What are NFTs and Crypto Art?

NFTs have been taking off over the last few months with Artists like Beeple blazing the way for digital artists to make a ton of money selling their work. But what the heck is crypto art and how does this all work and can you you take advantage of this new blockchain art world.

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 12 March)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT and risk management

In this weeks selection;

The Pandemic

• The COVID-19 pandemic - one year in

Banks & Credit Unions

• Arizona group aims to jump-start European-style open banking in U.S.
• Wells Fargo Ditches Abbot Downing Name for Ultra-Rich Clients

Fintech

• Mood swing – China’s government is cracking down on fintech. What does it want?
• What to expect from the fintech industry in 2021

Payments

• BNP Paribas rolls out A2A instant payments for e-commerce merchants
• New car tipping app arrives for Sonic carhops
• US, UK Firms Prioritize Innovation To Speed X-Border Payment Flows

Cybersecurity

• Fintech Cybersecurity Threats You Should Know About
• It may be worth paying, but online privacy comes at a price
• Top 10 types of information security threats for IT teams
• Watch Out! New Android Banking Trojan Steals From 112 Financial Apps

Artificial Intelligence

• Top 10 predictions of how AI is going to improve cybersecurity In 2021
• Top 10 Artificial Intelligence Technologies Making a Breakthrough in 2021
• Deep Learning vs Machine Learning: What Your Firm Needs to Know

Resistance to Peer to Peer Payments is Waning

Resistance to Peer to Peer Payments is Waning:

• Resistance to P2P services is waning, as many of the reasons for not using these services appear to be losing popularity.
• The largest overall reason in 2018, “I don’t have a reason to use P2P”, has declined from 47% to 36% in 2020.
• In 2019, 42% of consumers “prefer to use cash” than P2P services. Not surprisingly in a pandemic environment, that sentiment dipped to 30% in 2020.
• From 2018 to 2020, 8% of consumers reported they “don’t know how to use these services.”
• P2P services are increasingly being used to share costs with others, pay bills and pay for things in-stores.
• In 2020, 23% of consumers used P2P to split a bill, up from 17% in 2018 and 2019.
• For the last 3 years, one in five P2P consumers used the service to buy a gift.

How covid-19 is boosting innovation - The Economist

Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of technologies and pushed the world faster into the future. As businesses and organisations look towards the post-pandemic era, what lessons can be learned about innovation?

TOP READS OF THE WEEK (for week ending 5 March)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT and risk management

In this weeks selection;

Banks & Credit Unions

• The disruptive trends & companies transforming digital banking services in 2021
• Is the Coronavirus Killing Off Cash?
• Why the rest of the world should care about innovation in Africa
• Innovative banking and finance trends for 2021
• How CUs Can Meet Innovation Expectations

Fintech

• Fintech Changes Will Shift Focus to Customers in 2021
• How a Fintech Startup is Starting to Change the Financial Services Industry
• Gen Z is defining digital banking. FinTech is listening

Cybersecurity

• Top 2021 banking and fintech security regulations
• Phishing emails tempting people with fake coronavirus vaccines
• Understanding Malware: 10 Common Types You Should Know About
• Cutting-edge banking tech could create a world of super savvy savers
• The Most Common Hacking Techniques of 2021

Artificial Intelligence

• AI in Digital Marketing: Separating the Facts From the Fiction
• EU report warns that AI makes autonomous vehicles ‘highly vulnerable’ to attack
• The Next Generation Of Artificial Intelligence

Data Detox: Smartphones - Firefox

We use our phones for everything from reading news to texting friends to ordering in to playing games. All that convenience at our fingertips comes at a cost: our personal data and mental health. It’s hard to be present in the moment when push notifications and texts are enticing us to look down. Meanwhile, the amount of personal data we share, many times without even realizing, can be alarming.

But not all hope is lost! Here are five simple steps you can take to protect your data and add space between you and your phone when you need it.

Greensill Capital - many small businesses and thousands of jobs at risk

The potential collapse of Greensill Capital could put many small businesses and thousands of jobs at risk. The supply-chain financier’s troubles highlight overlooked risks in the system.

Greensill Capital has become a dominant player in supply chain finance, a once-staid method of corporate funding that exploded in popularity over the past decade. Lex Greensill has become a dominant figure in an increasingly important, corner of finance. But now, some of his biggest backers have severed ties. 

So, what has gone wrong?

Using techniques mastered by the former "slicers-and-dicers" of subprime mortgages, Greesill transformed the bills it took on into bond-like investments. These could be sold to outside investors, such as hedge funds, desperate to find some yield in a low-interest world. As long as the customers kept settling their invoices, a tidy profit could be made for investors—and the financiers behind all the alchemy. By 2019 Greensill claimed to have arranged financing worth more than $140bn to over 10m customers.

Questions over whether the money would indeed keep flowing were never far away. As concerns mounted over the creditworthiness of the companies Greensill had to collect money from, the value of the bonds underpinned by the invoices wobbled. On March 1st Credit Suisse froze $10bn of funds stuffed with paper sourced by Greensill. The Swiss investment bank warned of  “considerable uncertainties” with respect to the valuation of the bonds linked to Greensill.

Read more from The Economist HERE