Apple (AAPL) is reportedly on the verge of launching a joint credit card with Goldman Sachs (GS) that would carry the Apple Pay brand. And Facebook (FB) just formed a team to explore the power of blockchain that could include creating its own cryptocurrency for payments.
In the not-too-distant-future, Amazon (AMZN) could let customers zap each other cash with Alexa, and then deposit the money in an Amazon-branded checking account.
Will smaller fin-tech such as SQ, TWLO, etc be acquired or die out eventually?
I wonder if anyone will replace Visa, Mastercard, etc and the crazy fees they charge. I think that’s the real potential of block chain if transaction costs can be low enough. $20/transaction won’t cut it. Some other currencies are only a few cents per transaction.
Apple had a card with Barclays for years. The reward points auto redeem for iTunes gift cards. You get double points on any Apple purchases. They run promos with special financial for Apple products (usually no interest for 1 year). There’s no annual fee. I guess I’ll be switching to a different Barclay card, since I don’t want to lose all the years of account history.
Risky to trust companies that sell your data.