Today in the Connected Economy: Is Amex Headed to the Metaverse?

Today in the connected economy, American Express files for trademarks that suggest it may be ready to join companies like McDonalds and CVS in the metaverse.

Also, Visa and CloudPay team up to help people get paid faster, and FinTech and bank holding company Green Dot Corporation turns to Plaid to offer open finance solutions to customers of Green Dot’s GO2bank.

Trademarks Suggest Amex is Headed to Metaverse

While it hasn’t said anything concrete about its plans, a series of trademark applications filed by American Express suggest it might be getting ready to set up shop in the metaverse.

The applications show Amex wants to trademark its logo and items such as the Centurion black card and “Shop Small” program.

In addition, the company said it wants to carry out virtual payments and electronic business transactions for digital media and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

CloudPay, Visa Partner on Faster Payroll Cycles

Global pay provider CloudPay is working with Visa to shrink payroll payment cycles from two to three days to a matter of seconds.

The two companies say the digital payment approach makes salary payments to employees’ credit or debit cards using Visa’s real-time push payment platform, Visa Direct. The transactions are made with Visa Direct to any 16-digit debit or credit card number, for employees that don’t want money sent to their bank accounts.

Green Dot Teams With Plaid for Expanded GO2banking

FinTech and bank holding company Green Dot Corporation has joined forces with payment authentication gateway Plaid to provide secure and open finance solutions for customers of Green Dot’s GO2bank.

GO2bank, GreenDot’s flagship digital bank, was launched last year to make financial services available to everyone, particularly people blocked from traditional banking services due to low income, poor credit or thin credit histories. It was also designed to meet the needs of gig workers, people living paycheck to paycheck, and small business owners.

Baselane Intros Finance Management Platform for Landlords

Baselane, an end-to-end financial platform for landlords and real estate investors, has launched an expansion of its services to offer fully integrated banking services tailored to customers’ properties’ specific needs.

Working with Blue Ridge Bank N.A., Baselane has expanded its offerings so landlords can now open and manage multiple banking accounts and simplify the financial management of their properties. Landlords can also create custom accounts and auto-tag bookkeeping transactions to a particular property or unit.