USAA, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank have started to look within the veteran community for skilled workers in the field of cybersecurity; hiring veterans has always been a source of pride for the banks but their specific military experience is seen as a big plus when it comes to cybersecurity; veterans are experienced and highly motivated, being able to find someone with cybersecurity know how can help to transform a banks defenses; the banks have also partnered with educational institutions which have programs geared at helping veterans transition to the workplace. Source.
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- World's largest bitcoin exchange, bitFlyer, enters the US
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The online lender has started a new marketing push to highlight new product offering to millennials; the company placed ads over the Thanksgiving holiday on TV and in newspapers with a unique twist on Black Friday. Source
The price of bitcoin was trading at $10,026 on the South Korean exchange CEX while at the same time trading at $9,748 on US exchange Kraken as of early yesterday; the 3 percent spread was not the first time this happened and leaves open the potential for some to take advantage but also shows the immature nature of the market; this has been part of the reason why institutional investors have not fully bought in, though some have and the recent news from the CME could help to ease more concerns. Source.
Digital banking app Revolut is looking to embrace the cryptocurrency wave and incorporate features into the app; the new features would let users exchange and use bitcoin as well as other digital currencies; there is no set plan for the new features but Head of Mobile, Edward Cooper, tweeted that potential changes were coming on cryptocurrencies as Crowdfund Insider reports. Source.
The blockchain insurance consortium B3i has secured 38 members worldwide including Allianz, Swiss Re and AIG; the project would help these insurers move away from their paper based processes and secure contracts on distributed ledgers; right now blockchain is not widely used in insurance and the project is hoping to bring along the change; B3i estimates the changes could help the industry to save over 30 percent of costs. Source.
Equbot has created an AI Powered ETF (ticker: AIEQ); it analyzes massive amounts of data to create a portfolio of 30-70 stocks; some of the data sources include regulatory filings, quarterly news releases, articles, and social media posts; a major difference of the fund is that the bot’s methodology can be explained; the fund launched on October 18, 2017 and has about $70 million in assets. Source
While publishing the results of the latest stress tests on the UK’s biggest banks the Bank of England warned that fintechs could take significant market share; the Bank of England identified three main areas of concern for banks: competition from fintechs, cost reduction while delivering services and low interest rates; these key areas could hurt profitability at banks in the coming years and app based disrupters could be the beneficiaries. Source.
While the Chinese have been quickly adopting fintech in recent years it has come at a cost to the consumer; the Chinese government is able to view troves of information as payment apps like Alipay and WeChat Pay now need to pass through the central bank; not only in fintech but other areas of tech innovation, like facial recognition, has been a boon to the government; while apps and services are making lives simpler and more efficient, they can also help to make government intrusion a lot easier. Source.
SWIFT says that digital heists are on the rise as hackers are becoming more sophisticated in their tactics; they are recommending that banks increase security of computers used to transfer money; a Bangladesh Bank lost $81 million back in February, 2016 and there are more recent examples of hacks; the report provides details on the new methods hackers are using. Source