The rise of financial technology companies, warned JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief executive officer, will see some banks “go the way of the dinosaur.”
In the world of finance, as in many other parts of the economy, Covid-19 has accelerated a shift to digital interactions that was already under way. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed by regulators. In Asia, Europe, and the U.S., central banks and other regulators are increasingly focused on how technology companies could come to dominate financial services, undermining the stability of the systems the watchdogs are entrusted to preserve.
One obvious sign of the growing importance of fintech companies is their surging market value. The valuation of PayPal Holdings Inc., the U.S. e-commerce payments giant, had exceeded $225 billion as of early November—more than that of Europe’s top four banks combined and higher than all U.S. banks bar JPMorgan. In Europe, where lenders’ stock prices have plummeted to record lows this year, only HSBC Holdings Plc, with $3 trillion in assets and a history dating to 1865, was worth more than Adyen NV, a 14-year-old Dutch payments processor.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
“I've Had to Think Differently”
IN SEPTEMBER, Jane Fraser shattered the financial industry’s ultimate glass ceiling when she was named the next chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc., one of the world’s three most important banks.
The Prodigy
Yoyo Chang turned a hunch born in an English high school cafeteria into a next-generation payments app backed by serious, well-heeled investors
The Fintech Revolution Is Finally Here— And So Are the Regulators
SPEAKING IN OCTOBER to his banking brethren at the world’s biggest payments confab—the annual Sibos conference— Jamie Dimon didn’t mince words.
Opening Up
China’s entry into the WTO upended global manufacturing. Now it’s poised to disrupt the financial system— and the consequences could be just as dramatic and surprising
Global Finance Wants to Protect Its Culture. First, It Should Reform It
EVERYWHERE, the stewards of capitalism are in flux, grappling with the implications of a radically different future that’s set to play out from home offices, living rooms, and kitchen tables around the world.
Tame Inflation Risks With These Hedging Strategies
FOR MANY INVESTORS in the U.S., high inflation may feel like a distant worry—an historical footnote from the 1970s or a problem of poorly run economies in emerging markets. But there are signs indicating that some investors are worried. Bloomberg can help you see how they’re hedging their portfolios and what you can do to prepare for a dramatic change in prices.
The Crisis Fighters
The Crisis Fighters Central bankers used to bail out financial institutions. In a world wracked by Covid-19, they’ve doled out almost $9 trillion, some of it to a motley cast of unlikely beneficiaries. Will it ever end?
Using Growth Factors to Pick Investments in Equities and Bonds
IN LATE MARCH, the U.S. markets started their amazing recovery from the Covid-19 chaos and economic uncertainty.
Looking to Follow the Fed? Here's How to Find Key Data for That
CHAIR JEROME POWELL has repeatedly said the Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support economic activity.
China's Growth Story Isn't What It Seems
GROWING UP IN Bulgaria with the Soviet bloc crumbling around me, I knew from experience the communist gift for turning gold into dross.
VOLKSWAGEN TRIPLES ELECTRIC CAR SALES AHEAD OF CLIMATE RULES
Europe’s push into electric cars is gathering speed — despite the pandemic.
The GOD of WAR
Italian boutique coachbuilder Ares Design unveils its first production supercar
LiDAR MAPPING A GOLD MINE
When Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega, Georgia, wanted to open more of its areas to public tours, they asked Inspired Intelligence, a family owned and operated drone business in Buford, Georgia, to help. Inspired Intelligence CEO and founder Nir Pe’er explained, “Besides drone technology, we also used new, amazing cutting-edge technology called LiDAR.
THE STORY OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD
GRATEFUL DEAD ARCHIVIST DAVID LEMIEUX EXPLAINS THE STORY OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD, AN AMAZING BOX SET OF 14 LPS CURATED BY VINYL ME PLEASE.
CREATIVE TOOLS
How four master builders defined the path of the 2021 BMW R 18
Membership Gets You More
In the days of coronavirus, what subscription travel offers is a sense of being in this together – apart
Amazon's European Adventure Could Be Different From Google's
There are signs that the company and the European Union are working to avoid an antitrust showdown
HOSPITALS CAN CARE FOR MEDICARE PATIENTS AT HOME IN PANDEMIC
Hospitals will be allowed to care for Medicare patients in their own homes during the pandemic under a government program announced Wednesday to help hospitals deal with the latest surge.
EUROPE SIGNS $102M DEAL TO BRING SPACE TRASH HOME
The European Space Agency says it is signing a 86 million-euro ($102 million) contract with a Swiss start-up company to bring a large piece of orbital trash back to Earth.
GLOBAL TECH GIANTS THREATEN TO LEAVE PAKISTAN OVER NEW RULES
Internet and technology companies have threatened to leave Pakistan after the government granted blanket powers to authorities to censor digital content, a move critics say was aimed at curtailing freedom of expression in the conservative Islamic nation.