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  • user 4:54 pm on May 8, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , banks, , , , ,   

    Making Bank as a Platform (BaaP) a reality 

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    This is the second post of a two post series I co-authored with David Brear. Both posts appeared originally on The Financial Brand thanks to Jim Marous.

    You can read the first post here.

    All up to speed? Excellent. As you will already know from Part 1, as a #Platform has never really taken off for various reasons. Traditional approaches and business models are easy as the #banks had full control. Financial services industry incumbents created products, pushed them out and sold them to their customers. Value was produced upstream by the banks and consumed downstream by the customers.

    Unlike traditional models, platforms do not just create and push products out. They allow users to create and consume value. At the #technology layer, external developers can extend platform functionality using APIs. At the business layer, users (producers) can create value on the platform for others to consume.

    This is a massive shift from any form of financial services business that we have ever known. A platform play within financial services is different from traditional business thinking. Creation of network effects is more important than simply bringing in users or charging all users to make money.

    In this model, for financial services, software and technology are not the only end products. Instead, they simply serve as the underlying infrastructure that enables users to interact with each other. Most importantly, the business itself doesn’t create all the value.

    We believe that this is the future of financial services business models and will outline how we think this can be pulled off.

    7 Layers of #BaaP

    We recommend the book Platform Leadership by Annabelle Gawer and Michael A. Cusumanoto to those who want to explore further what platform strategies are. We are borrowing from this book somewhat, especially from the authors’ four levers of platform leadership which we have expanded upon to create the “7 layers of BaaP”.

    • Scope of the firm
    • Product
    • Service
    • IP/Data
    • Technology
    • Relations with Partners
    • Internal HR Organization

    How do financial services industry incumbents fair?

    Against this model it is clear that a platform play would not be successful within the banks with their current setups and mindsets as they have not developed the ability, nor the sophistication, to pull it off.

    Screen Shot 2016-04-03 at 7.31.49 AM

    What would a #Bank BaaP look like?

    But across these platform levers what could a bank BaaP be and how could it operate?

    Screen Shot 2016-04-03 at 7.33.49 AM

    Ultimately there will be different platform answers for different banks or insurers given their direction and make up. What is clear though is that being a platform is different from partnering or merely becoming a “digital” incumbent.

    6 key questions to enable banks for BaaP

    1) What is the focus of your company? – If the core of your business used to be articulated around intermediating between deposit taking and extending credit then what will the new core be around? Is this going to continue to be a store of money or will it be around something else?

    This something else could be identity or the data of customers but if not identity and data then what else is of value that you could focus around?

    Answering this first question will make it easier to choose a clear strategy for customer centered products based around it. In addition, answering this question may lead a bank or an insurance company to make an acquisition should the part of the core identified not currently reside within its skills set.

    For example, we would venture to say that a bank may want to purchase an identity management platform &8211; consensus computer based &8211; and an insurer may want to purchase a cybersecurity consultancy or service provider.

    2) How are you going to attract partners to your BaaP? &8211; Once the core and product/service decisions have been made, what partners you choose and how you plan to attract them to the platform will be of paramount importance.

    We would characterize this decision across a continuum, from complementary collaborative to competitive partners, and as changing over time based on the needs and demands of the business.

    Other industries who have seen success in these strategies have done so through very inclusive practices around the platform. Excluding competitive partners reduces the overarching capability that would be held in the platform and changes the dynamic of the BaaP owner responsibility.

    3) How are you going to rethink your architecture to support this new direction? &8211; The technology architecture needed to support a platform strategy is radically different than the current ones implemented into most banking organizations.

    This maybe the most difficult lever to re-engineer, given the level of legacy debt in play, but it is one of the most needed. A holistic technology architecture where silos are broken down, open source and open standards are used judiciously, and where APIs are used widely is a must to include partners and interact with them, and to exchange or analyze the right information at the right time within the right situation. Most stakeholders know this, few have the right answer, including most incumbent software service providers. This will change though.

    4) How are you going to protect your BaaP? If you think cybersecurity was top of mind for FinServ incumbents, then it will be ever more crucial with #FinTech incumbents and their platform businesses and partners. It is an implicit statement and a crucial one. The only platforms in the financial services industry, that is Visa or MasterCard and their eco-systems, warrant cybersecurity, fraud and data breaches daily.

    5) Do you understand what new business architecture is required for your BaaP? – The business architecture is significantly more important to the long term success of any BaaP play than its technology equivalent.

    Financial services industry incumbents will need to become governance nerds and fast. Will decisions taken between the incumbents in the platform eco-system be consensus-based, top down, a hybrid? How will differences of opinion be reconciled, how will conflict be resolved? This will depend in part on the incumbent internal DNA as well as the types of partners chosen, i.e. collaborate or competitive ones.

    6) HR needs be rethought &8211; which resources are needed for the core and which for the platform? &8211; Internal human resources will need to be rethought. The obvious rethink will develop along the lines of which resources are needed for the core and which for the platform. It will also develop along the lines of which disciplines will resources need to acquire and apply to their businesses. By this we do not mean traditional intra-disciplinary business skills pairs such as marketing and financial engineering, business development and strategy, trading and sales. Rather, I mean legal and coding, trading and data analysis, strategy and information systems management where non-financial services skills are added to the traditional mix.

    No platform Vs. Absolute Platform

    If we plot these paradigm shifts across these vectors, where the Financial services industry incumbents will have to move the dial from left (current status) to right (absolute platform status), the decisions for each vector become clear. I view these as meta vectors that can apply to front end, middleware, backend processes, people, products and services alike.

    Screen Shot 2016-04-03 at 7.40.56 AM

    BaaP on the horizon

    Its clear from our research that BaaP in Banks is possible but will take a huge amount of change to take place.

    Examples of BaaP thinking is starting to emerge in Europe particularly taking advantage of favorable regulatory frameworks and market opportunities.

    solarisBank

    FinLeap’s, the Berlin FinTech startup factory, investment to create Solaris Bank as a BaaP offering opportunities to FinTech companies to take their services to market via an organization who is fully licensed to do so as a digital bank.

    Solaris Bank has been born out of the need of FinLeap to gain traction with some of their own startups who have failed to gain the umbrella of someone with a license.

    Solaris Bank is looking to offer a full range of transactional services, compliance, capital financing and loans through a range of FinTechs. These are aggregated into one uniformed service to the customer.  It remains to be seen how their platform strategy will flesh out and which core services they will focus on and which ones they will partner for.

    The Open Payments Ecosystem

    The Open Payments Ecosystem (OPE) has been established by Ixaris with European Commission funding.

    The  purpose of OPE is twofold:

    • To make it easier for developers to build payment apps for banks by embracing Open APIs in a pre and post PSDII world.
    • To make it easier for banks to safely access new payment technologies by providing resources like curated app marketplaces.

    The project features six “sub-systems,” each representing a different stage in the life cycle of payment services.

    • A developer environment for payments app development and testing.
    • A payments application store.
    • A secure execution environment that prevents the original developer from accessing live customer data.
    • A compliance system for the life cycle of the app.
    • The ability to add additional service offerings for payment service providers
    • A comprehensive data warehouse for business intelligence

    While not fully a BaaP construct the OPE programme will offer, within the confinds of payments, all of the needed attributes to change how payments services are constructed and how people within the platform are remunerated. In its current guise, the OPE programme is the closest to the iTunes development platform model within banking that we have.

    Mondo Bank

    While most know Mondo Bank for their Alpha and Beta programme, and selling out of a million pound of stock in 96 seconds, they also made no secret of their longer term intensions to become a marketplace. We would define a marketplace strategy as a sub-set of a platform strategy and are, similar with solarisBank, intrigued by how Mondo’s thinking will develop.

    While their focus has been on creating a unique current account for the UK market they see the integration with innovative financial services and technology providers is an obvious step to giving customers control over their money. Instead of thinking that they “own the customer”, as most banks globally do, Mondo intend to give users the power to choose, based on price, convenience and customer-service from a range of services and products that are not created by them.

    Tandem

    Tandem is the second startup digital bank to have been granted a full license from UK regulators. Although more bank than marketplace, Tandem is focused on customer service as opposed to product offerings. As such this approach forces them to partner with best of breed offerings &8211; not part of their core offering – and integrate such offerings to their platform for their own users’ benefits. Tandem does not give the power to choose, rather it curates best of breed offerings, and delivers a platform experience to its users.

     

    It’s clear that there is a huge amount of benefit to be had for banks to become the platforms for banking in the future.

    Building a marketplace does not mean one has built a platform strategy. Ceding control of the old core, i.e. access to checking accounts, without developing a new strategic core will spell doom for those who trend those places.

    These new BaaP partners will not only be found within the scores of FinTech startup disruptors but, also outside of the traditional financial services universe such as technology incumbents, social networks, e-commerce giants.

    Building a platform strategy without understanding that some control will be lost to or shared with partners will not be effective. Only looking within human resources will make it more difficult execute a platform strategy.

    Tech companies such as Amazon, Facebook or Alibaba are already executing from a mature and growing platform. They do not have the benefit &8211; or for some the curse &8211; of being regulated, licensed and able to handle money. Still they are formidable competitors that want to &8220;own&8221; their customers in depth and breadth, and this means a customer&8217;s money, not only a customer&8217;s spending.

    Banks who dither and miss the opportunity to reinvent oneself as a platform will find themselves on the wrong side of societal trends. Similarly, regulation and regulators will need to adapt and be educated in the intricacies of platform strategies.

    Rather than view this as an impediment we believe this might be a great advantage. Financial services industry incumbents with aspirations to become truly digital players already have a strong and long-standing relationship with the regulators as well as a large number of suppliers who could become partners.

    While Mondo, Solaris and OPE have fantastic ambitions who better than the existing banks with all of their investment, employees and existing customers to take the lead, educate and ease the transformation towards the future and BaaP?

     

    FiniCulture

     

  • user 4:54 pm on May 7, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: banks, , , , , Swan   

    Black Swan Events and Fintech 

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    If you have not read The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, I recommend you do post haste. For a brief description of #Black #Swan Theory without reading the book, see here.

    Taleb makes a distinction between two types of Black Swan #events: a) “…those that are present in the current discourse&8230;” and b) &8220;&8230;those nobody talks about, since they escape models&8230;&8221;  He goes on to state that, due to natural human behaviors, the incidence of the first type of Black Swan event may end up being overestimated while the incidence of the second type of Black Swan event is usually underestimated. Further, needless to say that whatever the type, Black Swans are notoriously difficult for human beings to identify and analyze correctly. Our brains are so hardwired to focus on the immediate past or future that we naturally occlude data residing in the long tails.

    Re-reading Taleb’s work recently got me to ask myself several questions. Which are the Black Swan events already well documented in the #fintech/finserv ecosystem? Which are the ones few talk about that one systematically underrated? I include both Black Swans that can be directly linked to fintech and those that would have an indirect influence on fintech to my musings.

     I can think of the following Black Swan events of the first type that are overestimated:

    – Fintech startups will fundamentally disrupt finserv incumbents

    &8211; #Bitcoin will revolutionize the financial services industry.

    &8211; Bitcoin will eliminate the need for financial institutions as intermediary agents.

    &8211; The Uberization of Financial Services has arrived.

    &8211; New technologies will disrupt financial services

    &8211; Roboadvisors are the future of wealth management

    &8211; Crowdfunding/Crowdlending is the future for financing individuals/companies

    &8211; Regulatory rules (Basel IV or others) become even more draconian and are applied as is, further hampering the finserv industry by reducing profitability, adversely impacting liquidity and increasing volatility.

    Are there any other Black Swan events every one is talking about in fintech/finserv?

    What about Black Swan events that few people are talking about, i.e. those that are underestimated. Does the threat of GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) and Ali Baba competing against financial services incumbents fall in that second category? The narrative most mined at all fintech conferences I attend seems to revolve around &8220;fintech startups vs finserv incumbents&8221; where the questions asked are should there be competition or cooperation and who will be the ultimate winner. Seldom do I hear about potential GAFA threats although I know savvy bankers and insurers take the threat seriously. Does this mean this Black Swan threat is underestimated as it does not fit most participants&8217; models?

    Here are other Black Swan events I think may be underestimated in the industry:

    &8211; Any action from central #banks that would eliminate fractional reserve banking &8211; and implications thereof for the role of banks in money creation and lending intermediation

    &8211; A repeat of the economic crisis of 2007-2008 &8211; or even worse another great depression &8211; which would further weaken financial services firms and make them even more vulnerable to fintech startup competition or GAFA competition

    &8211; Large financial services conglomerate breakup by legislative fiat or due to market forces, thereby reducing incumbent size to a point where fintech and finserv blend into one thereby redefining the rules of engagement and competition and probably favoring large non-bank competitors. I have Robert Sams to thank for pointing this one.

    &8211; A string of natural disasters clustered in time &8211; thereby weakening insurance companies and banks&8217; balance sheets due to resulting losses. Would such losses weaken incumbents to the benefit of startups?

    &8211; Long term and secular deflation with continued negative interest rates. How would bank react? How would asset managers be impacted? How would consumers react vis a vis their savings strategies? How would lending be impacted? I have Jan-Maarten Mulder to thank for this one.

    &8211; Quantum computing ushers a new era of financial services, making many existing offerings obsolete

    &8211; Oil prices crash and remain low, thereby inducing strings of bankruptcies in the industry, followed by heavy losses with large banks, forcing regulators to step in and further crippling said incumbents to the benefit of their non-bank competitors and fintech startups

    &8211; Cybertheft takes on a new meaning and as digital identities become central to our lives, an entire country&8217;s worth of identities is hacked and stolen, thereby chilling digital adoption in material ways. I have Michael Meyer to thank for this one.

    Can you think of any other Black Swan events of the second type that would have an incidence on the world of fintech/finserv?

    Let the brainstorming begin.

    FiniCulture

     

  • user 4:48 pm on May 7, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Arms, banks, , , , , ,   

    Technology Arms Race & Financial Services 

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    We now hold these truths to be self-evident, that #fintech startups (especially of the d2c variety) do not pose an existential threat to finserv incumbents, that finserv incumbents are endowed by their regulators with certain unassailable defensible rights and duties embodied by licenses and are saddled by history with obsolete technologies that hinder their effectiveness in a changing world, thereby creating material barriers to a stable Life, Liberty and the pursuit of #Financial Stability.

    We are still exploring whether the following are also truths, that the existential threat to finserv incumbents lies with GAFAA, that fintech startups can help finserv incumbents counter such existential threat.

    Some do not believe #technology giants are a real threat, arguing none of the GAFAA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Alibaba and their smaller brethren) are interested in obtaining licenses and directly competing against #banks or insurers. Although I do not know with certainty that Apple or Amazon are thinking of owning and operating a bank, I do know the real question we should ask ourselves is “Can and how would GAFAA or other similar companies cripple financial #services firms?”

    It is evident we, individually or as businesses, engage with the world via our smartphones and tablets. We spend time on these devices interacting with a variety of apps (social messaging for example) or platforms (Facebook for example), reading, creating, sharing, consuming, purchasing. The more time we spend on these devices, with these apps and platforms, the less time we engage directly with the manufacturers of the products or services we ultimately consume. This state of affairs may not pose an existential threat with a brand like Nike for example. It is easy to engage emotionally and mentally with simple concepts whether physical or digital, ones where we have a meaningful bond that helps define who we are. It is not so easy for a provider of a checking account, a loan or an insurance policy. We do engage with money in completely different ways.

    To me, this means there is a potential catastrophic scenario in the making whereby financial services providers would be relegated to being &8220;dumb&8221; providers of products and services without having any meaningful control or tie to the end user – retail or enterprise even though it is arguably more difficult to visualize for the latter.

    Finserv incumbents are now fully engaged, having woken up to the initial threat of fintech startups and realizing they do need to reform the way they do business. Innovation is the name of the game &8211; a dual mandate to be sure where both technology and culture need to be upgraded. For the purposes of this post, I only focus on the technology part of the innovation equation.

    The technology part of the innovation drive is multifaceted. Legacy rails, core systems, market infrastructures need to be upgraded. These &8220;basic&8221; upgrades a necessary but not sufficient. New technologies also need to be acquired. I view Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), #Blockchain/Consensus Ledgers, Quantum Computing (QC), Internet of Things (IoT) to be the main enabling technologies the financial services industry needs to acquire in order to close the gap and compete effectively.

    One does not acquire technologies in a vacuum and there is a competitive battle in the marketplace for the hottest assets. As this post from CB Insights shows, tech companies are hard at work acquiring the best AI startups. Try as I might, I could not find any finserv incumbents on the list of acquirers, nor could I find finserv service providers.

    How does a bank or insurer close to gap in AI if tech giants have first dib at the best assets? I do not know how things are developing in QC or AR but I would not be surprised if the same narrative were to be present. To be fair, the insurance industry is present and active in the IoT field and the banking industry is very active in the blockchain/consensus ledger field which shows a bank or insurance company can take the lead in a strategic technology field. Gaps are indeed being addressed, but not systemically.

    To be fair, there are many ways to bridge a technology gap other than through acquiring.

    &8211; Finserv incumbents could partner with tech giants, indeed such examples exist. Some tech giants are better at partnering than others. The risk of losing direct ownership of the customer still exists though.

    &8211; Finserv incumbents could develop their own technology solutions via internal R&D (such a strategy has not paid hefty dividends in the past, even if one is able to attract top talent)

    &8211; Finserv incumbents could develop partnerships and commercial agreements with independent startups. There will be AI, QC or AR startups that will decline selling to tech giants and pursue their own destiny. Let’s assume some of these startups will be up to par with what giant tech companies are concocting within their walls, the question therefore is which type of independent startups are most appropriate to partner with. The AI, QC or AR startups specialized in the financial services, or those that have a horizontal &8220;go to market strategy&8221; approach. Startup xyz that only sells to banks or IBM Watson? Which will be most optimal?

    With every #arms #race one needs to play to one&8217;s strengths. A finserv incumbent&8217;s strength is twofold in my opinion: a) deep knowledge and mastery of arcane work flows and processes specific to money/data flows, b) mastery of licensing and AML/KYC peculiarities.

    Extending these strengths to enabling technologies (AI, AR, QC, blockchain, IoT) thereby ensuring optimal customization and applicability is therefore key. Choosing the right strategy, best fitted to this goal while at the same time ensuring one does not lose the arms race is paramount.

    Regulators should play a role in facilitating their wards technology arms race battle. We know banks now have a difficult time making equity investments, and rightly so if these equity investments are made with a speculative and casino-like financial bent, from a proprietary trading point of view. Could strategic and technology based investments be viewed differently? Especially as the industry wakes up to the fact that financial services incumbents need and have to behave more like technology companies? After all, it is not too far fetched to picture an insurance company acquiring a cybersecurity consultant or service provider to hone its skills at underwriting cybersecurity risk. From the same token, a bank could (or should?) operate via a mix of acquisition/build a data analytics or AI startup. Such a move may actually be central to a strategy of delivering superior products or managing a client&8217;s identity or data.

    Building resiliency into a bank or insurer business model will require different approaches, and competing effectively in the technology arms race we are currently witnessing will have to play a part in a portfolio approach.

    Finally and clearly, a rising interest rate environment would greatly help finserv incumbents. Fire power in the form of an increase in operating earnings has a tendency to solve many a problem. This leads me to fire a parting question: What if the next 20 years will deliver continued low interest rates environments across the world? In this environment, financial services firms, and their regulators, will have to come up with drastically different approaches, else the technology arms race may be lost permanently.

    FiniCulture

     

  • user 12:45 pm on May 7, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: banks, , , , , ,   

    Digital Currency and the Popularity 

    Ever since #Bitcoin and other #digital currencies came to existence, they have made it to the mainstream financial #technology. The way the exchange rate of Bitcoin is going up, it appears, some day it may reach to $ 20,000. Though the value of Bitcoin has fluctuated drastically throughout the years; for instance, it reached to $ 1200 in October 2013.

    According to some experts and observers if you have Bitcoin and see what happens in the coming months and years, you will be able to see that the price has appreciated to great extent as there are limited Bitcoin. Additionally, as there are no central #banks that circulate Bitcoin, these cannot be manipulated, there is no inflation.

    Needless to say with businesses jumping on the bandwagon and investors becoming interested in the digital #currency, it appears the momentum is going to up and up. In fact, Bitcoin as a digital currency has injected itself into a lot of conversations about the future of technology, economics, and the internet.

    Future for Digital Currency

    From the grand design for digital currencies, it appears they have a bright future. However, a lot of experts say that the future of digital currencies remains a controversial topic as they will always be challenged by the fiat issued by the governments around the world. The governments don’t want to recognize digital currency that can challenge their sovereignty.

    The digital currencies like Bitcoin, dogecoin, litecoin, etc. were developed because of trust issues with financial institutions and digital transactions. Not to say that even when digital currency Bitcoin is not considered to be money by everyone, it is independent of traditional banks and could eventually pose competition for them.

    Which Digital Currency Will be the Most Popular One?

    There are several digital currencies that include Bitcoin, dogecoin, litecoin, etc. These are the top three major names that come to mind when speaking of digital currency. These are a form of virtual currency that is electronically created and stored. Some types of digital currencies are cryptocurrencies, but not all of them are.

    Needless to say Bitcoin is expected to lead the group. Bitcoin was created to take power out of the hands of the government and central bankers, and put it back into the hands of the people. According to various estimates there are currently about 12 million Bitcoins in circulation. Interestingly, litecoin is catching Bitcoin in terms of #popularity.

    Find the latest Bitcoin news, price and analysis from reliable sources.

    More Blockchain Articles

     

  • user 11:24 am on May 7, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , banks, , , , Extra   

    Extra about Bitcoin and Bitcoin change 

    Ever heard of it? I hadn’t both till an astute reader talked #about it in a remark lately. In researching this new currency, a digital one, I turned intrigued, then astounded. Initially I used the example of the Borg from Star Trek, however #extra not too long ago I’ve come to imagine that one key to describing it is to start out from normal foreign money, and to then describe #Bitcoin in relation to that, relatively than trying to describe it as a standalone phenomenon. He stated: Even for the police to find one thing, they need a staff of 15 guys, two diggers, and all the non-public safety gear.
    To begin utilizing bitcoins, all you need is a bitcoin pockets. Since bitcoin is a virtual foreign money, you can’t hold it physically, except you alternate it for goods and providers. Your e-pockets is where your bitcoins are saved safe. You’ll find many bitcoin pockets providers like My Wallet from http://#blockchain.information. Under is an try to answer that and lots of other questions surrounding the virtual currency. And we promise to talk actually, really slowly. Make bitcoin transactions.
    Various electronic cash techniques which? Use contactless fee transfer to facilitate simple fee and give the payor extra confidence in not letting go of their electronic pockets throughout the transaction. Sorts of methods edit Centralized programs edit While a counting scale lets you automate and velocity up a cumbersome operation they do not price a lot. Because of the technical developments products have not solely turn into higher they’ve additionally turn into extra affordable and this holds true for counting scales as nicely.
    Within four years of coming into existence, Bitcoin has become the world’s costliest foreign money and its per unit value soared past $ 1,200 stage or about Rs. sixty three,000 lately, although the costs have now slipped beneath $ 750 a piece Rs. forty five,000. After RBI and other central #banks across the world warned financial intermediaries about dealing with virtual currencies by traditional channels, the thrill round such denationalised currencies, which aren’t backed by any belongings, had lowered for some time.
    Bluetooth LE additionally gives extra than just payment prospects. A Bluetooth LE transmitter can beam deals and digital coupons to customers or pedestrians. It could possibly even navigate folks to specific objects in a retailer. S.McMahon cowl’s the newest Comcast Cable TELEVISION specials and affords so consumers can discover the best financial savings out there. She finds the bottom Comcast Cable TELEVISION offers , so for those who’re considering digital HD cable tv ensure you check out Suzanne’s opinions. Hence, it can be thought of as a blessing, the invention of the digital cameras for teenagers, as it’s simple for teenagers to use (since all they need to do is press the flash button) and will improve the variety of kids concerned about pictures.

    The FDA is constant to analyze other defibrillators in the marketplace. Patients who have experienced health issues or harm associated to these units should search authorized assist. To study extra in regards to the medical units, visit http://guidant.legalview.com/.
     

  • user 5:27 pm on May 5, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: banks, , , , Receiving, Sending   

    Sending and Receiving Money With Bitcoin 

    The #bitcoin system is one of the first types of crypto-currency which has existed in the market since January 2009. What makes bitcoin different from regular currencies is the fact that bitcoin uses cryptography to monitor and control the creation and transfer of the currency between different parties. Bitcoins are generated over time at a diminishing rate, and the maximum amount of bitcoins in the market at one time is 21 million units. The usage of bitcoin eliminates the need of a third party when it comes to completing online transactions.

    What makes bitcoin different from other online currency systems like Paypal is that the currency is decentralized. This means that no group or organization has a control over it. This is unlike real currency that is monitored by central authorities. Real currency is controlled in terms of the printing and distribution of coins and notes to the public. And compared to other online payment systems, there are little to zero charges to transfer bitcoins. Using bitcoins will be especially useful for businesses which carry out a majority of its transactions online.

    To start using bitcoins, all you need is a bitcoin wallet. Since bitcoin is a virtual currency, you cannot hold it physically, unless you exchange it for goods and services. Your e-wallet is where your bitcoins are kept secure. E-wallets are convenient and easy to use. You can find many bitcoin wallet providers like My Wallet from http://#blockchain.info.

    Your bitcoin wallet can also be accessed via your smartphone. Having a smartphone will enable you to sell and buy bitcoins wherever you are. Apple blocks bitcoin wallets from its App Store. But if you are an Android user, many mobile apps are available for you to transact using bitcoins.

    And if you feel that your bitcoin wallet is unsafe, you will want to have desktop clients to store actual bitcoins onto your laptop or PC. When you start a wallet, remember to save the file on the computer and back up the file. Make multiple backups if you feel insecure. Using bitcoins give users a sense of safety, as they are not relying on other parties like #banks to take care of their funds. Most users will prefer to use the original software which has been around since the inception of bitcoins – the Satoshi Client.

    After creating your wallet, you are on the way to selling and buying bitcoins. There are many ways that you can obtain this online currency. The methods include buying it from various sellers, #receiving it in the form of product sales, doing actions and fulfilling conditions to obtain free bitcoins and also by mining bitcoins – only for advanced users. Bitcoin is a growing currency and will most definitely be one of the top items in the online world in the near future. For more information about bitcoins and bitcoin wallet, feel free to search the Internet for more information. With the usage of bitcoins, you will be able to earn extra income and you will have an additional way to receive and make virtual payments.

    Are you looking for more information regarding Bitcoin? Visit http://blockchain.info/wallet today!
     

  • user 4:57 pm on May 5, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , banks, , , , , , ,   

    Fintech doesn’t just disrupt banks, it makes them platforms  

    shutterstock_392496349 It’s easy to move your money between #banks. What&8217;s annoying is moving your apps. There&8217;s been a recent explosion of #fintech products in spaces like&160;stock trading, wealth management, payments, loans, remittance, and&160;insurance. That&8217;s been fueled by a massive uptick in venture&160;investment in private fintech companies, which hit $ 19 billion in… Read More


    fintech techcrunch

     

  • user 6:52 pm on May 4, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: banks,   

    LendInvest secure £40m 

    LendInvest, a UK marketplace lending platform focused on short-term property financing has just announced a partnership with Australian investment bank Macquarie for £40m.

    How the money will be lent:

    The £40m from Macquarie adds to the funds committed by other institutional bodies and will be put towards property financing. The Macquarie injection of funds will be attributed to a new warehouse product line, ensuring LendInvest take the lead in being the most diversified mortgage lending platform in the UK.

    What do LendInvest do?

    LendInvest match retail investors and institutions with property developers, typically, looking for short term (bridging) mortgage finance so they can develop a property and sell out in a six-month period (approximately).

    Peer-to-peer lending UK property/mortgage lenders

    Last year LendInvest lent £300m across their platform, asserting themselves as the largest property focused financier in peer-to-peer lending UK. It has lent over £600m since its formation in 2013.

    Other property based lenders include Landbay who focus on residential mortgages, Assetz Capital and Wellesley & Co who focus on property developments and also Saving Stream and Proplend who allow investors to manually select property loans.

    LendInvest institutional backing

    The marketplace lender has the backing of four #banks, including a challenger, however they are reluctant to name their backers. LendInvest now has £260m of institutional cash to play with, demonstrating the level of funding outside of retail investors being injected into marketplace lending – consider LendInvest had £300m invested across it in 2015, so £260m institutional cash available compounds the notion that ‘whole loan’ funding is transforming the ‘peer to peer’ market into a dichotomy of individual investors and institutions.
    Christian Faes, CEO of LendInvest had this to say:

    LendInvest is creating the most diverse capital base of any mortgage lender in the market which is a key differentiator for our business. By welcoming another significant institution and funding line to our business, we are putting in place the foundations for a very scalable move into longer duration lending and ultimately the mainstream UK mortgage market.

    published by Jordan Stodart from Orca Money at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lendinvest-secure-40m-from-macquarie-jordan-stodart?trk=hb_ntf_MEGAPHONE_ARTICLE_POST

     

  • user 11:02 pm on May 3, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , banks, , , , Shaking,   

    Fintech: Shaking up the financial industry 

    #Fintech: #Shaking up the #financial #industry
    The following is a script from "Fintech" which aired on May 1, 2016. Lesley Stahl is the correspondent. Shachar Bar-On, producer. One sector of our economy after the next is being disrupted by new apps and websites, like bookstores, travel agents …
    Read more on CBS News

    Malaysia #banks told to embrace challenges posed by fintech firms
    KUALA LUMPUR (May 3): Malaysia's banking industry has been urged to embrace challenges put forward by financial #technology (fintech) companies to stay relevant in the evolving world economy. "With fintech, people don&39;t go to the banks anymore and …
    Read more on The Edge Markets MY

     

  • user 10:22 pm on May 3, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: banks, , , , Ease, ,   

    Ease of Payment With Bitcoins 

    #Bitcoin is a new and innovative digital currency that can be accessible online, regardless of where you are. The bitcoin system is based on crypto-currency and it is acceptable all around the globe. Bitcoin works using a peer-to-peer (p2p) #technology and operates without the need of a central authority or a oversight body. Bitcoin is a valuable form of virtual currency, as there is only a maximum of 21 million units in the market at a certain time. Besides that, new #bitcoins are generated at a diminishing rate.

    Compared to other online transaction systems like Paypal, bitcoin uses p2p which eliminates the need for a third party to complete the transaction. Using bitcoins will help you to save in terms of transaction costs. Especially for people and online businesses that make a large amount of virtual transactions, bitcoins can help you to reduce cost. Besides that, the currency is decentralized. What this means is that the currency is free from control of central authorities. Regular bank notes and coins are suppressed and controlled by statutory bodies which oversee the printing and distribution of real currencies to the public.

    So how do you use bitcoins? First of all, you will need to create a bitcoin wallet. Bitcoin is a virtual currency, so you will have to keep it in an e-wallet. E-wallets are secure and easy to access and use. To get you started, you can start by signing up for a bitcoin wallet on the Internet. There are many service providers like My Wallet from http://blockchain.info which provides you with free e-wallet services.

    To make bitcoins even more accessible, many companies are providing users with bitcoin wallet applications for smartphones. Selling and buying of bitcoins can now be completed with a tap on your smartphone. If you are an Android user, you will be able to find many mobile apps to sell and buy bitcoins on your Google Play Store.

    To improve the security of your bitcoin wallet, most people download and install desktop clients to store their bitcoin transactions into their computers. After you start your bitcoin wallet, always remember to save the file and back it up from time to time onto your desktop. Unlike #banks, you are in-charge of the safety of your currency and money. The Satoshi Client is widely used by bitcoin users as it has been in the market since 2009.

    You can sell and but bitcoins after you have your wallet. There are a variety of methods that can help you obtain this virtual currency. You can purchase bitcoins from various sellers, receive it from business transactions, doing simple task and work to gain free bitcoins and you can carry out bitcoin mining. Bitcoin has been growing in demand over the years and the demand is expected to grow even stronger with the depreciation of real currencies. If you want to understand more about the concept of bitcoin and how it can benefit you and your business, feel free to search the Internet for more information.

    Are you looking for more information regarding bitcoins? Visit http://blockchain.info/wallet today!

    Find More Blockchain Articles

     

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