Is Google Pay Safe? What to Need to Know About This Payment App

Google Pay offers speed and convenience, but before you sign up, find out just how secure this contactless payment app really is.

The Google-verse, like the natural universe, is ever expanding. Not only can you use Google products to search for information, get directions, and manage your email and photos, but you can also now pay for almost anything (as long as it’s legal) using a mobile app called Google Pay. 

Google Pay is aimed primarily at Android phone users, but it’s available for iPhones and iPads, too. But is Google Pay safe and what exactly is a digital wallet? 

Find out all you need to know HERE.

Why CBDC's may not be such a good idea

Samson Williams sets out 3 reasons why CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) may not be such a good idea.

• 96% of current currency is already digital.
• Digital Currencies, as conceptualized under CBDC would be programmable and “programmable” money is a problem.
• Cash is King.   

Read the full article HERE. 

Fintechs focus on cross-border business payments

Nonbank fintechs are gaining ground, mainly with small company customers, but target larger ones for cross-border business, even as competition gives way to symbiotic 'coopetition' with larger banks.

Consumers move funds to their friends through Venmo and Zelle with relative ease and low costs, but cross-border payments — particularly for businesses — are significantly more costly. 

Fintechs are attacking cross-border business payments as banks and legacy players join the rush to innovate

Read more HERE. 

 

Is AI a race to be won?

"The artificial intelligence race grabs headlines and the narrative seldom varies: On the world stage, it’s U.S. innovation versus China’s speed. In business, senior leadership at all sorts of organizations are romanced by the prospect of winning the AI race. Some believe it’s just a matter of greater investment and a policy change or two.

This begs the question: Is AI a race to be won?"

So writes Arun Shastri in in FORBES. Arun is a leader of ZS’s analytics practice and works with clients across industries. His focus is on AI: experimentation, scaling, adoption and ethics.

Read his full article HERE.

 

Phone Call Scams—And How to Protect Yourself

Scammers are sneakier than you'd think, but you need to protect your money and information. Here are 12 common scams - what they are and how to protect yourself.

Read the full article HERE.

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 21 May)

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

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• Is Bitcoin worth the energy and environmental costs?
• WannaCry lesson still echoes: Patch
• US Digital Banking Report: How 4 Companies Have Created and Own Niches in a Very Crowded Category
• DarkSide ransomware group suffers setbacks following Colonial Pipeline attack
• Colonial Pipeline hack highlights grid disruption risks even with IT-focused cyberattack
• Facebook-backed Diem withdraws FINMA application, shifts to US
• Bank of America to pay $75M to settle class action on overdraft fees
• US banks could cut 200,000 jobs over next decade, top analyst says
• COVID's silver lining: The race to cloud-based cybersecurity quickens
• What executives are saying about the future of hybrid work
• China bans financial, payment institutions from cryptocurrency business

From our Blog

• Are banks still needed?
• American Branch Banking is dying - Why?
• The Clearing House urges firms to buy into its real-time system
• Significant Cyber Attacks from 2006-2020

American Branch Banking is dying - Why?

The 2008-09 financial crisis was triggered by reckless banking practices that morphed into the global economic system. Though the world has since recovered and moved on from the crash, the banking system that ignited such damage has in some ways never been the same.

In the last decade, 27,943 bank branches have closed in the U.S. The increasing prominence of mobile and digital banking is leading to lighter demand for in-person banking services 

Check out the infographic HERE.