead from the court. Meanwhile, FB says it’s done nothing wrong.

When Someone’s Got Your Back …

Ever tried watching a video on YouTube but can’t? You’ve probably seen some variation of the following: “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by [insert media company, network, artist, etc. here].” Under U.S. copyright law (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act specifically), sometimes a video take-down (like what you see on YouTube) is legit; but other times, it’s not. The law isn’t exactly intuitive, and regular folks, who aren’t well-versed in the law, can be intimidated by the process. They often choose not to fight back against take down requests by rightsholders such as music labels, media companies, networks, etc. Google is sick and tired of YouTube content creators being unfairly targeted under the law so it wants to help out. The company wants a select few to fight back and is prepared to financially support their legal woes up to US $1 million.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Does our pact mean nothing to you? Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer asked her execs to take a pledge to stand by the struggling company for three to five years. It may not be working. Rob Barrett, Yahoo’s head of media strategy and operations, turned in his walking papers, making him the latest employee to dip out on the company.

What do you do when your daily deals company is on a financial decline? Pen a blog post comparing your company to a drug, of course. Andrew Mason, Co-founder and former CEO of Groupon, says “Groupon is powerful like morphine is powerful … If you use it too much, you’ll overdose and die. But take it in moderation and it can do wonders.” Interesting …

Google backed out of China five years ago after refusing to keep up with the country’s self-censorship policies. But, a lot can change in five years. China’s a pretty big market for Internet companies, and Google wants back in. The company plans to launch a country-specific version of Google Play in China.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is placing big bets on Nest – one of its acquisitions worth $3.2 billion. With devices and products such as “smart” thermometers and smoke detectors, Nest is the company’s way into the smart home market.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan will soon welcome their first child, a daughter. The Zuck is taking two months of paid paternity leave. We care because gender norms is a hot topic in the tech industry.

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