Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, we are taking the week off from our usual format. In its place, we’re proud to re-feature some of the recent opinion pieces written for The FR. We are thankful that several of our accomplished subscribers have been willing to lend their voice to our platform and hope you enjoy their contributions.
- De Novo bank charters are back
- Sales practices need a refresh
- Data hygiene is crucial to AI’s advancement
- Beware of innovation blind spots
- Frictionless payments are on the way
The Reemergence of De Novo Bank Charters by Pratin Vallabhaneni
“State laws that promised to serve as a pathway to regulatory legitimacy for cryptocurrency companies, such as those passed in New York State, have yielded just three Bitlicenses and two trust company charters to date. In short, the current U.S. financial regulatory infrastructure, in many instances, has proven to be substantially inhospitable for significant incumbent-fintech integration. Becoming a bank, therefore, may be the solution for many emerging fintech players.”
- October 4, 2017.
Sales Practices Under the Microscope by Dr. Jimmie Lenz
“Since incentives come in a variety of forms in addition to direct monetary compensation (including promotion opportunities, special recognition events and continued employment), we believe that the time has come for a fresh, holistic look at how sales professionals are incentivized. And while we don’t have all the answers on what a new sales model looks like, we think one thing is clear: it’s time for a meaningful change in sales practices.”
- October 12, 2017.
Data is Holding Back AI by Sultan Meghji
“Over the two years of that AI project, I easily spent 60% of my time just getting the data captured, cleaned, imported and in a place where it could be used by the training system. AI, as practitioners know, is the purest example of garbage in, garbage out. The worst part is that sometimes you don’t realize it until your AI answers ‘anvil’ when you ask it what someone’s favorite food is.”
- October 20, 2017.
Our Dangerous Innovation Blind Spots by Theodora Lau
“In a company of any size, it is easy to have blind spots, starting from the hiring process to how new products are created. There are great innovators and thinkers everywhere, both inside our organizations and outside our own backyard. To be successful, we must venture beyond the zone and look to different places and people for new ideas. We need to be intentional in building a diverse team and integrate our work and our purpose, in order to bring true value to the problem we are trying to solve at hand.”
- October 27, 2017.
Innovation Davids vs. Scale-Seeking Goliaths in Payments by Michele Tivey
“Like subscriptions, these new ‘frictionless payments’ rely on stored credit card data and are permeating every segment of global commerce as consumers clamor for convenient access to goods and services. Whether they take the form of mobile payments, tap-to-pay, voice payments, hands-free payments, in-app purchases or connected cars and homes, these advances allow customers to do everything from placing an order at Dunkin’ Donuts before arriving at the store, to leveling up within a video game without ever having to reach for a credit or debit card. The essential element to these frictionless payments is that the underlying credit card must approve the purchase in order for the transaction to complete. If not, Uber isn’t showing up, and Alexa isn’t ordering your Domino’s pizza.”
- November 3, 2017.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch you must first invent the universe.”
~ Carl Sagan
