Alternative currencies will be more prominent than ever before.
This year, governments, consumer internet behemoths, large banks, and fintech startups will battle ferociously to bring our cashless future closer — with Asia at the forefront of innovation. In China, where authorities are growing concerned about the domestic private sector’s influence over residents’ data, the government will try to reclaim its power: The Beijing Winter Olympics will provide the ideal platform for the central bank to demonstrate the e-CNY, its brand-new digital currency. In India, Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp will compete for a piece of the country’s fast-growing market for mobile app-based payments with Walmart Inc.’s PhonePe and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Pay. Bhutan, a landlocked country, will try out paperless cash.
Collaboration in payments, on the other hand, could be just as vital as competition. Projects like Hong Kong’s mBridge, Singapore’s Dunbar and Nexus, and Switzerland’s Jura aren’t as well-known as Bitcoin’s price fluctuations, but they’re vital attempts by global money hubs to make cross-border money transfers faster, safer, and cheaper.
Is the Next Financial Crisis Written in the Code of Technology?
Stablecoins and other digital inventions will become too large to fail unless central banks govern portions of the consumer internet.
How Digital Cash Can Increase Gross National Happiness: A look at how Bhutan’s tiny kingdom could prove to be the ideal electronic money testing ground for India’s large neighbor.
Nexus Could Be The Next Big Thing In Banking: Emerging cross-border fast payment systems could consign fee-heavy international wire transfers to the history books.
We Aren’t Ready to Bury Cash: Cash Is Dying, But We Aren’t Ready to Bury It: Convenience is one thing, but if money becomes electronic and privatized, customers are likely to lose government protection.
Banking Could Follow in the Footsteps of Newspaper Publishing: Fintech firms that lack the scale of platform businesses offer a considerably greater threat to brick-and-mortar lenders than do digital giants.
We Aren’t Ready to Bury Cash: Cash Is Dying, But We Aren’t Ready to Bury It: Convenience is one thing, but if money becomes electronic and privatized, customers are likely to lose government protection.
Banking Could Follow in the Footsteps of Newspaper Publishing: Fintech firms that lack the scale of platform businesses offer a considerably greater threat to brick-and-mortar lenders than do digital giants.
