One Year of Digital Town Halls- and a BIG Anniversary Party
Media coverage of last week’s Visa/Mastercard settlement predictably- and appropriately- focused on the impact to merchants and the card network behemoths. Fortunately most news outlets avoided the dubious claim that consumers would somehow benefit from the estimated $30 billion fee concession (there were exceptions- looking at you, New York Times).
Fintech Talents- for Credit Unions and Beyond
I’ve been flying the “can’t we all just get along?” banner for some time. Credit unions and community banks?- there’s a lot more that should unite than divide us. Fintech firms as friends or foes of financial institutions?- sure, some will choose to compete head-on but there are plenty of mutually beneficial avenues for collaboration.
The Pace of Change- Don’t Just Brace Yourself, Equip Yourself
I think we can all agree that the pace of change impacting credit union operations in 2020 was- without the risk of hyperbole- unprecedented. Branches closed for extended periods. Employees performed core duties from home that conventional wisdom long held were impossible to move off premise.
What’s So Special about SPACs?
My barometer for when an arcane finance topic has crossed into the mainstream tilts when my twentysomething artist daughter asks me about it. We’ve already had two such events this year- first came the “short squeeze” around the GameStop fiasco. Now we have Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations (SPACs), which even Hollywood celebrities are suddenly embracing as the “it” investment vehicle.
The Future (and Past) of Cash
Like virtually every aspect of life, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered our relationship with cash- perhaps permanently in some aspects, but temporarily in others. This makes it an intriguing time for an industry conference titled The Future of Cash. I’m sure some snarky folks will quip that cash has no future.
The GameStop Aftermath- What to Watch For
If I gave you a tip in early January on a stock that proceeded to triple in price in less than a month you’d be pretty happy, right? That’s hardly the prevailing attitude about GameStop, however. Of course, this is because the until-recently disregarded stock was briefly up more than twenty-fold in the interim.
Plaid Direct Deposit- Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
You’ve probably seen the bumper stick that reads, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” Based on recent news I’m offering a new spin for leaders of credit unions and community banks: If you’re not terrified, you’re not paying attention.
Where Will the SolarWinds Blow Next?
For a few weeks in December the SolarWinds software breach was big news. Like so many events these days, however, it was soon crowded out of the headlines- which I suspect is just fine with security experts, who prefer to combat these threats outside the glare of attention.
Predicting Bitcoin’s Price- and Other Fool’s Errands
lready feels trivial to revisit 2020’s twists and turns, but we at BIG believe it’s important to hold ourselves to account. Our last blog assessed the accuracy of several of the fintech predictions we made as the curtain raised on 2020, including Big Tech incursions, strategic acquisitions and security breaches.
Grading our 2020 Fintech Predictions
A blessing/curse of posting to the internet is that it’s virtually impossible to destroy evidence of past statements. Not that we’re looking to hide anything- when John Best and I recorded our annual BIGCast episode offering fintech predictions for the coming year, John rightly suggested we revisit 2020’s predictions, holding ourselves to accou