Friday October 5, 2018 –
Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.
72-year-old Fidelity bets on the future with blockchain, virtual reality and AI
Fidelity is experimenting with blockchain, AI, and virtual reality — and is benchmarking itself against digital natives like Nvidia instead of brokerage firms like Charles Schwab.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/28/fidelity-the-tech-company.html
Japanese banks to offer instant money transfers using blockchain
Japan is launching a domestic payments system based on blockchain technology offering customers free real-time money transfers via a new mobile app.
https://www.ft.com/content/1a632afc-c35d-11e8-95b1-d36dfef1b89a
Digital Banking Without (State) Borders As PNC Bank Goes National
PNC is expanding nationally leveraging digital banking and a new high-yield savings account available to new customers who reside beyond PNC’s traditional geography.
US Fed rethinks how to define a big bank
The Fed may change the criteria it uses to apply some of its capital and liquidity rules for the biggest banks.
https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/fed-rethinks-how-to-define-a-big-bank-20181002
Petal raises $34 million and launches credit card for people without credit scores
Petal has raised $34 million in a new round of funding and officially launches its sub-prime credit card to the public.
Apple adds student ID cards into Apple Wallet to access buildings, buy food and more
Apple is integrating university student ID cards into Wallet, its contactless payment system on the Apple Watch and the iPhone.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/02/apple-wallet-university/
OCBC rolls out real-time account opening for SMEs
OCBC Bank is extending its instant account opening service to SME’s, mining the Government’s national data repository MyInfo to offer on-the-spot account numbers and payment approval.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/32730/ocbc-rolls-out-real-time-account-opening-for-smes
TD Ameritrade and High-Speed Traders Back New Crypto Exchange
TD Ameritrade and Virtu Financial are backing an exchange, ErisX which plans to trade cryptocurrencies and related derivatives.
Visa and Postmates Deliver “Instant Deposits” to Postmates’ Fleet via Stripe Instant Payouts
Visa announced an agreement with Postmates to enable real-time funds disbursement to their entire fleet leveraging Stripe and Visa Direct.
https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.15881.html
Federal Reserve Floats Proposal to Modernize Its Payments System
The Fed has floated a proposal for a new “24/7/365” payment system would operate around-the-clock.
Jack Dorsey’s Square Rolls Out Lending for Customer Purchases
Square launches POS installment payments allowing consumers to buy on installments from its merchants.
Brex rakes in $125 mln Series C
Brex, a corporate card for startups, has raised $125 million in Series C funding to continue to fuel its expansion including a rewards program to be launched later this year.
https://www.pehub.com/2018/10/brex-rakes-in-125-mln-series-c/