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…

4.15.2016

Good to Know: Reminder, if you haven’t gotten your U.S. taxes done, you’ve got until Apr. 18th. tax, Run

THE SKINNY

When You Swear It’s Déjà Vu …

Now that the Apple v. U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) court battle has died down, Microsoft’s got next.

When You’re Like Hold Up! Run That Back …

The company wants to give you a heads up when the U.S. government is getting all up in your online biz. But, the government allegedly won’t let Microsoft put you on notice so the company’s fired shots with the lawsuit it filed earlier this week.

When You Need The Details …

Microsoft’s argument comes down to the information you store in the “cloud.” For years, tech companies and privacy advocates have been calling out the U.S. government for using an old-school law (Electronic Communications Privacy Act aka ECPA) to gain access to people’s personal information stored in the cloud. They want the law changed.

When You’re Like, But How?

Well, look at it this way. If the government wanted access to information you’re keeping in your house or mailbox, it would need a search warrant under the 4^th Amendment. But, when it comes to your online stuff, less is required of the government to gain access.

When Things Are Backwards …

Even though it makes a ton of sense to change the law, not much has happened (sigh, politics). The latest development is that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved its version of an amended bill to keep up with the times. #SmallVictories

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Try Take Over The World …

Mark Zuckerberg is legit on ‘Pinky and the Brain’ status. This week, Facebook put on F8, its annual developer conference. Per usual, FB’s got a lot on its “to do” list. The Zuck kicked things off by not missing a chance to throw shade at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Then, he kept the zingers coming (in a good way) by unveiling his company’s 10-year plan. Basically, it comes down to chat bots, virtual reality, and sponsored messages (in case you were wondering why you may have gotten a FB message from Lyft). Looks like FB Messenger is going to be kind of a big deal. We’re talking potentially being able to use Messenger to interact directly with businesses to meet our needs (i.e., pizza).

Baby Steps …

While Facebook’s on that world domination tip, Google’s taking a local approach. According to reports, Google – now known as Alphabet – is using one of its subsidiaries called Sidewalk Labs to build out a “digital district.” The company’s allegedly got big name consultants and urbanists on its team to “create an area in the U.S. that serves as a testbed for new technologies from super fast Internet to autonomous cars.”

QUICK POLL – RUN THOSE NUMBERS …

In honor of Equal Pay Day this past Wednesday (Apr. 13), Facebook and Microsoft said they’re progressive because they basically pay men and women equally for the same job (for every $1 a man makes, a woman makes 99.8 cents). Not quite equal pay, and the gender pay gap is still a major problem.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Twitter has its work cut out for it. It’s been on a take-down rampage of tweets and accounts related to terrorism. But, a good thing has turned into a never ending battle. As soon as Twitter takes a tweet or account down, similar ones pop right back up. Enemy #1 is Abu al-Walid. He’s now on his 464^th Twitter account. Oy …

While we’re on Twitter, can we talk about the Jack Dorsey- Azealia Banks connection? Let’s get into it. In 2015, Banks sent out tweets to promote Square Cash, the Venmo-like feature of Dorsey’s other company Square. Banks said she only did it because Dorsey promised to promote her mixed tape in return. He didn’t. She claims that he instead sent her his hair samples to “make him an amulet for protection.” Ok so, two things: (1) What TF is really going on? And (2) Watch your back, Jack. Yikes!

“Please silence your phones.” We’ve all heard that gentle reminder to not be that annoying person on their phones in the middle of a movie. Turns out AMC Theaters is admitting defeat. The CEO gets that millennials can’t part with their phones for too long so they want to make it acceptable for people to text and watch at their theaters. #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmmm …

Amazon’s trying to get knee-deep in the fashion world so it’s looking to buy up startups like Everlane, Le Tote, Rent The Runway, ThirdLove and PreeLine.

Old things are becoming new again. While the 90s are coming back with a vengeance, so are vinyl records. Startup ReplyYes wants to help you get your hands on the right vinyl records with its daily text recommendations.

Drone racing. Coming to ESPN in August 2016.