Why Banks Are Ditching ‘.com’ for Bank

`Bank’ Domain – Consumer Protection

With over 4,000 registrations in the U.S for web address, European banks have been making haste in acquiring the more secured domain name `bank; where more than 500 European financial organizations have signed to take advantage of this special domain. According to the chief executive of domain name seller, CentralNic, the reason is `consumer protection.

Ben Crawford informed CNBC that the reason for the `bank’ domain is basically that the millions of dollars which are lost annually are through online fraud’. Several banks together with the popular establishments in recent yearshave seen breaks in their network inclusive of JPMorgan in 2014 when the bank had revealed that some 76 million household together with seven million small businesses had their data conceded by cyber-attack.

Besides this, a report of 2014 by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies projected that the cybercrime costs the global economy over $400 billion each year. The domain name `bank’ is only made available to banks and hence it gives consumers the security of knowing that if they tend to get to a website which ends with `bank’, it is not a bogus website, it is not deceptive and it can be trusted.

`CentralNic – Support Financial Institutions

In order to avail one of these domain names, it is said that banks are paying about $1,500 which is higher than the standard consumer name of domain. The role of CentralNic in the procedure is to render support to financial institutions in order to go through the compliancy issues, in obtaining the new domain name while `bank’ seems to be operated by fTLD Registry Services.

Moreover, CentralNic also seems to have some contribution in the launch of Google’s Alphabet website `abc.xyz’ Entrepreneur. The owner of `xyz’ is Daniel Negari though CentralNic is the exclusive wholesaler for `xyz’ which helps in powering the domain’s registry. Registrations on `xyz’, according to Reuters had increased intensely since the announcement from Google with Crawford adding the `xyz’ being the only contender to the future `.com’.Customers are being compelled to seek alternative options of banking due to bank fees and low interest rates. But will going `bank-free’, provide the answer to these problems?

`Credit Union/Money Market Mutual Funds

To know if the world could do without a bank, it is essential to determine how the changes have taken place in banking and if those changes are friendly or not to the consumers. Co-owner of Money Crashers, Andrew Schrage states that several people seem to be ditching their banks.

 He further commented that over 5.6 million Americans have closed their accounts with the big banks and among those consumers; around 214,000 had opened new accounts with a credit union. With the increase in bank fees, low interest rates accompanied with poor customer service at several of the large banking institution, people seem to be unhappy.

Schrage informs that two of the best alternatives to bank in keeping your funds in place where it could gain a return are credit unions as well as money market mutual funds. The interest rate, for instance, offered on credit union accounts are usually on the higher side than those offered by most banks, and the fees seems much lower.

Money market mutual funds also seem to be a good alternative which is an investment in short term certificates of deposit or securities. These could be in the form of Treasury bills, government bonds or corporate bonds.

Oil Sinks to Biggest Weekly Decline of 2015 after IEA Warning

Oil Dropped to Major Weekly Decline – IEA Emphasised Excess Level of Global Crude

Oil dropped to its major weekly decline of the year after International Energy Agency report emphasised the level of the global crude excess. The energy monitor - IEA, informed that low prices are taking a toll on supply. However, producers have not scrambled back to make dent in the stockpiles. For six straight sessions, oil had fallen, in registering its massive weekly percentage decline of 2015. The latest oil’s selloff that hadreduced prices by around a third since the beginning of the year has started rattling stock and debt market again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 270 points recently and the Junk bonds which were also whirling from a fund’s closure had also collapsed. January delivery of U.S. oil futures had fallen by $1.14 to $35.62 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Brent, while the global benchmark had fallen by $1.80 per barrel, to $37.93 on ICE Futures Europe. Both had lost around 11% for the week, placing them down a third for the year as well as at their lowest settlement since the financial predicament.

IEA Monthly Report – World Oil-Demand Growth – To Be Relaxed

In February 2009, U.S. oil had last settled this low and Brent in December 2008 and the last time U.S. crude, had posted a six-session losing streak was in March. For Brent it was in mid-2014. In recent weeks, currency managers had abruptly moved against crude, constantly adding to bets on the falling prices. Recently the data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, indicated only 80,474 additional bets on the rising prices than the falling prices, which is said to be the smallest margin in more than five years.

The IEA, in its monthly report had indicated that the world oil-demand growth would relax to 1.2 million barrel each day towards 2016 after flowing to 1.8 million barrels per day this year since support from sharply falling oil prices had started to disappear. Unrelenting strong OPEC production together with extra Iranian oil hitting the market in the next year would increase global inventories by around 300 million barrels.

Oil Would Rebound to $65

IEA has commented that `as inventories tend to increase towards 2016, there would be a lot of oil weighing on the market’. Prices of several oil company shares had revealed the notion that oil would rebound to $65 per barrel according to managing director at investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co; Matt Portillo.

The prices together with the oil futures curve are presently below $60 per barrel all through 2024, and indication that a recovery seems very remote. Mr Portillo has informed that `it’s the slow meltdown which is being seen in the market presently’. Besides this, there also seems to be broad concerns regarding growth, particularly in emerging markets which in the earlier years had directed demand growth in raw materials.

Central bank of China had recently indicated its intention of changing the way it tends to manage the value of Yuan by loosening its peg to the dollar which could be a bad indication for oil demand in the second largest oil consumer in the world, according to senior research analyst at ClearBridge Investment, Dimitry Dayen, which manages the assets of $103.9 billion. He had commented that `if they tend to devalue their currency which is a bit of what is prevailing presently; the commodity will become more expensive locally and could drive the demand lower’.

RBI Rejects Bids at Bond Sale for Second Consecutive Week

RBI Rejects Bids at Government Bond Sale

The Reserve Bank of India rejected all the bids at its 150 billion rupee government bond sale including the benchmark 10 year debt, recently, marking the second week consecutively when it did not accept some of the bids. The RBI had only accepted 49.4 billion rupees worth of bids for its sale of 70 billion rupee of 2025 bonds and had accepted only 22.9 billion rupees of the 30 billion rupees worth of 2034 bonds that were being sold.

 The balance three bonds had been totally allotted. RBI has the option of not accepting all bids at the debt auctions through a procedure known as a `devolvement’, which tends to lead underwriting dealers to purchase some of the shortfall in undersubscribed tenders at determined cut-off yield. According to a treasurer at HDFC, Ashish Parthasarthy, he comments that `the yield may not be acceptable and they would find it too high’.The devolvement has come up when the RBI is tied up in a complicated balancing act with domestic yields in order to keep the volatility away from its bond markets ahead of the policy decision of the Federal Reserve this month.

Fourth Auction with Weak Bids/High Yields

This seems to be the fourth auction which has seen weak bids and demands at high yield levels from the market. The RBI may not have been relaxed giving a cut-off which did not reflect its accommodative monetary position, according to bond traders.

The government is scheduled to raise Rs 15,000 crore by allotting four bonds at the weekly auction. Presently the craving for bonds is quite low in the market and several investors have incurred losses after yields shot up sharply after the policy statement and are now being careful according to the managing director of ICICI Securities Primary Dealership, B. Prasanna. Government bond earnings have increased by at least 10 basis points over the last one week as an aggressive policy statement from RBI, the effects of global bond sell-off earlier in the month as well as anxieties over domestic inflation that kept several buyers at bay. The 10 year benchmark 7.72%, 2025 bond yield closed at 7.8%, up 10 bps from the earlier week. The bond has suffered losses for all investors who had bought it at the maiden auction in May.

Last Devolvement – June 12

In the policy of June, the RBI had reduced its repo rate by 25 bps, but had raised it inflation forecast to 6% for January and had commented that it has frontloaded its rate cuts. This however brought about expectations of the future rate cuts sharply down in the bond market. Moreover, the bond yields from US to Europe has also increased to multi-month highs since the investors deserted fixed income in the midst of rising oil prices as well as the forthcoming rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

The last devolvement of RBI had been on June 12, when the sentiments seemed negative owing to high inflation reading. An official aware of the central bank’s decision in explaining the devolvement had informed that `the bids had come at much higher yields’. He had added that the central bank was also certain in not devolving in too big an amount to avoid destabilising the markets.

Free Super Bowl Ad for Small Businesses

Super Bowl Ad - A Dream with Huge Monetary Strings Attached 

For several industries, a Super Bowl ad seems to be a reserved dream having huge monetary strings attached. But each year, only a single industrialist tends to gets a free award, a 30-second Super Bowl commercial in the Small Business Big Game contest. Around 15,000 small businesses had applied in 2015, for the Small Business Big Game contest and only three finalists were left. To begin with, the field is tapered to 10 finalists through a panel of judges who tend to review each enterprise depending on numerous factors which comprise of authenticity, passion as well as an emotional connection to the public.

The ultimate three businesses tend to get selected from this collection in agreement with a popular vote. Advertising being on parity with the proper finances in order, this could be a great opportunity of enhancing a business. This event has been sponsored by Intuit QuickBooks where the grand prize spot seems to be valued at $5 million. This contest tends to draw thousands of small business, yearly, who are hopeful and tend to look forward towards new and affordable means of boosting their business and drawing new audiences.

Small Business Big Game Contest – Ideal Solution for Small Businesses 

The winner tends to get the free Super Bowls add, however, the second and the third place businesses tend to receive a $25,000 prize together with a free local media spot which is valued at $15,000. But some understanding business owners seem to know that advertising on par with thorough financial planning as well as the ultimate consolation prize is the free publicity.

 For instance, the ten judges who are the selected finalists tend to ride the free publicity wave with social media hastag in order to support them to maximize their branding. To win the competition, it does not need the biggest number of followers of social media. On the contrary, judges tend to concentrate on the passion, ability, community involvement and much more of the business.

This year’s favorite, in fact had the least amount of likes on Facebook. However, it seems active in community events as well as children’s sports leagues resulting in steadfast support of its community. Small businesses with the need of little help in reaching national audience abroad could turn to the ideal solution of the Small Business Big Game contest.

How to Prevent and Copy without Data Loss

Files/Folders/Application/Complete System – To Be Fully Protected

There could be instances in one’s life where they are faced with the fact when their external storage systems seems to fail and they tend to lose most of their valuable information and treasured images as well as important business presentation within a split of a second. It is essential to have your files, folders, application and the complete systems fully protected and safeguard the important data and the application. However, these issues of data loss could be resolved if one tends to have a backup drive and one that is in a good spot. The user needs to ensure that the backup is updated regularly.

Whenever possible, enable the system to back up itself every ten to fifteen minutes based on how one tends to work on the files. Though one may not be in a position to envisage every storage malfunction, it could get worse if the same is not enabled on a regular basis. Besides this, examine the storage system to make sure that they have a strong data recovery process which can cater to all the needs of the user. For backup and disaster recovery, user should contact a specialist who is equipped to handle the situation and provide a solution for the recovery of data and other important information. 

Recovery Software for External Hard Drive Problem

If one tends to have problem with their external hard drive, which are known to malfunction after a few years of work, but the computer seems to recognize the drive, one could use the recovery software, but if the computer does not seem to recognize the storage device the services of a specialist would be essential. The provider offers, backup and disaster recovery which tends to work with granular recovery options, systems snapshots, bare metal restores as well as full server fail over. Sometimes a server tends to crash, a virus abolishes files or it could be an outage leaving your office unavailable, when you’re prepared for it it will be easy to handle the situation with the help of a specialist.

 However with the services of the specialist, one could continue working by utilizing their local and cloud recovery functions. They tend to make it easy to recover anything which seems to be lost within minutes thus keeping the flow of work ongoing. When one tends to work frequently with important data as well as information, you should choose the appropriate system for your requirements. Ensure to back-up the system on a regular basis, paying heed to the warning signals of malfunction whenever it may arise and overcome the situation of ever facing any important data loss.

Oil Prices Tumble to Five-Year Low as OPEC Gathers in Vienna

Oil Prices Collapses to Lowest Level in Five Years

As OPEC leaders meet in Vienna to set the prices for the year ahead, oil prices have collapsed to the lowest level in five years. After the US stockpiles flowed in November, Brent crude for January delivery dropped by 3.7% to $42.77 per barrel in London. US Energy Information Administration shocked the market, which had hoped the level of oil to drop during winter, by reporting that the glut of oil in America had increased by 1.2m barrels till November 27 to reach 489.4m barrels thus approached its highest level on record.

In the meanwhile, weak inflation report from Eurozone raised the possibility of the European Central Bank launching a new round of motivation sending the dollar to its highest level over 12 years. Besides this it also weighed on the oil price as the greenback is utilised to price the product.

The oversupply of crude oil due to its strong production from the U.S. together with some of the OPEC members, has been keeping the prices over 45% less than their highs from last June. Several of the investors as well as the analysts are of the belief that the global oil surplus would shrink in the coming months as demand increases and U.S. production falls in reaction to spending cuts.

Output Level Crossed its Quota of 30M Barrel/Day

In the meanwhile, market watchers are of the opinion that world-wide crude output tends to continue exceeding the consumption. The July delivery of light sweet oil, recently feel by $1.64 to $58 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The global benchmark Brent fell $1.77 to $62.03 per barrel on ICE Future Europe.

 In its last meeting, OPEC which had opted against reducing production inspite of plunging oil prices is expected to stick to that policy. The group’s output level had already crossed it quota of 30 million barrels per day. According to government reports, the output is near multi-decade in Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Additional Iranian crude would probably enter the market this year, if on-going negotiations with Iran would result in a lifting of sanctions.

Senior market strategist at Chicago brokerage iiTrader, Bill Baruch has stated that `Russia’s picking up production, the U.S. is picking up and there seems to be no reason why OPEC would hold back from picking up production. We could see prices below $50 by the end of this month’.

Shale-Oil Production to Rise in the Coming Years

The Chief Executive of ConocoPhillips, Ryan Lance had mentioned in a conference ahead of the OPEC meeting that U.S. shale-oil production would rise in the forthcoming years as drilling would get cheaper and more efficient. He stated that the industry had already cut the price wherein it could profitably produce shale oil by 15% on an average and by 2020; shale oil production could become 15%-20% more efficient.

In the U.S., some of the shale-oil producers state that if prices tend to stabilize above $60 a barrel, they could increase the production. Several times recently, the U.S. benchmark had traded above $60 a barrel though had not held above it. John Saucer, vice president of research and analysis at Mobius Risk Group in Houston, had stated that the `OPEC was successful in shaking out high cost inefficient guys who did not make any cash at $100 and those left were certainly leaner, meaner and more efficient’.

Prudent Suppliers of Custom Products

New businesses often enter an industry populated by well-established and respected businesses. These existing businesses already have a loyal customer base and don't need to make a first impression. If businesses like this get lazy in their packaging or customer service, though, it leaves an opening for new businesses to make their own first impression.

Strategic suppliers of custom products

Custom products are one way to make a terrific first impression on customers. Appearances aren't everything, but when packaging items, customers have been shown to pay attention to packaging. It's one of the extra flourishes that show customers you exemplify professionalism and take pride in your products.

Hang tags

Custom hang tags are among the most popular of all supplier products. These simple square pieces of paper hang on doors and prominently display in-depth information about a business. They have a large advertising space and room for graphics, too, which make them perfect for non-obtrusive advertising that can get a lot of information to the customer without seeming to bombard them with too much information at once. Many businesses use these as free hand outs to customers.

Custom address labels

Digital printing services frequently supply address labels that bring a professional and sleek look to all mail communication from a business. These addresses are clearer to read than handwritten addresses and make a great first impression on customers who order a product from a new business. Suppliers work with businesses to analyze the reputation of the business and determine what the best colors and text fonts are to represent the business.

These are just a few of the products that suppliers use to make memorable first impressions for new businesses that want to win over customers in their industry. This requires a great deal of marketing analysis, strategy, and quality printed products. If a business needs printed business cards, hang tags, and address labels, suppliers need to be readily available to collaborate on the project and reach an agreement on the best style and fonts to use for all printed products. Materials need to be high quality printed materials that make the business look professional and available to help customers. Information is king and printed products contain all the information a business might need to communicate in order to win over or retain customers. Digital printing suppliers are both marketers and businessmen themselves and know how to win over new customers.

The Chinese Yuan is Going Global

Yuan Part of Selected Basket of Currencies

According to the International Monetary Fund – IMF, the Yuan is now part of selected basket of currencies which till now included only the US dollar, the Japanese yen, the euro and the British pound. The Yuan would not generally be a part of the basket till September 2016 and this move would not be having any immediate influence on the financial markets.

This gesture seems to be a significant one and an indication that China has been progressing faster and further on the global financial stage. It has been predicted by Nomura Securities that by 2030, the Yuan would become one of the highest three major international currencies, `a peer to the US dollar as well as the euro, as the most used currencies in the world’.

However, it all depends on whether China tends to continue its financial reforms which have been one of the major reasons of the IMF’s verdict of including the Yuan in this choice basket currency. The IMF has informed that` the decision was an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy in the global financial system’. It would bring a more robust international monetary as well as financial system.

China – Important to the Global Financial System

Nomura has informed that though the share of yuan’s trading volumes in the international currency market tends to be small, less than 2% comparative to China’s share of global gross domestic product, its daily trading volume had tripled between 2010 and 2014 from $34bn to $120bn. This indicates that there is a lot more yuan on the markets.

For the last few years, China had been working towards this and it is amazing that their extremely managed currency seems fit to enter this special basket of freely traded currencies. Beijing considers the inclusion of the yuan as an indication of how important China has become to the global financial system.

The world’s second largest economy had to push through numerous changes in recent times inclusive of enabling foreign investors in accessing its stock markets, to make this happen. The main determinant as to whether the yuan gets to the next step will depend on how transparent China would be about the way it tends to run its financial market.

Chinese Official under Pressure/Scrutiny

Considering the slowing economic growth in China, analysts have accepted that there have been some disturbing signs which the government is trying to either roll back on some the key financial changes or that those in charge may not know what they are doing. The point is that earlier this year, the effective devaluation of the year had taken the markets by surprise and the People’s Bank of China was disapproved for mishandling the communication around how the events had unfolded.

Chinese officials are now under more pressure as well as scrutiny in getting their message right. Moreover the world would also be watching to see what type of influence more yuan would have in circulating in the international markets. Should the yuan tend to be a fixture of the global economy, there is a possibility that the rest of the world would become even more exposed to what Beijing does, which will make it more important that the leaders of China push through meaningful financial changes.

Why China ‘Spill Over’ Poses Risks for the Euro Zone

China’s Slowdown – Risks for Euro

The economic slowdown of China could face risks for euro ranging from decreasing exports, capital outflows and exchange rate fluctuations, according to the European Central Bank – ECB. China the second biggest economy following the US plays an important role in the global trade and its economy seems to have slowed down every year since 2010.

It seems to be continuing in doing so till at least 2016 when the International Monetary Fund forecasts growth by 6.3%. From the start of 2015, the slowdown of growth in China has condensed euro area exports especially exports of machinery and transport equipment and this has brought about adverse consequence particularly for exporters of manufactured goods.

 According to the bank’s recent financial stability review, this has been accountable for around 90% of goods exports to China. The ECB which tends to control the monetary policy in the 19 countries using the euro informed that 1% point slowdown in Chinese real gross domestic products – GDP would drop around 0.1-0.15% points off euro area movement after around two to three years.

Confidence Shock – Led to Tightening of Financial Situation

The ECB have stated that an economic `confidence shock’ probably owing to a worse than expected slowdown in China could have led to a tightening of financial situation in the emerging markets with a further slowdown of euro area foreign demand.

It added that besides capital outflows from China if not compensated by the other private or official flows it could activate a depreciation of the Chinese currency taking into consideration, exchange rate depreciation of other emerging market currencies’. The bank has commented that China’s massive economy would mean that it had manipulated a significant effect on the charge of oil though this had declined in recent years as its rapid growth slowed down.

The U.S. crude oil prices had fallen by about 45% since the last year owing to an imbalance of demand as well as supply which has been partially motivated by the economic slowdown of China, an important purchaser of commodities.

Chinese Economy – Important Effect on Oil Prices

According to ECB, the Chinese economy size means that it has had an important effect on the prices of oil though its relevance had declined in recent years since the growth continued to weaken. Hence the influence of slowdown in China on the prices of oil could be limited but it significantly is based on whether the growth in other emerging market economies also slows down.

The background of global economic, including that of China could influence the decision of ECB on whether to extend or expand its 1 trillion euro – $1.1 trillion, asset purchasing program. It is said that the central bank is extensively expected to do so, when it would meet in Frankfurt on December 3.

In its report, the bank concluded that the influence on the euro area of a potential further slowdown in China eventually centres on the extent to which this slowdown spills over to the other emerging markets more generally and the point to which the subsequent loss of confidence tends to affect the global financial market together with global trade.

Bitwalking Dollars: Digital Currency Pays People to Walk

Digital Crypto-Currency Generated by Human Movement

A digital crypto-currency which is generated by human movement has been recently launched. Bitwalking dollars could be earned on walking unlike the other digital currencies like Bitcoins which have been mined by the computers.

To begin with, users would be given the opportunity to spend what they have earned in an online store or trade them for cash. A phone application tends to count and verify user’s step with walkers with the opportunity of earning around 1 BW$ for around 10,000 steps – about five miles.

At first users would be provided with the opportunity of spending what they have earned in an online store or trade the same for cash. Nissan Bahar and Franky Imbesi, the founders of the project have got over $10m of preliminary funding from largely Japanese investors in order to aid the launching of the currency and develop the bank which verifies steps together with any transfers.

Murata, the Japanese electronics giant has been working on wearable wristband which would be providing an alternative option of carrying a smartphone to show how many BW$ the wearer has earned.

Bitwalking - Additional Incentive to Keep Fit

Shoe manufacturers are ready to accept the currency while a UK high street bank is in talks in partnering with the project at one of the UK’s largest music festivals to be held next year.It is said that the founders have a track record in disruptive technology which tends to help developing nations as well as the richer ones.

 Keepod had been launched last year, a $7 USB stick which performs like a computer in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose of Bitwalking is to take the benefit of the trend for fitness followers by providing additional incentives in order to keep fit.

The global scheme intends to partner with sportswear brands health insurance firms, health services, environmental groups as well as advertisers who may be offering unique insights in the audience they may be focusing on. Employers in the future may be offered a scheme to provide to their employees in encouraging them to stay fit, with the currency they tend to earn converted and thereafter paid along with their salaries.

The average person in developed countries tends to earn around 15 BW$ a month, it is expected that in poorer countries where people need to walk further to school, work or to collect water, the Bitwalking scheme would be beneficial in transforming lives.

Currency to be Earned by Anybody

The influence Bitwalking would be making in developing countries does not seem to be lost on the founders and is the main reason in creating the currency. One of the African nations to join at the launch of the project, in Malawi, the average rural wage is about US$1.5 per day.

Carl Meyer, Bitwalking manager for Malawi, has set up the first two Bitwalking hubs in Mthuntama and Lilongwe for local people to be trained on how to trade the BW$ online for US$ or Malawi Kwacha, the local currency.

Bitwalking has not released the procedure used in verifying steps, officially but states that it utilises the handsets’ GPS position and Wi-Fi connection for the calculation of the distance travelled. Transfers of the new currency would be monitored cautiously with transactions going through a central bank which would verify individual deal utilising the block chain system used in transferring other crypto-currencies like Bitcoin. It is a currency which can be earned by anybody irrespective of who they are, or where they come from, according to Franky Imbesi.

Payment Wallet Companies See Red in New Game Plans

Some Payment Wallet Firm – Locked out of e-commerce Segment

Some of the payment wallet firm are of the opinion that they get locked out of the successful e-commerce segment since companies running marketplaces tend to prefer their own subsidiaries or are determined in ensuring that customers spend any cash-back money on their own sites.

Oxigen for instance has said that it is no longer available on one of the biggest shopping sites of India. According to CEO of Oxigen, Ankur Saxena has stated that they are presently on Snapdeal prior to acquiring Freecharge and have decided to take them down.

He further stated that at one point of time they accepted wallets but now they want to come up with their own wallets. Freecharge seems to be the only wallet option on Snapdeal that has also launched cash-back options which tends to direct consumers to the unit’s offerings. Freecharge was acquired by Snapdeal in April this year, for almost 2,400 crore.

Snapdeal had refrained from responding to queries and Flipkart informed that it would not comment on its wallet practices. Saxena had mentioned that the trend would hurt Oxigen and that there would be an impact on the business if the customers are unable to use the wallet on a particular site, they would be compelled to utilise another mechanism to process the payment.

Paytm – Its Own e-Commerce Platform

According to managing partner, Ashvin Parekh of Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services, stated that striking boundaries on the e-commerce evolution could be envisaged as a restrictive exercise and that they have still not achieved anything with regards to permeation of e-commerce.

Market leaderPaytm, though does not seem to be too worried. Vice President Products, Paytm, Nitin Misra had commented that they have better acceptability and more consumers. Why would customer put money in a wallet which can be used only on that particular site and the cash back too cannot be utilised elsewhere?According to him the consumers is not dumb and if someone does not intent to permit them as a payment option on their site it is entirely their choice.

Paytm has expanded to begin its own e-commerce platform and the government as well as the Reserve Bank of India have made financial presence significant, making for an ecosystem wherein payment wallets would play a role together with various other elements. However, what is serious for such companies is having a large subscriber base.

Several Banks Launched Own Wallets

Towards the last week of October, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm had received a message from State Bank of India which was not good news. The message stated that the nation’s largest lender together with its associate banks would not permit their customers to load money onto the Paytm wallet from their accounts.

The reason provided to their query was that the net banking services were only for shopping and not for uploading wallets according to Sharma. After independent wallet companies have started operating in India and gained reputation, several of the banks launched their own wallets.

SBI in fact according to reports by The Economic Times, recently, even planned to launch a wallet for feature phone users known as Batua, by next month. Chairman of Payments Council of India and the managing director of ItzCash, Naveen Surya, had stated that some players would always think that they are big enough and that they have adequate customers. However as one tends to go deeper and begin running independently the payment business, when it is separated from the core business, one would realize that it is difficult to create scale.

The Latest in the Battle to Own Your Digital Wallet

Digital Wallet – Now Standard Features on Smartphones

The fight to own digital wallet is on and 2016 is foreseen as a vital year for mobile payments and according to eMarketer, its total transaction values reaching 210%. Mobile wallets such as Android Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay as well as MCX would now be standard features on smartphones with more merchants adopting point-of-sale systems which would be accepting mobile payments.

Recently in a keynote, JPMorgan Chase had unveiled a payment service together with retail partners comprising of Wal-Mart, Shell and Target. Chase would be needing help and skipping into mobile payments would means competing with companies like Apple, Google, PayPal and Samsung.

Chase Pay seems to be the outcome of a new partnership with JPMorgan Chase and MCX, a multinational of major retailers which has so far been unsuccessful in gaining much transaction in digital payments. The app is said to be made available by mid-2016 and could be utilised for in-store, online and in-app purchases and would be available to all with a Chase credit, debit or a prepaid card account.

Chase Pay to Solve – Pain Points for Consumers

With this kind of scale it could be advantageous and according to CEO of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan Chase, Gordon Smith states that `Chase Pay tend to solve a number of pain points for consumers as well as merchants and will improve the customer experience driving down the cost of payments’. Besides scale, consumer trust could also help chase initiate adoption.

According to latest Phoenix study reported at Money20/20, it was observed that banks and card issuers, followed by PayPal did enjoy a trust benefit against other digital payment players. The research also found that 64% of smartphone payment app users or those preferring to try it would contemplate downloading a bank’s payment app.

Around half the number stated that they would ponder on trying Apple Pay or Android Pay.Google is keen on changing that relative level of comfort and Sridhar Ramaswamy, the company’s senior vice president of ads and commerce would be delivering a keynote wherein he would lay out a vision to drive mobile commerce adoption with Android Pay which is the newly re-launched Google Wallet.

Brought Together NFC/Tokenization/Biometrics

Google had partnered with American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa in order to assist them in integrating Android Pay in the U.S. and is also working with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless in training sales representative to get consumers in setting up with Apple Pay prior to leaving the store with a new device.

Apple however not officially represented at the event was also the focus of many surveys and panels.Brendan Miller, Forrester Research analyst praised Apple for kick-starting the mobile wallet fight with the launch of Apple Pay, believing that it is best positioned to win stating that they have the consumer base and they have the users.

He further added that they had brought together NFC technology, bringing together tokenization as well as biometrics and combining those three things in creating a frictionless consumer experience at the point of sale. PayPal, according to Miller has been at this longer than anyone else and they have more mobile users than any of these competitors Anu Nayar, senior director of communications and customer engagement comments that `as we move to a mobile first world, digital wallets would be moving from a nice have, to a must have, as people tend to tap rather than type for their purchases and PayPal innovations like One Touch could make it easier to buy from mobile.

Perks That Might Be Hiding in Your Credit Cards

Credit cards tend to have its advantage as well as disadvantage if not used rightly. At times even the most responsible people could meet up with problems if they are faced with a dismissalor in a situation of an expensive treatment. If all tends to go well and the user is well aware of what they are doing, credit cards could save them with a lot of money. One need to know their credit card well because if not, they may be unaware of the various perks which some of the credit cards tend to offer and hence will not be able to take advantage of them resulting in losing money. The fine prints should be checked since there are some of the hidden perks, which an individual may be entitled to, while utilising the credit card

Rental insurance 

Spokesman for Clear Point Credit Counselling solutions, Thomas Nitzsche, headquartered in Atlanta, had been faced with a problem when on renting a car to drive from Missouri to Georgia had to street-park it for three days while staying in Atlanta. He had noticed that it had been hit on the rear bumper and the cost to fix it amounted to $800. Though he had not bought the expensive rental insurance, the rental company offered help.Nitzsche’s credit card, VISA Signature comprised of rental insurance and the entire bill was paid after he had submitted the paperwork with proof that the car had been rented by him and was being asked to pay a claim.He informed that Visa was capable of reducing the $800 by around $50 and they probably had some negotiating power.

Airline incidentals 

Matthew Coan running the financial comparison website, Casavvy.com informed that he was overwhelmed with a recent perk provided by the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card, a $100 annual credit for covering airline incidental fees. According to him, these fees comprised of checked bags, flight refreshments, airport lounge passes and much more. A few things need to be kept in mind in order to utilise the perk wherein for the reimbursement of any of these fees, the same has to be paid separately from the airline ticket and can only obtain the fees reversed for one airline for the calendar year.

Dispute resolution 

If the individual feels that they have been overcharged for something, they could contact their credit card and get help. If the dispute resolution service is offered with the card, you stand a chance of getting the charge reduced.

Trip cancellation insurance 

According to Jared Blank, chief marketing officer of the retail website DealNews.com, states that with Chase Ink Plus card, they offer this facility of trip cancellation insurance. He narrates that his parents had booked a cruise and a non-refundable flight for a holiday and had paid with the Chase Ink Plus card. His mother had been ill and the trip had to be cancelled. The airfare and the cruise cancellation fee were reimbursed by Chase that was done without any difficulty.

Extended warranties 

At the time of purchase of a computer or any expensive product, one would often be asked if they would prefer purchasing an extended warranty. They would then get engaged with their associate on, whether the offer would be worthwhile. Four of the major credit card networks, namely MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover tend to offer extended warranties on several, though not all of their credit cards.

7 Common Money Traps Even Smart People Fall Into

Important Aspect - Cash Flow Management

Handling cash flow is very important aspect since all work hard for money and tends to make the most of our income. In order to avoid spending mistakes and help to stretch the cash for a longer time the following tips could be helpful –

1. Buying things on sale

Buying things on sale tends to be a mistake and can actually be a huge money waster. Whatever the price or bargain may be, if one purchases something which would not be used, it would be like throwing away your money. Before indulging in the sale purchase, one need to ask oneself whether the said product would had been purchased if not put up for sale and will be used after purchase. One should indulge in sensible
purchase and not go on a shopping spree for anything on sale.

2. Buying stupid products

Sometimes one tends to indulge in purchasing useless things and then repent for having done so. Prior to purchasing any of these unwanted commodities, one could hold onto to purchases for a later date if essential. It is best to limit them by having certain standards for the purchases especially big purchases.

3. Spending money on problems one cannot solve with money

Stop to think if by going shopping or indulging in some purchases, would help in resolving certain issues in life. There could be other options which could be more beneficial than in shopping and wasting money.

4. Refraining from spending when one has the opportunity

Your hard earned money needs to be spent on what could add great value to your life. It would be pointless if one cannot spend the money earned on important things in life and miss out on opportunities that come your way.

5. Not maximizing rewards and points 

Reward credit cards are of various shapes and sizes enabling the user to collect points on purchases like merchandise, gift cards, airline miles or cash back which could be utilised at the appropriate time when needed. One could opt for a card which offers points while shopping for basic like the grocery which when accumulated could be used for gas fuel or if travelling, an airline miles reward card which could be beneficial in the long run and take advantage of the points or cash back.

6. Not setting up automatic savings outside your 401(k) 

One should discipline oneself in setting up an automatic investment plan to come up after the pay check comes to your bank account every month. We often tend to pay the bills and other non-essential things leaving our savings till the last, if there is anything left after all. This needs to be avoided if keen on a good future.

As the saying goes -Money Saved is Money Earned. You could check with an investment company to set it up which would be very beneficial over a period of time. Automate your savings and investing inside as well as outside of your 401 (k) and set a direct deposit from pay check to bank account and monthly automatic transfer to your investment account.

7. Not spending enough

Sometimes we tend to compromise on our purchases by not buying the essentials when the need arises. We look out for other options which at times could be dissatisfying on purchasing. If one can afford it, go in for the best quality which will satisfy your requirements even if you have to delay the purchase.

Three Ways To Make Your Small Business More Profitable

Small business owners typically find their minds dominated by an important question: How can I make my company more profitable? If you're looking for answers to this question, you'll be happy to note that there are many strategies you can utilize to ensure that your small business becomes a money-making machine. Here are three strategies to try:

1. Enhance Your Meetings.

Meetings are the medium through which you and your business partners strategize regarding how you're going to move the company forward. When you optimize and expedite your meetings to facilitate this purpose, you can get more done in less time. In understanding that time is money, you should recognize the role that meeting enhancement can play in generating more revenue for your company. Businesses like Meeting Metrics specialize in providing business owners with the techniques and tools necessary to keep their companies moving forward and making money. Learn more about all of the business-building services that Meeting Metrics has to offer when you click here.

2. Market Online.

Online marketing has become one of the most expedient and effective advertising methodologies available to small business owners. These days, the phrase "growth hacking" has come to define the process in which small business owners use online marketing strategies to build their audience, convert prospective customers, and generate brand loyalty. One of the great things about growth hacking strategies is that they are cost-effective, meaning that using them can help you generate wealth without necessitating that you invest a lot in the marketing process. Some of the more prevalent growth hacking strategies available to you include:

• website analytics 
• search engine optimization 
• A/B testing 
• content marketing

3. Network.

The key to generating more wealth for your small business is constantly building your network of loyal clients and business partners. This process is realized through consistent, effective networking. If you are not already in the habit of networking in a very systematic, strategic way, you need to put this objective at the very top of your priority list. As you begin, remember that networking can transpire in both formal and informal settings. Formal modes of networking include attending lectures, conferences, and other events related to your field. Informal modes of networking include things such as attending baby showers, football games, and other social events where you're likely to meet new clients.

Conclusion 

If your primary goal is to ensure that your small business becomes as profitable as possible, implementing the strategies above can help. By optimizing your meetings, investing in growth hacking methodologies, and networking regularly, you'll likely find that your small business starts obtaining absolutely amazing conversion rates!