Thought Leadership Articles
March 2023
Article
Cross-Border Payments: Challenges, Impact and Solutions
Cross-border payments are an essential aspect of the global economy, allowing individuals and businesses to transact with each other across different countries and currencies. However, the current cross-border payment mechanisms utilized by financial institutions suffer from several defects, including inefficiencies, delays, and high costs. These defects can hinder economic growth and limit financial inclusion, making it imperative to understand the root causes of these issues and explore potential solutions.
March 2023
Article
When it comes to cross-border payments, what’s in your digital wallet?
It’s safe to say that the pandemic changed a lot of things and will continue to do so for business, government, health care, society, and individuals. One category that accelerated beyond its normal rate of evolution (Moore’s Law) was, and continues to be, technology. With the payments industry, the changes have been at a whip-lash intensity. Not only did we need to rely on and improve the technology, but customers making money transfer decisions also demanded more: multiple platforms and channels, speed, flexibility, transparency, and security.
March 2023
Article
How TD Bank Bolsters The Community Reinvestment Act
Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ brought us a time when banks were a cornerstone of the well-being of their communities. Everybody knew everyone’s name and banks were true neighbors. The award-winning movie’s altruistic protagonist, George Baily, was even willing to give up his dreams so he could help his little town of Bedford Falls. Well, that was a long time ago and boy, have banks changed! They have detached themselves from their communities and, instead, attached themselves to their shareholders. Which is why George Baily would applaud the partnership between TD Bank and the Community Reinvestment Act.
February 2023
Article
Governance for DeFi: Don’t kill the Goose with Centralized Governance
Are fund managers ready to take the plunge into DeFi (decentralized finance)? How will they find ways to monetize investor interest as prices for cryptocurrencies have slumped? Digital assets, though speculative, will continue to scale and adapt as the pace of regulation increases.
“Financial institutions need to secure their place in this potentially huge new revenue stream by integrating Web3 and digital assets into their business models and services.” — Guide to Next
February 2023
Article
The Positive Social Impact of Digital Cross Border Payments
The world is moving at breakneck speed, and it’s time our money kept up. The positive benefits of instituting a sophisticated, robust, secure, and global system of digital remittances are obvious and the demand is great.
January 2023
Article
The global promise of Blockchain must not be derailed.
USA — A lot of early inventions that we use and count on everyday were ridiculed when they were first invented and exposed to a jittery public.
The shock of the new creates jealousy, distrust, and resistance. Edison’s light bulb was considered a sham. In 1878, the Brits declared that the light bulbmight be”good enough for our Transatlantic friends… but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men.”
January 2023
Article
Can Crypto Be Trusted?
The recent collapse of FTX, as well as the ongoing ripple effects, has casted world wide skepticism on the cryptocurrency industry. While this is expected, it does not mean that the entire block-chain based industry should be avoided. Instead these collapses should reinforce the importance of the basic principles of which blockchain based transactions were founded on: fast global settlement, no need for central authority, trust minimization of 3rd parties, open source code, and the ability to independently verify transactions and balances via publicly auditable ledgers.
January 2023
Article
It’s time to reinvent remittances!
With a focus on revolutionizing the long dormant financial sector, FinTech is creating new applications to meet a rapidly changing landscape, and the tipping point to the use of these technologies is in remittances, a key chokepoint to the transfer of monies, locally and globally.
Article
December 2022
As digital transformation of payments in B2B becomes essential, Fintech steps up
It comes as no surprise that the computer system developed in the 1970’s – Automated Clearing House (ACH) – still serves as the default technology for many businesses today. Overhauling this system to meet the essential need for complete digital transformation on the part of banks and payment systems has been an uphill battle. Which is why the digital revolution in emerging markets, historically viewed as being less developed, and led and informed by Fintech startups, should give pause to the leaders of our C-suites and boardrooms.
December 2022
Article
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain: It’s time for a little positive disruption
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have entered the mainstream consciousness in a dramatic and disruptive fashion and are no longer sitting on the outskirts of acceptable alternatives to our challenged, compromised, and ancient financial system.
Article
November 2022
Financial Institutions Bet on Crypto’s Staying Power Despite Market Losses
The reports of crypto’s demise may be greatly exaggerated, at least if recent moves by several big payment giants are any indication. In June, the price of Bitcoin, a flagship crypto token, lost a third of its value and dipped below the psychologically important threshold of $20,000. Other key crypto prices followed suit, and an estimated $2 trillion in crypto wealth was wiped out in a matter of days.
July 2022
Article
Moving Capital Across Borders With Crypto
The United Nations estimates that about one billion people are supported in part by remittance payments. In a world where virtually all services have been accelerated and made more efficient by interoperability and telecommunications, international money transfers seem to have been left behind. The reality is that most remittances today still rely on technology and methods that were available decades or centuries ago. This lack of innovation has led to two main issues: slow-moving capital and high fees.
Article
May 2022
Is Fintech a Tool for Social Justice?
Traditional finance often only benefits those who are financially established. Low-income customers may get left in the dark and are unable to utilize the same tools and resources with which higher net worth individuals are accustomed. This inequality is even more apparent in emerging markets where people are often unbanked or underserved. According to the World Bank, more than 1.7 billion adults do not have an account at a financial institution or through a mobile money provider. However, that is all changing as Fintech continues to completely change the way that we interact with the financial industry.