FinTech Articles of the Week 07/31/15
This week I’m checking in on some of the trends I called out in FinTech Rising industry briefing earlier this year. And yes, I am shamelessly affirming my 2015 themes.
The Internationalization of the Renminbi Continues
Treasury & Risk takes a look at how corporate treasury managers, a conservative bunch, should consider settling transactions in renminbi (RMB), China’s currency. It’s part of a major shift toward RMB acceptance over the past year. Earlier, Euromoney published a host of articles charting the history and implications of the internationalization of the RMB.
Bitcoin, the Blockchain, and the Continued Rise of CryptoFinance
Bitcoin, the darling of FinTech writers everywhere, keeps providing editorial grist. The blockchain technology that underlies crypotfinance public ledgers has started to catch the attention of banks, furthering the legitimation of cryptofinance. CoinDesk reports on “8 Banking Giants Embracing Bitcoin and Blockchain Tech.” As for bitcoin investment, it continues to surge, says VC Tomasz Tunguz in “Bitcoin is the Fastest Growing Area of Start Up Investment.”
The Federal Reserve Releases Faster Payments Roster
The Fed is making good on its many promises for faster payments, and has assembled a committee to more fully study methods for this. The full roster includes 130 members, ranging from banks to FinTech vendors to payments innovators. Forbes provides an overview of the who’s who on the list.
The Mobile Industry’s Plan for Preventing Data Gridlock
With the push toward mobile, one of the key aspects rarely discussed is fairly basic: how do we handle the volume? Qualcomm has a nice piece up on Quartz about the basics behind understanding data gridlock. It’s worth considering this week as “Starbucks Hits a Mobile Milestone: One in Five Payments Are Mobile.”
Bank-FinTech Collaboration
As for bank-FinTech collaboration, the final piece in the FinTech Rising briefing, you can head over to last week’s email, where we review some heated evaluations of the kind of partnerships, as well as some sore points that are much in need of collaborative efforts.
BONUS: Here’s a link to a video from the folks over at NY Public Library holding a panel on Bitcoin for Beginners, featuring New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper, Bitcoin project lead Gavin Andresen, VC Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, and moderated by New York Times columnist and CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin.
