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Bitcoin Targets Payments Business of Giants Visa to JPMorgan
From Article: "Entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley to Wall Street say they don’t care much for Bitcoin as a currency to supplant the U.S. dollar. As a payment technology they could use to undercut Visa Inc. (V), Western Union Co. (WU) or Citigroup Inc. (C), they say they like it a lot more."
I think Bitcoin has become a more substantial force than I'd have expected. That said, I'm not understanding how it goes against credit cards. Do I have a bitcoin credit card? If I do, how is my ability to spend determined when the underlying currency is wildly volatile? I can see using purchased bitcoins as currency and more and more sites seem to be accepting of it, including Overstock.com now.
If you get more and more sites accepting it as a currency (lets say Amazon starts to at some point), then maybe you get broader use and less volatility, but if you reach that point, hasn't it entirely become a competing currency (and therefore the whole thing becomes another story on a whole other level) rather than the article's discussion of it just going against the cc companies?
Long story short, my thought is if it reaches very broad acceptance, then it goes beyond a "Visa" issue and becomes a currency issue. Do governments just accept that happening?
I continue to like CC companies. I'm just not very concerned about their continued dominance at this point.
You have the Target situation and discussion again about how we have not upgraded our credit cards (chip) and terminals like much of the rest of the world already has. That will likely happen sooner than later. There are cards now with LCD screens that can produce one-time passwords and give offers.
To me, the idea of bitcoin and even the idea of things like Amex's Bluebird cards really are ideas born out of a need to evolve the way that people transact and do business. Whether or not bitcoin becomes a thing or not, I really see it and other things going on as the financial system evolving and hopefully in a positive way. It's not a perfect comparison by any means, but I do think there will be a push back against it in the same way that the music industry was deeply upset at music going digital.
I own a French company called Gemalto that is working on a project where you pay by touch (you wear a device and the signal travels over your skin to the device that you are touching, whether it is to pay for something or open a car door.)
It's all going quickly. You have mobile payments. I love using my phone to pay for things. If they could actually figure out some sort of "standard" so that people aren't confused by different stores working with different payment programs, more people would probably use it.
I do like the financial tech companies (FIS, FISV), as they may become involved if Bitcoin really takes off. If not, they are interesting plays on evolving financial tech (mobile payments, mobile banking, etc.)
Gemalto and FIS are handling the back-end for the Merchant Customer Exchange group (which includes Wal-Mart, Target, 7-11, Best Buy and quite a few others), which is a number of retailers that have banded together to create their own mobile payment standard. (http://www.mcx.com/)
You have Bank of America talking about how they will have less and less branches. JP Morgan announced that they are putting plans to build more branches on hold. Capital One's Cafes (where you can do basic banking and get a latte) are incredibly popular.
The way that money moves and people pay for things is going to change - I think - dramatically over the next decade. Bitcoin or not.
Hope you're doing well. The Bitcoin is starting to gain more acceptance but I agree with the author, it's not likely to replace or even challenge the dollar. What it does do is provide competition for the plastic cards using old technology. It competes in the ease of transaction arena. In addition, they can sure beat the security of our credit card industry.
In an variation, Holder just said that he wanted to facilitate banking services to the marijuana industry so legal customers can use plastic. Right now is pure cash and many banks won't take the accounts. Oh, and before we start thanking the AG, please realize that they really want to be able to follow the transactions. feh, I've said that for years, legalize it, tax the living snot out of it and get it out of the black market.
Reply to @rono: Hey rono, hope you are well...what came to mind for me as I read this article was maybe pairing Bitcoins banking services with a security-centric phone company...one that is stumbling along in search of reinventing itself. "BIT-BBRY"
Maybe even a HSA account MEDI-BIT-BRRY...Medical record keeping along with medical payments.
Comments
If you get more and more sites accepting it as a currency (lets say Amazon starts to at some point), then maybe you get broader use and less volatility, but if you reach that point, hasn't it entirely become a competing currency (and therefore the whole thing becomes another story on a whole other level) rather than the article's discussion of it just going against the cc companies?
Long story short, my thought is if it reaches very broad acceptance, then it goes beyond a "Visa" issue and becomes a currency issue. Do governments just accept that happening?
I continue to like CC companies. I'm just not very concerned about their continued dominance at this point.
You have the Target situation and discussion again about how we have not upgraded our credit cards (chip) and terminals like much of the rest of the world already has. That will likely happen sooner than later. There are cards now with LCD screens that can produce one-time passwords and give offers.
To me, the idea of bitcoin and even the idea of things like Amex's Bluebird cards really are ideas born out of a need to evolve the way that people transact and do business. Whether or not bitcoin becomes a thing or not, I really see it and other things going on as the financial system evolving and hopefully in a positive way. It's not a perfect comparison by any means, but I do think there will be a push back against it in the same way that the music industry was deeply upset at music going digital.
I own a French company called Gemalto that is working on a project where you pay by touch (you wear a device and the signal travels over your skin to the device that you are touching, whether it is to pay for something or open a car door.)
It's all going quickly. You have mobile payments. I love using my phone to pay for things. If they could actually figure out some sort of "standard" so that people aren't confused by different stores working with different payment programs, more people would probably use it.
I do like the financial tech companies (FIS, FISV), as they may become involved if Bitcoin really takes off. If not, they are interesting plays on evolving financial tech (mobile payments, mobile banking, etc.)
Gemalto and FIS are handling the back-end for the Merchant Customer Exchange group (which includes Wal-Mart, Target, 7-11, Best Buy and quite a few others), which is a number of retailers that have banded together to create their own mobile payment standard. (http://www.mcx.com/)
You have Bank of America talking about how they will have less and less branches. JP Morgan announced that they are putting plans to build more branches on hold. Capital One's Cafes (where you can do basic banking and get a latte) are incredibly popular.
The way that money moves and people pay for things is going to change - I think - dramatically over the next decade. Bitcoin or not.
Hope you're doing well. The Bitcoin is starting to gain more acceptance but I agree with the author, it's not likely to replace or even challenge the dollar. What it does do is provide competition for the plastic cards using old technology. It competes in the ease of transaction arena. In addition, they can sure beat the security of our credit card industry.
In an variation, Holder just said that he wanted to facilitate banking services to the marijuana industry so legal customers can use plastic. Right now is pure cash and many banks won't take the accounts. Oh, and before we start thanking the AG, please realize that they really want to be able to follow the transactions. feh, I've said that for years, legalize it, tax the living snot out of it and get it out of the black market.
ah, the times, they are a changin'
peace,
rono
Maybe even a HSA account MEDI-BIT-BRRY...Medical record keeping along with medical payments.