Most significant banks have a mobile app with features that allow individuals to conduct close to their entire banking life on their phones; keeping up with the operating systems from Apple and Google is a challenge for the banks; banks are not as nimble as fintech startups and so there is a lot more detailed of a process to go through when making technology updates; banks have learned that 80% of users update operating systems within the first month of a new release, which puts pressure on the banks to act quickly; talking to American Banker about staying current, Alice Milligan, the chief customer and digital experience officer of Citi's global cards business, said, "This requires us to stay at the cutting edge of device and operating system developments in the industry."; prioritizing what features are most important is key, not everything can get done quickly and this forces banks to make difficult choices; as more people use technology in their financial lives, banks and fintech companies will need to make sure they try to stay ahead of the curve. Source
How did competition between the top consumer debt contenders heat up over the long-awaited holiday shopping spree?
According to the WSJ, Goldman Sachs is in talks to offer financing on Apple products; this would be alternative to a consumer financing devices on a credit card; both companies didn’t comment on the story, but if a deal came together it could propel Goldman’s Marcus further into consumer finance. Source
Welcome back to the Fintech Blueprint / Rebank podcast series hosted by Will Beeson and Lex Sokolin. Max Friedrich is a fintech analyst a ARK Invest, a public markets investment manager focused on disruptive technologies including autonomous tech, robotics, fintech, genomics and next generation internet. Max recently published a report on digital wallets, including Venmo and Square’s Cash App, which is available for download on ARK’s website. In this conversation, we explain why Cash App has seen exponential growth.