Off topic for this blog, at least for now is the concept of Internet of Things (IoT). I remain convinced there will be a convergence between IoT and financial services that we just haven’t seen yet. Meantime wearables based on health matters are the next big shiny thing that fan folks are focussed on. WEARABLE APPS: Inside The Race To Create A New App Ecosystem On wrist-worn devices, we believe the health and fitness category will produce the killer apps. The whole field of personal fitness and health apps will boom as the hardware matures and adds more advanced sensors. … Continue reading Internet of things is being trapped in paradigm of wearables

When eBay became aware of the data breach that provided hackers access to the user information of 128 million users it heralded one of the largest data breaches to date. This gave the hackers access to the names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and passwords of its 128m active users. Lessons from the eBay cyber attack | ft.com The company said it had only become aware of the intrusion two weeks ago. As a result, it is now asking its active users to reset their passwords – aiming to rectify what is probably one of the biggest data breaches in … Continue reading eBay – “One of the biggest data breaches in the history of the internet”

Really? I mean seriously …. really???? Tech breathes life into branches – Nationwide chief Beale “A lot of people say that the impact of digital is going to remove branches from the high street. We’re forming an alternative view,” says Beale. Nationwide says that 94% of customers who have used the video links think that the service is a good or excellent replacement for face-to-face meetings. Beale tells Finextra that the building society has made moves to make the system as personal as possible. For example, advisors ask customers if they want a cup of tea and then contact the … Continue reading Nationwide to the future!! – Digital brings cups of tea to branch customers

The subject of payments is a disorderly view of many disparate players, regulations, countries and organizations. This conference which is chaired by our good friend Chris Skinner has a decent coverage of issues including the poor old consumer and the evolving needs of growing demographic cohorts. PayExpo 2014 London What will the payments market look like in 10 years? How does the regulation match up to this? How does the modern day consumer (Generation Y) want to pay for their goods? If you want an idea of the complexity of the payment landscape then this post earlier today from another … Continue reading PayExpo2014 – Europe’s multi-channel payments event

TD are out today with their mobile wallet which I just saw on Finextra. Its a big deal for a bank to get this far, so congrats to TD. Mobile Payment The next time you’re on the go, like on your morning run or walking the dog, don’t worry about reaching for cash for your small purchases2 — all you need is your smartphone1. With TD Mobile Payment, just link an eligible TD Credit Card to the TD app and you can pay safely and securely in an instant. Continue reading TD CanadaTrust launches mobile wallet

Ron has an interesting post here. From the title I automatically assumed his research would have uncovered concern for new payment methods that bypass interchange, but there are much simpler explanations. Worth the read. Particularly the Target impact on use of cash. Protecting Debit Card Interchange Revenue A recent survey of credit union executives conducted by Aite Group and Filene Research found that roughly eight in 10 respondents said that growing debit card interchange revenue is “very important” to their firm’s revenue growth plans for 2014. Continue reading Trends in use of debit and credit cards in the US | Aite Group

What possible reason could Missouri and other states have for banning a direct to consumer model, than lobbyists from old school auto companies. Missouri Pulls a New Jersey on Tesla Missouri has become the latest state to advance legislation that would ban Tesla’s direct-to-consumer sales model, a move the Palo Alto, Calif., electric car maker attributes to pressure from the auto dealers lobby. The company said in a blog post that on Wednesday night “anti-Tesla” language was added to a bill, HB 1124, that then passed in the Missouri state Senate. The proposal, which made it through the House last … Continue reading When entire states ban your company, you must be on to something positive Tesla

This is an interesting thought study from Fred Wilson. He believes that by 2020 Apple will not be in the list of top 3 companies and here is why. VC Fred Wilson: By 2020 Apple Won’t Be A Top-3 Tech Company, Google And Facebook Will | Techcrunch “I think hardware is increasingly becoming a commodity,” he said. “Their stuff in the cloud is largely not good. I don’t think they think about data and the cloud.” Now I’ll admit to being an Apple advocate, but lets break this thought down. Hardware as a commodity: Absolutely. Thats a given and already … Continue reading Is Apple a hardware rooted dinosaur? | Fred Wilson