Category Archives: mobile money

Back from Europe

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Sorry for the long quiet period. My youngest just graduated High School and as a WWII history buff, his gift was the Band of Brothers tour from Normandy to Salzberg. We came away with a new appreciation for the cost of freedom and the sacrifices made all of those in the armed forces.

European Payment Insights

Covid had put a long pause on my travel to Europe. In the 6 countries we visited I was pleasantly surprised at the broad acceptance of contactless and tap to pay. Beyond tapping with my iPhone, most restaurants first attempted to tap cards before a “dip”.  Contactless now comprises ~60% of POS transactions, a behavior 3-5 yrs more advanced than the US and certainly one of the drivers of card GDV growth in the EU. The V/MA position is Europe is perhaps stronger than in any other market, as any new scheme would also need to integrate seamlessly into this acceptance (and presentment) infrastructure.  

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Future of Retail Banking – Part 5

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This is the last of my 5 part blog series that started over 6 months ago. As a pragmatist, my views will likely be unpopular (and perhaps incorrect), but they are informed. Most of this blog will be obvious to US Retail Bankers and payment teams; the more interesting parts may be around Fintech and Asia. The exec summary captures the entire blog, it’s a new format.. I’m going to break down the detail of these points in separate posts. Today is Part A  

For quick reference, I’ve listed the links to the previous blogs. 

  1. Part 1 – US Payments Environment – Drivers of Change

  2. Part 2 – Power of Bank Networks

  3. Part 3 – Last Mile: Internet 2.5 – Embedding Financial Services

  4. Part 4 – Network Innovation – The Efficacy of V/MA

  5. Part 5 – Future of Retail/Commercial Banking … What Will Define Bank Success? 

The reason for this blog is to interact and challenge… please feel free to do so.

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Apple Launches Pay Later

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https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/03/apple-introduces-apple-pay-later/

Apple Pay Later was announced at Apple’s WWDC on June 6, 2022  (Youtube – ~21:00 in). I covered the details last year in Apple Pay Later – What is it? 

Today it is going live in a limited rollout. Summary points

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Banks Launch “Wallet” (again)

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Short Blog

Per the WSJ Article this AM, US banks have launched a new wallet (again). For frequent readers of my blog, very little new news. Also, I’m just wrapping up a 15-page part 4 “Innovation in Networks” that will be out very soon. 

Quick Summary

  • TCH Banks have been contemplating a mobile wallet and a new network for 13 yrs (I have over 20 blogs on topic, see overview here). 

  • Today we gain clarity that Banks gave up on their latest Authentify Wallet launch and jumped on board a “white label” SRC wallet led by Visa (See 23Jan2023 WSJ). I outlined this in my SRC blog (Sept 2022) and TCH RTP Update.  

  • Inital pitch for this wallet was not well received by big retailers at Money 2020. It entailed a liability shift if wallet was offered and all COF were tokenized (see blog)

  • The wallet is not owned by EWS, but a new payment network led by James Anderson. The ownership of this new network is the same at EWS (see blog ). Lets call this wallet EWS SRC to shorten the name. 

  • Competitor is Apple.. the banks want to own the mobile payment experience. Google is working with the TCH banks and is also working with FedNow (long blog coming on this one). It is likely that Apple is not involved in any of these activities, yet Google is working to pilot both FedNow and TCH RTP to leverage their India UPI success.

  • Now that the largest TCH banks have jumped on board SRC, the TCH RTP effort focus has shifted to commercial flows and bill payment.

  • i provided a detailed strategic discussion on the reasoning behind this move in Part 2 – The Power of Bank Networks.

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Part 1 – US Payments Environment

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Assessing the Environment and Setting the Focus  (part 2  – Power of Bank Networks)

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Must read FT article “How JPMC’s plan to kill credit cards split the bank”. The article discusses Jamie Dimon’s internal mandate to drive a new payment network. I was shocked with the level of internal org quotes here.  In my view, Jamie is the best bank CEOs in history (based on performance and talent coming out of JPMC). As a former banker, I know how hard it is to move the ship.  However, FT is wrong. Chase’s efforts ARE NOT about killing credit cards, but rather creating something much bigger.

This is a long blog..

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Apple Finance – ?Tipping Point?

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Bloomberg beat me to the punch with their great article last night on Apple Pay Later and Apple Finance LLC (must read). Well, I was certainly wrong about one big thing in my Project Breakout blog “Apple doesn’t want to be a bank”. Quite frankly I believe even Goldman Sachs was surprised by the scale of what Apple is building. Last night I outlined the key points:

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Apple Tap and Pay – Square and Why It is a Big Deal?

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6 June 2022

Square’s stock (aka Block) took a big jump after last week’s announcement that they would also be a partner in ApplePay’s new ability to accept payments. Today I thought I would cover what this will (likely) look like and 5 reasons why Apple Tap and Pay is a big deal. 

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PIX Brazil – Short Blog

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Brazil’s Central Bank is now recognized as the leading innovator. Both in PIX and CDBC launch this year.

Identifying new networks is a must for any investor. The growth rate of network businesses dwarf most other models as each node invests something in joining. Mobile has transformed the time for network effects to reach critical mass – moving from 20 yrs (think debit card and mobile phones) to months. When network effects take hold, Investors see opportunity in both the network core (owner) and the periphery. We also look at how new services will impact existing established players

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Apple Pay Fees (Short Blog)

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Thought I would give more detail on whats going on with V/MA, Issuers and Apple (from WSJ article yesterday Apple Pay Fees Vex Issuers). Perhaps I’ll collect a fee from the WSJ.. odd that I mention Apple Pay fees on Monday to have it come up in the WSJ on Tuesday. Oh well..

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