One of the many trends that have taken over the personal finance world in recent years has been the idea of gamification. For example, some finance gurus have extended various money challenges to their followers to help them achieve worthwhile financial goals in a less intimidating way. Then there's the...
Last year the FinTech lender Upgrade announced it was launching a new personal line of credit option for its customers. At the time the company's co-founder and CEO (and former Lending Club head) Renaud Laplanche declared, “We’re going to replace credit cards.” Now, 18 months later, Upgrade is actually introducing a...
Ever since Facebook initially announced plans for the cryptocurrency Libra, it's faced a seemingly endless wave of critiques and inquiries from regulators. Neverthless the company has remained resolute, saying it would continue to pursue its plans while working to assuage concerns. Now, as part of those efforts, it's been revealed...
Late last year, the commission-free stock trading platform Robinhood announced it would soon be offering a "Checking & Savings" account. These would complete with a debit card and a headline-worthy a 3% APY on savings. Unfortunately those plans were quickly rebuffed by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, sending Robinhood back...
When Apple first unveiled Apple Pay in 2014, the expectation was that mobile payments would make major in-roads within a short period of time. Unfortunately that wasn't exactly the case, despite efforts by Apple, Google, Samsung, and others. Since then those companies have expanded on their mobile wallet product offerings,...
Nearly a month after debuting cryptocurrency trading to select users, last week SoFi formally announced the new feature for their SoFi Invest platform. According to the company the addition makes SoFi Invest the only tool to offer "automated and active investing with stocks, ETFs, and crypto through a single app."...
Ever since the Great Recession, peer to peer lenders and other FinTech alternatives have emerged to offer consumers personal loans. While such startups have gained notoriety in certain circles, it's fair to say that few have become household names. Nevertheless it seems that these types of lenders are growing significantly....
These days there seems to be some big money in gaming. From Twitch streamers who can monetize with ads and sponsorships to tournaments where victors can take home massive purses, there are plenty of gamers who dream of hitting it rich. Unfortunately the majority will never reach such heights. However,...
Among the many things that Silicon Valley is often criticized for is that many successful startups are seen as "boy's clubs." In many cases this same label extends to FinTech firms as well. Now Barclays and Anthemis are teaming up in an attempt to change that. This week the two...
One of the many trends that have taken over the personal finance world in recent years has been the idea of gamification. For example, some finance gurus have extended various money challenges to their followers to help them achieve worthwhile financial goals in a less intimidating way. Then there's the...
Much of the future of financial technology is wrapped up in how quickly technical capabilities advance. While the convenience on the horizon is mind-boggling, it must be approached with caution and sensibility to avoid compromising the privacy and stability of current financial practices.
While there are legitimate concerns about the viability of Bitcoin and others, if nothing else these currencies should be viewed as a proof of concept for blockchain technology itself. In other words, don’t expect blockchain or cryptocurrencies to go down so easily. Instead, prepare for more disruption as a greater...
A few weeks after Square CEO Jack Dorsey teased some sort of custom Visa card on Twitter, select Square Cash customers have begun receiving invitations to order their own Square Cash debit card. According to reports the cards are linked to users' Square Cash balance and are accepted where Visa...