Snippings

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Jack Gavigan is the head of product and regulatory affairs at the Electric Coin Co, where he has been developing Z/Cash as a new crypto currency. He defines himself as a ‘fintechnologist focussed on virtual currencies and blockchain technology’. He is a former trader, who also worked with Mark at Starling.

From Bitcoin: Digital gold? Or just another bubble? – CSFI – YouTube:

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Eric Budish is the Steven Rothmeier Professor of Economics at Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a research associate at the NBER. He is also co-director of the University’s Initiative on Global Markets, and recently presented an important paper on Bitcoin and blockchain at the Atlanta Fed.

From Bitcoin: Digital gold? Or just another bubble? – CSFI – YouTube:

Look for changes in the use of Bitcoin, not the price of Bitcoin.

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Mark Hipperson is the CEO of Ziglu, which has recently obtained a banking license, and which offers retail customers the opportunity to trade Bitcoin at competitive rates. He is a former CTO at Starling Bank and at Centrip, and spent 11 years at Barclays on the technology side.

From Bitcoin: Digital gold? Or just another bubble? – CSFI – YouTube:

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Bank of Amsterdam

Payments and credit jumbled up

Payment instituion

OCC payment charter

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In contrast to Lynch, Republican ranking member Congressman Tom Emmer offered support for the OCC payment charter, saying it is “by no means a license to operate free from regulation”.

From US politicians weigh response to OCC payments charters:

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The McKinsey/HBR study surveyed 46,000 customers over one year and found that only seven percent used online channels exclusively for shopping; equally, only 20 percent of customers restricted their shopping to physical stores. The remaining three-quarters (73 percent) used a blend of online and physical experiences to inform their purchases and buy goods and services.

From Omnichannel: Is it the saviour of traditional retailing?:

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GLEIF (Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation) has introduced a new LEI ‘Validation Agent’ framework, which will enable FIs to simplify and accelerate LEI (legal identity identifier) issuance for their clients.

From GLEIF Defines New Framework to Simplify, Accelerate LEI Issuance:

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The European Commission is considering proposing a law to start phasing out the small 1 and 2 Eurocent coins, and round prices off to the nearest 5 cents.

From EU considers phasing out 1 and 2 cent coins:

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Hot on the heels of its new transaction management services plan, Swift is trying out a new service for low value cross-border payments.

The idea is to get more action from the consumer and SME market. Swift explains that it is working with over 20 banks to develop the service, which builds on gpi (global payments innovation) and its rails. Gpi is built as a suite of cloud-based tools, and lets users track payments, monitor adherence to SLAs, and consult information related to gpi member bank counterparties.

David Watson, Chief Strategy Officer at Swift, reckons this new initiative will have “widespread adoption”.

Swift shakes things up with transaction services strategy
In terms of details, consumers and SMEs will get “predictable” payments, with costs and processing times known upfront, and real-time status available to both originator and beneficiary customers via their financial institutions.

Last week, the first payments through the new service were exchanged between banks who are helping to develop it. These include Bank of China, Barclays, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, KEB Hana Bank, MYbank, National Australia Bank, SMBC, Standard Bank, StoneX, UniCredit and Wells Fargo.

From Swift pilots low value cross-border payments service – Fintech Direct:

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Consumers Are Favoring a Single Card:

As consumer interest in credit cards has been in decline, debit cards are the likely destination.
Interestingly, consumer flight from credit began in 2018-2019 resulting in increased debit, cash, and prepaid usage.
Not only are consumers switching payment methods: consumers are consolidating to a single preferred payment method.
The battle is on for top-of-wallet: now credit cards have to compete with fellow credit rewards programs and debit cards in general.

From Consumers Are Favoring a Single Card: | PaymentsJournal:

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While financial institutions are unlikely to reverse course, other sectors can help LMI consumers by funding financial counseling as an employee benefit, social services can offer the human element through trained financial counselors, and even the Fintech market can partner with financial counseling programs to offer a hybrid of financial products and counseling (think either of Financial Counselor “cyborgs” out in the field, equipped with tablets from financial institutions, or Fintech solutions that incorporate a human to walk people through the function and utility of new technology).

From (6) The Human Element in Fintech (or “the Case for Cyborg Financial Counselors”​) | LinkedIn:

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In contrast to Lynch, Republican ranking member Congressman Tom Emmer offered support for the OCC payment charter, saying it is “by no means a license to operate free from regulation”.

From US politicians weigh response to OCC payments charters:

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In contrast to Lynch, Republican ranking member Congressman Tom Emmer offered support for the OCC payment charter, saying it is “by no means a license to operate free from regulation”.

From US politicians weigh response to OCC payments charters:

Regulating organisation by what they are is indeed a 19th century prescription.

We should regulate companies by what they do.

Payment institution

US Payment Institution charter.