A library of snippets
xxx
his led to a USD 23 billion (CNY 150 billion) ‘loss’ in potential transaction fees for China’s banks and UnionPay in 2015 as overall consumer spend continued to shift from traditional card payments where banks are strong, to online payments, where they are weak. This number is projected to increase to USD 61 billion (CNY 400 billion) by 2020.
From China: banks lost USD 22 bln to Alibaba and Tencent businesses in 2015 | The Paypers
xxx
xxx
Blockchain: a short-lived illusion or a real game changer? Experts discuss if, and how, blockchain can revolutionise payments
I’m going to sound sound really mean now, and I don’t mean to offend, but I want to make a serious point: what is the point of articles like this? They suffer from two fundamental flaws
They lack a basic model to facilitate communication between business strategists and technologyist
They lack an understandable narrative about the use of the new technology.
xxx
xxx
Depositors at some of the largest U.S. banks are finally going to get the chance to do something quick and simple: send money to another person’s account instantaneously by mobile phone.
The idea has been in the works for at least five years, and in the meantime, Silicon Valley has made incursions into the industry’s role as a payment intermediary. But now, big banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co and U.S. Bancorp are starting to plug into a system they jointly own, called clearXchange, that will allow each others’ customers to transfer money in a flash when they split a dinner check, rent payment or vacation bill.
“What we are doing now is delivering payments in real time, which is what our customers have asked for,” Mary Harman, managing director for payments at Bank of America, said in an interview. The bank is one of two that have started rolling out the system to customers.
While technology companies like PayPal Holdings and Facebook Inc already offer snazzy payment apps that appeal to young consumers, the banking industry has a crucial advantage because it controls how quickly money actually moves between bank accounts. Individuals transferred some $200 billion to one another using mobile phones and computers last year, according to Javelin Strategy & Research
From Big U.S. banks to take on tech rivals with instant payments | Reuters
xxx
xxx
rue, it is likely that a significant share – perhaps half – of dollars and euros circulates internationally. Some portion of this is surely abetting illegal activity and tax evasion. (In arresting Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Mexican drug lord, two months ago, authorities found a room containing more than $200m, and this was not a first.) Then again, dollars and euros, including large-denomination notes, are also used for legal purposes. Even so, there still appears to be a very large share circulating in domestic underground economies, estimated to be at least 7-8 per cent of gross domestic product for the USand considerably higher for Europe.
From Paper money is unfit for a world of high crime and low inflation – FT.com
xxx
xxx
The Wall Street Journal reports that lenders who had once been keen on the concept of using Facebook data to evaluate borrowers have soured on the idea, thanks to regulatory restrictions, and recent changes in the data that Facebook shares with third parties.
From Facebook Is Not The Great Predictor Of Creditworthiness It Was Hoped To Be – Consumerist
Interesting that the headline implies that Facebook is not a predictor of creditworthiness, but that’s not what the article says. The article says that lenders have been pegged back by regulators and cut off by Facebook. This suggests to me that Facebook data is at worst unproved as a predictor and persons of a more conspiratorial bent might conjecture that Facebook knows this, which is why it is cutting off the data flow until such time as it develops its own products or partnerships.
xxx
Poland’s mBank has withdrawn the facility for customers to add mobile versions of their debit cards to the NFC payments services offered by mobile network operators T-Mobile and Orange. Instead, the bank has told NFC World, it will focus on supporting bank-backed mobile payments service Blik and the launch of its own host card emulation (HCE) based service later this year.
From mBank cancels NFC SIM deals in favour of HCE and bank-backed Blik mobile payments • NFC World+
xxx
xxx
A distributed and irreversible system for trust management, which stores personal data, could offer a hotbed for doxing and identity theft – and even undermine an individual’s right to be forgotten.
Indeed it could, which is why it should not store personal data.
xxx
If all a CBDC did was to substitute for cash – if it bore no interest and came without any of the extra services we get with bank accounts – people would proba bly still want to keep most of their money in commercial banks
xxx
xxx
The deal will incorporate Chase Pay into the Starbucks mobile app for payments at more than 7,500 Starbucks locations, starting in the fall. Starbucks’ mobile app, which is largely developed and maintained in-house, is used for over 10% of its U.S. in-store sales.
From Chase Pay Deal with Starbucks Strengthens the Bank s Mobile Muscle | PaymentsSource
Integrating a new payment mechanism into physical stores is a hassle. POS systems need upgrading, staff need training, deals need making. But adding a new payment mechanism into a retailer’s app is, by comparison, trivial.
xxx
In effect, he offers an elegant refinement of the concept of “narrow banking”, which seeks to ensure that all deposits are covered by safe, liquid assets.
From Uncertainty principles: ‘The End of Alchemy’, by Mervyn King – FT.com
xxx
Snippings