Finserv Reading - Week ending May 30, 2021
Bijon Mehta
Chief Operating Officer I Enterprise Software GTM I Adjunct Professor @ Fordham University
Banking
Rise above commoditization: become the barista of banking
Big banks look for post-pandemic rebound in credit card revenue
Why banks need to pay attention to where a digital euro is heading
HSBC to exit US retail banking
Keeping a human face on all-digital banking
Digital bank upstarts are years away from profits in Hong Kong
How self-service banking technologies fit the digital-first trend
Three lasting digital priorities for financial institutions
How one community bank is reinventing itself for future relevance
How to build a winning small business bank in four charts
Revolut moves into e-commerce with Revolut Shopper
Green Dot: A good setup for 2022 and beyond
How banks can create a frictionless lending experience with embedded finance
Mambu study: Banked and unbanked feel underserved
Overdraft fees come under scrutiny
Wall Street
The DeFi threat to Wall Street
Dow Jones Industrial Average celebrates 125 years as Wall Street's bellwether
Convertible bond sales are soaring in 2021 - often at 0% interest
Modern retail needs modern rules
Economy
Europe's strategic autonomy trap
Do free markets still beat central planning?
Leaders and laggards in the post-pandemic recovery
Asset Management
Hedge funds surpass $4 trillion in assets
Blackrock backs British 'challenger bank for savings' Chip
Vanguard Group's private equity retail push gets real
Hedge funds look to increase crypto exposure
Wealth Management
GSAM to form wealth management joint venture in China
Amid rise of digital finance, Americans lack trust in investment advisors
FactSet Research: How can wealth managers impress 'early adopters'?
Bank of America's Merrill Lynch to ban trainee brokers from making cold calls
Insurance
Geico to use artificial intelligence to speed up car repairs
How good are P&C insurers' digital services? JD Power reveals all
Three factors that will drive insurance M&A this year
Real Estate
Broker fees are here to stay. Why do they even exist?
Newmark's new CIO looks to streamline systems and digitize more operations
The value of proptech in a post-pandemic world
Lenders pick up the pace in closing mortgages
Payments
Why US is getting on board with global standards for payments
How online and offline transactions are becoming more frictionless
Affirm spinout Resolve raises $60 million for its b2b buy now, pay later platform
QR codes and digital wallets are gaining popularity fast among consumers
ApplePay Accept (Mobeewave) in October
Growing impact of payment disruptors threatens financial institutions
Venture Capital / Private Equity
Fin Venture Capital seeks $300 million for two new funds
LATAM gets new $1 billion fund focused partly on fintech
Investors lean into early-stage venture capital deals in pandemic recovery
VC firms inflate portfolio valuations ahead of fundraising, study shows
AI / ML
Consumers like chatbots to be smart - but not too smart
Machine learning helps FIs identify account holders fraudster twins
11 ways WhatsApp chatbot can help banks serve customers better
Chatbots: AI tech can be useful in real world business applications right now
Bigtech
Apple is looking to strike deals with "alternative payments" providers
Google, Shopify extend ties to commerce blitz against Amazon
Square takes aim at JPMorgan with checking, savings accounts
Why Facebook, Google and Amazon want to build online payment platforms for India
Fintech
Lost in translation: Why Asia fintech companies are not expanding into Europe
European fintech startups with overseas ambitions fill war chests at record clip
Visa: Putting $105 billion of fintech to work for banks
Klarna valuation could top $40 billion in Softbank-led round
Blockchain / Crypto
Bitcoin's reliance on stablecoins harks back to the wild west of finance
PayPal will let customers withdraw crypto, exec says
Fed's Brainard breaks down CBDC policy considerations
Novogratz's Galaxy Digital inks crypto deal with Vision Hill
46 million American's now own bitcoin, as crypto goes mainstream
Regulation / Compliance
SEC weights new investor protections for SPACs
How regulators killed hedge funds
SEC urges Congress to pass cryptocurrency legislation to protect investors
Taking bitcoin to the bank: FDIC seeks comments on bank services for digital assets
Corporate Venture / Innovation
Every company needs a narrative
Why you should invest in unconventional talent
Research: Dispersed teams succeed fast, fail slow
Does culture really eat strategy for breakfast?
Firms are rediscovering their love for capex. Good
Inside ABB's new moonshot plans
3 challenges to digital innovation and how to overcome them
Personal Development / Leadership
Better thinking & incentives: Lessons from Shakespeare
My 88 year-old grandfather's approach to habit-forming
10 ways to raise your productivity
Granting autonomy without losing control
A different way of thinking about productivity
Podcasts / Videos
11FS: Super Apps - It's what's on the inside that counts
Speeches / Communications
Scott Kupor, A16Z: Testimony to the US House of Representative, Financial Services Committee
Lael Brainard, Federal Reserve: Private money and central bank money as payments to digital
Graham & Doddsville - Spring 2021
Research Reports
BIS: Whom do customers trust with their data? US survey evidence
Open banking: credit market competition when borrowers own the data
CapGemini: World Fintech Report 2021
SoK: Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Rush to raise: does fundraising pressure incentivize strategic venture capital deal pricing
PwC: 3rd annual global crypto hedge fund report 2021
WEF: A framework for the future of real estate 2021
OW: Under Water - Withstanding low yields in traditional life
WEF: Digital Assets, Distributed Ledger, and the future of Capital Markets
McK: The value of personal advice - Wealth management through the pandemic
OW: Central bank digital currencies - 6 policy mistakes to avoid
OW: B2B2C Insurance 2.0 - Success models for a digital world
Wharton: DeFi - Beyond the Hype