Snippings

xxx

A year after closing its acquisition of Afterpay, Block (formerly Square) is seeing traction in its buy now, pay later (BNPL) business.

And the Cash App mobile wallet, management said on the conference call with analysts, is helping cement Square’s ecosystem across payments and banking.

BNPL contributed $132 million in revenues in the quarter, according to company materials, where the company reported $4.7 billion in sales. Excluding bitcoin revenue, revenue in the fourth quarter was $2.8 billion, up 33% year over year (YoY). In the fourth quarter of 2022, Square gross payments volume (GPV) was $48.6 billion, up 16% YoY on a constant currency basis.

From Savings Feature Helps Grow Block’s Customer Base | PYMNTS.com:

xxx

xxx

The digital currency, which is backed by traditional fiat cash such as the US dollar or British pound, can bolster financial inclusion because customers don’t have to have a bank account to hold them; they can instead use encrypted “digital wallets” that exist in the cloud, on a desktop or laptop, or even on USB storage device.

From Government-backed digital money to represent $213B in payments by 2030 | Computerworld:

xxx

xxx

Two consumer groups, AGE (“the voice of older persons at EU level”) and BEUC (“the European Consumer Organisation”), have voiced concerns about financial inclusion not being given sufficient consideration in developing the digital euro. AGE is worried that financial inclusion is an afterthought in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) design. BEUC is concerned that using the same intermediaries, such as banks, is unlikely to achieve better financial inclusion outcomes. Part of the issue is a focus on smartphone usage.

AGE and BEUC expressed their opinions as members of the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB).

From Digital euro: Consumer groups say financial inclusion given low priority – Ledger Insights – blockchain for enterprise:

xxx

x

Financial inclusion is a commonly cited motive for CBDCs, though the Bank is somewhat circumspect about this. It makes the sensible point that the financially excluded are likely also to be digitally excluded, making the design of digital wallets to address that group difficult. It also implies that financial inclusion is the government’s job, not the Bank’s

From CBDC: Bank of England offers support for private sector it doesn’t trust – OMFIF:

xxx

xxx

To minimize the risk of theft or loss, an offline CBDC may require secure hardware with controls to guard against unauthorized tampering, as well as a user-specific personal identification number (PIN), password or biometric authentication stored on the device itself.

From A central bank digital currency for offline payments – Bank of Canada:

xxx

xxx

CitiGroup, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have restricted employees’ use of ChatGPT, Bloomberg and Financial News reported Friday, joining JPMorgan Chase, as well as Amazon and multiple major public school districts to limit the use of OpenAI’s new chatbot, which has taken the internet by storm and raised concerns about sensitive information sharing.

From Workers’ ChatGPT Use Restricted At More Banks—Including Goldman, Citigroup:

xxx

xxx

Wall Street is clamping down on ChatGPT as a slew of global investment banks impose restrictions on the fast-growing technology that generates text in response to a short prompt.

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among lenders that have

From Wall Street Banks Are Cracking Down on AI-Powered ChatGPT – Bloomberg:

xxx

xxx

Over 66% of Americans expect to have a Digital Identity Wallet by 2023, and 54% of consumers in all age groups prefer to use a Digital Wallet issued by a bank. Ease of use and loyalty options within preferred stores have emerged as the primary value-added features customers expect to see in their Digital Identity Wallets.

From 66% of Americans expect to have a Digital Identity Wallet by 2023 – Tearsheet:

xxx

xxx

The internet, cryptocurrencies, user-friendly trading platforms, and a pandemic-induced glut of spare time have gelled into a perfect storm that has redesigned retail trading as something that feels more like a game, and has transformed social-media friendly investors into quasi-influencers.

From Is it an investment? Is it a game? No, it’s eToro | WIRED UK:

xxx

Hogwarts Legacy just grossed $850M in its first two weeks. Biggest launch ever for Warner Bros Games.  

 

By comparison, Warner Bros’s biggest *movie* ever, the last Harry Potter movie, brought in $295M in its first two weeks.

xxx

Regulators have told major Chinese tech companies not to offer ChatGPT services to the public amid growing alarm in Beijing over the AI-powered chatbot’s uncensored replies to user queries.

From China tells big tech companies not to offer ChatGPT services – Nikkei Asia:

xxx

xxx

Two-thirds of the cars stolen in 2021 were Kias or Hyundais, despite the two companies accounting for just 7% of all cars owned in America.

From The Kia Boy Crime Wave – by Nick Russo – Pirate Wires:

xxx