The Week in Review

Friday April 20, 2018 –

Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.

Bank of America earnings: 62 cents per share, vs 59 cents expected

Bank of America earns $23.1 billion in Q1.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/16/bank-of-america-q1-earnings-2018.html

Mastercard Patents Blockchain Tech To Combat Fake Identities

Mastercard has filed a patent for a Blockchain system to store and verify identity data.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/mastercard-patents-blockchain-tech-to-combat-fake-identities

Barclays Bank sets up tech venture unit

Barclays Bank has launched a new venture unit to invest in and partner with tech companies in a drive to find new opportunities for growth and innovation.

https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/31952/barclays-bank-sets-up-tech-venture-unit

Inter-American Development Bank Publishes Report on Fintech Sandboxes

The Inter-American Development Bank recommends a regional sandbox for Latin America.

Start-up TransferWise breaks into Britain’s faster payments scheme

TransferWise has become the first non-bank company with direct access to Britain’s Faster Payments Scheme.

 https://in.reuters.com/article/transferwise-britain/start-up-transferwise-breaks-into-britains-faster-payments-scheme-idINL8N1RU4OL

Visa to launch its direct payments product in Ireland in June

Visa is set to launch its direct payments product in Ireland in June, offering real-time payments to customers through its global systems.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/visa-to-launch-its-direct-payments-product-in-ireland-in-june-1.3465920

iZettle expands from mobile payments into e-commerce and online sales for SMBs

iZettle is expanding services for SMBs with an e-commerce platform launching first in the UK and Sweden.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/18/izettle-expands-from-mobile-payments-into-e-commerce-and-online-sales-for-smbs/

American Express earnings beats: $1.86 per share, vs $1.71 per share expected

Amex earned $9.7 billion in Q1 revenue.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/american-express-earnings-q1-2018.html

Wells Fargo fined $1 billion for insurance and mortgage abuses

The OCC and the CFPB fined Wells Fargo $1 billion.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/20/news/companies/wells-fargo-regulators-auto-lending-fine/index.html

Shiny New Button May Help Visa, Mastercard and AmEx Fight PayPal

Visa / Mastercard to team up to simplify the e-commerce checkout experience.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-20/shiny-new-button-may-help-visa-mastercard-and-amex-fight-paypal

Selling to America: the radical makeover of Goldman Sachs

Goldman making strong push into consumer banking.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/selling-to-america-the-radical-makeover-of-goldman-sachs.html