In Zimbabwe, retailers give shoppers airtime instead of change
Following the abandonment of the Zimbabwean dollar back in 2009, numerous hard currencies can be used to pay for goods in Zimbabwe, including the widely preferred US dollar. A problem arises, however, when consumers’ purchases fall short of a whole-dollar amount, because small change is in chronically short supply in the nation. Aiming to provide a new solution to this problem, local startup Yo Time offers an internet platform that allows retailers to give change in the form of mobile airtime instead. READ MORE…
Canada launches a government-backed digital currency
Regular Springwise readers may recall our coverage last year of Bitcoin, the open-source and peer-to-peer digital currency that operates without the involvement of any central authority or bank. Now, a new initiative recently proposed by the Royal Canadian Mint proposes to create the MintChip, a digital currency that’s similar, but is backed by the Canadian government. READ MORE…
Crowdsourced credit card lets members share in profits and decisions
It was only a few weeks ago that we covered CivilisedMoney’s crowdsourced banking services, and recently we came across a new effort that brings a similar concept into the realm of credit cards. Earlier this month Barclaycard US introduced the Barclaycard Ring MasterCard, billed as “the first social credit card to be designed and built through the power of community crowdsourcing.” READ MORE…
In Chicago, insurance company launches community café for locals
Illinois-based insurer State Farm has appeared on our virtual pages several times before, but recently we came across a reason to cover it again. The topic this time? Next Door, a new, branded café the company recently launched in Chicago. Offering financial coaching and classes, the space is designed to help State Farm get closer to the local community. READ MORE…
RFID-enabled watch offers contactless MasterCard payments
Contactless credit cards have been around for several years already through the likes of RFID-enabled offerings such as MasterCard PayPass and VISA PayWave. What we hadn’t seen until recently, however, is a wrist watch offering similar capabilities. Sure enough, Watch2Pay devices include prepaid MasterCard PayPass technology to let consumers pay for purchases with a swipe of their watch anywhere PayPass is accepted. READ MORE…
In the UK, crowdsourced bank offers peer-to-peer financial services
Peer-to-peer banking is not an unfamiliar concept on our virtual pages, and we’ve seen it applied to lending,currency exchange and even currency itself. Now there’s CivilisedMoney, a new, crowdsourced effort in the UK that aims to offer peer-to-peer alternatives to a wide range of banking services. READ MORE…
Singapore bank targets young adults with tailored products
In this era of financial crisis, many banks find themselves struggling to gain favor and trust among young adults. Hoping to rectify this, Singapore’s OCBC Bank recently launched a new banking service targeting just those consumers, with a variety of tailored products and services served up with a splash of youthful style. READ MORE…
Service uses gaming to reward consumers for saving money
It’s all too common to see rewards programs that encourage consumers to spend; far more rare are those that promote saving instead. Just last year we featured Piggymojo, which recruits the user’s friends and family to cheer them on toward their financial goals, and recently we came across a similar initiative called SaveUp, a free service that rewards consumers for their smart financial decisions. READ MORE…
Russian ATM can detect when users are lying
As more and more security measures are being brought in to make internet banking securer than ever before, it was only a matter of time before we saw similar precautions introduced at ATM machines. Now, Moscow-based Sberbank has developed a banking machine that can tell when a patron is lying. READ MORE…
More than 50 percent of the global population has no access to banking services, making it very difficult for them to climb out of poverty. As part of a program to address this issue — known as financial exclusion — technology giant NCR has developed an ATM that taps biometric technologies to make it suitable for use by illiterate and semi-illiterate populations. READ MORE…An ATM designed for illiterate users
