Tuesday, 9th of August, 2022

Hi,

Many businesses today fail to recognize the challenges and possibilities presented by emerging digital technology.

Customers are increasingly lured to data-driven services and experiences and fail to realize the expanding value of data and digital ecosystems for their organization.

This digital myopia is caused by five traps in particular: the product trap, the value-chain trap, the operational-efficiency trap, the customer trap, and the competition trap.

Today, with every aspect of our life digitally transformed to some extent, innovation is happening at an unprecedented pace.

As the digital transformation worked so well, all markets need to figure out that stopping the snowball it’s not an answer to appearing challenges.?

The key is digital acceleration.?

Today, with every aspect of our life digitally transformed to some extent, innovation is happening at an unprecedented pace.

Radek

Finance & Tech?

• Moneycorp, a world-leading payments fintech, today announces the launch of its Foreign Exchange Liquidity Management solution for the Digital Asset Exchanges (DAXs) providers. With the global cryptocurrency market size expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.8% by 2030, the new solution is aimed at providing operational excellence, agility, and business growth to DAXs providers. Through our suite of APIs, these exchanges can now access our FX liquidity powered by 16 different providers 24/5, enabling them to execute payments anywhere in the world faster and more efficiently than ever before. “The crypto and blockchain community is one that Moneycorp has paid close attention to for many years. We have looked at how our business can help the community manage FX transactions, just as they are accustomed to in a ‘traditional’ bank environment,” expressed Tejus Oza, CEO, Moneycorp North America. Read more.?
• A well-designed central bank digital currency may enhance rather than weaken financial stability, according to a working paper from the US Treasury's Office of Financial Research. As central banks around the world investigate the introduction of a CBDC, one concern raised repeatedly is that the move could make runs on banks more frequent or more severe. However, in an OFR working paper, Todd Keister and Cyril Monnet argue that banks would lower their maturity mismatch when depositors have access to CBDC, reducing their exposure to depositor runs. Read more.?
• Over the past few years, Coinbase has played a central role in developing and strengthening crypto markets as the safest, most trusted bridge to the cryptoeconomy. Today marks an exciting next step on our journey as we announce that Coinbase is partnering with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, to provide institutional clients of Aladdin?, BlackRock’s end-to-end investment management platform, with direct access to crypto, starting with bitcoin, through connectivity with Coinbase Prime. Coinbase Prime will provide crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities to Aladdin’s Institutional client base who are also clients of Coinbase. Read more.?
• One of Europe’s most prolific fintech investors has delivered a warning to the fintech industry saying it will be "more selective” when investing in the sector. SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 has led multi-million dollar investments into the likes of Revolut, Klarna, OakNorth and Zopa. But Masayoshi Son, the chairman and founder of Japanese parent company SoftBank and mastermind of its Vision Funds, said it would be dialling down on its fintech investments after its Vision Fund unit posted a huge quarterly loss of 2.93 trillion Japanese yen (￡17.95bn) between April and June. Read more.?
• The Bank of London is expanding its US footprint with the launch of a new tech hub in Charlotte, North Carolina. The sixth global clearing bank in the UK already has an office in New York, meaning it now has divisions in the two largest banking cities in the US. With the expansion, the ‘US global platform and services’ division will create another 350 jobs by 2026, generating an annual payroll impact of nearly $33m when fully staffed, according to the bank. Bank of London’s founder and group CEO Anthony Watson, who spent “the happiest years of his working life” in Charlotte at what is now Wells Fargo, said he is beyond delighted to be working there again. Read more.?
• Visa and Mastercard have announced their latest earnings – calendar Q2 22, which is Q2 22 for Mastercard and Q3 22 for Visa – with both enjoying ongoing growth in cross-border volumes as travel restrictions continue to lift. While Visa acknowledged the prospect of an economic downturn, the company did not anticipate a significant hit, with CEO Al Kelly saying that “people are changing what they are buying, not how they’re paying”. He also said the company was stronger in debit, everyday spend and ecommerce than during the 2008 recession, putting it in a strong position to withstand any impact. Read more.?
• Trezy, an Amsterdam and Paris-based SaaS company, announced on Thursday that it has opened its European headquarters in Amsterdam. Currently, Trezy is live in 32 European countries with a significant focus on the Netherlands, France, and Belgium.? The Dutch-French tech company also secured €1M from angel investors and is planning another round of? funding this year. Read more.?

Number to Remember

900 million

• The number of ‘buy now, pay later’ users is set to reach more 900 million around the world in the next five years. According to new research by Juniper, the number will grow from around 360 million at present – an increase of 157 per cent – in a move driven by the forecasted economic downturn. This looming recession and current cost of living crisis will lead to even more of a demand for low-credit cost solutions, research suggested, and see an increasing number of consumers turning to short term loan products. Read more.?

Reader’s Corner?

• An accelerating world doesn’t allow businesses to stay behind. One of the ways to keep up with the pace is offered by cloud technology. How does enterprise cloud storage make your business more resilient? Are you concerned about the security of your business data? Looking for a way to reduce your risk, while ensuring high availability and fast response to new capacity demands? If so, consider using safe enterprise cloud storage. By storing your information in the cloud, you can rest assured that it is safe and secure. Plus, using enterprise-grade cloud storage can help you keep your business running smoothly in the event of a disaster. Below, we will explore some of the benefits of using enterprise cloud storage and how it can help reduce business risk. Read more.?