Progress in payments, like most things in life, does not come all at once. Or at all evenly distributed for that matter — a situation made starkly noticeable by the different pace of change in consumer and business payments. If you were to whip out...
It’s hard to get really excited about shopping online. Which is not to say that there’s not a lot to speak for the experience – the $1.5 trillion Forrester forecasts Americans will spend online this year (an amount pegged to swell to $2.1 trillion by...
Calendars are very hot this year. It is one of those statements that initially comes as a surprise on a platform that talks all about payments and commerce. But the calendars of the 2010s are no longer delivery mechanisms for photos of shirtless firemen or...
While financial services innovation and tech probably do not occur to most people as particularly “flashy” areas, there is a noticeable preference shown toward the more dramatic side of the business. While it’s easy to write the tendency toward hyperbole off to “new media” press...
Consumers often know less about their credit than they should. According to the American Bankers Association, only 42 percent of Americans are aware of what their FICO score is. And that is problematic since, according to data released by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED),...
Though perhaps a bit overstated, the sharing and subscription economy is changing the face of the way consumers interact with the marketplace of goods and services. Yesterday, Google Ventures managing partner Bill Maris proclaimed that Uber was not only the fastest growing company his team had...
Beacons are about to be the next big thing – if the Internet is to be believed. Google “beacons are coming” and there are 11 articles from separate sources that use that phrase. Whose beacons? Which type? Using what tech? What use can merchants best...
When the Portland (Oregon) Seed Fund got its start four years ago, the concept of “going to City Hall for seed funding” was a bit of an eyebrow-raising idea. But it was one that started gaining traction in 2011 in Portland (and other U.S. cities),...
Last week San Francisco welcomed the latest unicorn to the herd – P2P lending site Prosper. Prosper announced that it brought in another $165 million in venture funding and sailed right past the “unicorn-making” $1 billion mark to a total valuation of ~$1.9 billion. For...