Snippings

 

For instance, a recent Bankrate survey demonstrates that monthly service fees for banks range from $5 to $15. On top of that, banks routinely earn between $4 and $5 every time a customer withdraws money from an ATM or utilizes a service such as obtaining a cashier’s check. Finally, uncertainty in the form of unexpected bills can lead to bank accounts being overdrawn, resulting in additional overdraft fees.

The collective impact of all these fees is that about one in every five people in the U.S. has little or no connection either to banks or to financial institutions more generally.

From: The human cost of cashless transactions – Rochester BeaconRochester Beacon.

This is why I continue to propagate my slogan “unbanked is not the problem and banks are not the solution”.

A great many people do not need a bank account, they need a payment account. Or, to put it another way, they need a digtial wallet that they can send money from and receive money to.

xxx

A lawyer in Canada is under fire after the artificial intelligence chatbot use she used for legal research created “fictitious” cases, in the latest episode to expose the perils of using untested technologies in the courtroom.

The Vancouver lawyer Chong Ke, who now faces an investigation into her conduct, allegedly used ChatGPT to develop legal submissions during a child custody case at the British Columbia supreme court.

From: Canada lawyer under fire for submitting fake cases created by AI chatbot | Canada | The Guardian.

xxx

The CEO of Japan’s biggest recruitment agency Recruit Holdings (which acquired Indeed in 2012) says that artificial intelligence (AI) will resolve the country’s labour shortages, but has warned that its usefulness will be limited “until people gain more trust” in the technology. He may be right, but I wonder if most people really care whether they are being served by a person or by a robot?

The world of fintech sat up and paid attention when the Swedish giant Klarna accounced that their AI assistant that is now handling a workload equivalent to 700 full-time staff members. Their CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has long been enthusiastic about AI and said in December that “We’re not currently hiring at all, apart from engineers”.

Is AI 

The AI boost for software companies has begun to wane. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) — comprised of many of the major enterprise software players — which generative AI excitement push up almost two-thirds has gained only 4.7% this year vs. the Nasdaq composite index’s 7% advance. 

(By contrast the chipmakers, the people selling the shovels for the goldrush, are still on a tear. The PHLX Semiconductor Sector index is up 18% so far this year.)

So perhaps AI isn’t going to replace you right away.

xxx

An AI bot could act as your intern.
One reason chatbots like the one Holding used might not take over tons of jobs right away is there are limits to what AI can do — for now. Generative AI tools often still require oversight, much like an inexperienced worker might.

From: How AI Is Tackling Jobs Humans Don’t Have Time for.

xxx

xxx

Countries with the highest rates of automation and robotics, such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea, have the least unemployment.

From: Your job is (probably) safe from artificial intelligence.

xxx

During an excellent fireside chat about the future of payments at Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok, Farhan Ahmad (the CEO of PayNet) made many very interesting points, paticularly around the need for a strategic framework for dealing the coming change to bots, rather than people, as customers. Financial services organisations of all kinds have many, many years experience in selling to people. But how do you sell to a bot? I think this might be a good idea for a book…

Farhan also said that if you are trying to develop strategies for the longer term, then ”don’t ask consultants about the future, ask science fiction writers or historians”. I could not agree more, which is why I enjoyed taking part in the creation of the Cybersalon collection “All Tomorrow’s Futures”, an anthology of future fiction  recently launched in the universe and a metaverse at the British Science Fiction Convention.

Who should be turn to for a longer term view then? Well, the renowned science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke (the man who predicted communication satellites) said in a 1964 interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation commented that “Men will no longer commute, they will communicate”) and once commented that “The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play”. I have to say that I find this an admirable manifesto for change. Provided that society finds a way to distribute the benefits of turbocharged productivity, I’m all in favour of turning Japanese. 

xxx

Mastercard will provide participating US issuers free access to its Account Owner Verification, Account Detail Verification and Account Balance Check technology.

Issuers can use this to support digital account opening of Mastercard-branded consumer and small business debit and general-purpose reloadable consumer prepaid products.

From: Mastercard offers issuers open banking-based account opening.

xxx

xxx

It could also be that the platform turnover comes in some form we can’t yet fully describe from AI-based characters in some new entertainment ecosystem. The case of @lilmiquela, the venture-backed virtual character on instagram with 1.5 million followers, is the writing on the wall that just as influencers over time will become more engaging fictional characters, fictional characters also will invade our real-world landscapes with a vengeance.

From: What Will Happen to the Social Wealth of Instagram Influencers as They Age? — The Information.

xxx

xxx

An unknown party has automated a process that forks legitimate repositories, meaning the source code is copied so developers can use it in an independent project that builds on the original one. The result is millions of forks with names identical to the original one that add a payload that’s wrapped under seven layers of obfuscation. To make matters worse, some people, unaware of the malice of these imitators, are forking the forks, which adds to the flood.

From: GitHub besieged by millions of malicious repositories in ongoing attack | Ars Technica.

xxx

xxx

The challenge for authorities is to develop a more compelling customer proposition for a CBDC. Their primary argument for one, framed around hypothetical monetary fragmentation and the vague promise of future payment innovations, are too abstract to persuade the public of its utility. Instead, authorities should highlight four key consumer benefits from a CBDC and reflect these in its design. First, a CBDC could give consumers greater choice by providing a digital means for making payments with fewer conditionalities. A CBDC would guarantee universal access to digital payment systems for people in an increasingly cashless economy, regardless of their credit history or political beliefs, and without imposing minimum balance or usage requirements.

From: Britcoin needs a bolder vision.

xxx

xxx

Jack Dorsey told equity analysts on a call to discuss Block’s quarterly earnings.

From: Block’s Dorsey: Cash App Is Your New Bank, And Square May Enlist ISOs – Digital Transactions.

xxx

xxx

As for Block’s other division, Cash App, the company is moving to position the mobile wallet as a substitute for “your bank,” Dorsey said. The foundation of this strategy, he added, is trust. “We want people to see Cash App as something they can trust with the full deposit of their paycheck,” Dorsey said. The app has reached 2 million active paycheck depositors so far, noted chief financial officer Amrita Ahuja on the call. The app claims 3 million active users overall as of December, up fully 50% from September, and $2.5 billion in gross payment volume.

From: Block’s Dorsey: Cash App Is Your New Bank, And Square May Enlist ISOs – Digital Transactions.

xxx

The plan hinges on expanding features within Block’s Cash App and the Cash App Card to close the distance between its own offerings and those of a bank. Block plans to add mobile check deposit, bill payment and wire transfers, Dorsey said in a shareholder’s letter also released Thursday.

 

Cash App already offers a Visa debit card, two-days-early direct deposit, cash deposits, instant discounts on debit spending and an FDIC-insured savings account with no minimum balance and free overdraft insurance. Cash App also offers short-term credit through Borrow, as well as stocks and bitcoin services. Its banking services are supported by Sutton Bank and Lincoln Savings Bank.

xxx

Preferred Payment Methods for In-Store Purchases
39% prefer swiped/chip card
24% prefer contactless card
19% prefer cash
7% prefer mobile wallet

From: Top 4 Preferred Payment Methods for In-Store Purchases – PaymentsJournal.

xxx

Meanwhile, in the UK, virtually no-one pays any other way than contactless, whether phone or card.

xxx

Narrative #3: Blockchains can empower AI bots with money — and that’s a good thing

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, has noted that bots are already performing transactions using cryptocurrency and tweeted that “AI and Blockchains are made for each other.” This is true in the sense that cryptocurrency is a good match for the capabilities of AI agents. But it’s also worrisome.

From: What can blockchain do for AI? Not what you’ve heard. – Blockworks.

xxx