Major US banks want to take on Apple Pay & PayPal. It’s understandable yet somewhat delusional 😬; Amazon + Stripe = Marriage made in Heaven 😇; Crypto is putting banking system at serious risk 🏦
FinTech is Eating the World, 25 January
Hey Everyone,
Happy Thursday! Due to health issues (felt super under the weather 🤒), yesterday’s issue is coming out today. But it’s definitely worth the wait as we’re going to look at major US banks trying to take on Apple Pay & PayPal (& why it’s understandable but somewhat delusional), Amazon + Stripe, or marriage made in heaven (& two hypotheses on the future of Amazon’s payment strategy), and crypto, which is putting banking system at serious risk (isn’t the current contagion enough already?). Let’s jump straight into the amazing stuff.
Major US banks want to take on Apple Pay & PayPal. It’s understandable yet somewhat delusional 😬
The announcement 📣 Wells Fargo WFC 0.00%↑, Bank of America BAC 0.00%↑, JPMorgan Chase JPM 0.00%↑, and four other big US banks have teamed up to launch a digital wallet that people can use to shop online.
The banking giants are banding together to create a digital wallet in hopes of staving off increasing competition from rivals like Apple Pay AAPL 0.00%↑ and PayPal PYPL 0.00%↑, according to The Wall Street Journal.
More context 👉 We must note that this isn’t the first time the Big Boys are joining forces. In fact, banks have teamed up before: in 2017 JPM, Wells Fargo, BoA, and others launched the peer-to-peer payment company Zelle. It now moves more money than Venmo and Cash App. Combined 😳
Bonus: When being a late-comer is an advantage, or how Zelle dominated the P2P payments 📲
The wallet 👛 Now, the same squad is joining forces again. The wallet, which has yet to be named, will be supported by Early Warning Services, the same FinTech that powers the payment app Zelle. When launched, the new digital wallet will support Visa V 0.00%↑ and Mastercard MA 0.00%↑, reaching over 150 million customers.
The details around how the wallet will work are still unclear, but the banks plan to begin the rollout of the wallet in the second half of 2023.
What it means? 🤔 This move is definitely understandable but at the same time - somewhat delusional. Let’s take a closer look and unpack this (with some further dives into digital payments & how to look at it strategically).