By Christopher Hamman
With key inflation numbers rising, many people wonder if the US economy will rebound as it has always done.
In capitalist economies, cycles are the norm.
ESG markets got a boost with the launch of a new index. Against all odds, eToro got its bitlicense from New York State Authorities.
ChatGPT ruffled feathers with the top guns at JP Morgan.
This is your week in Digital Wealth!
WealthTech, RegTech and Treasury
Morningstar
Boutique investment research firm Morningstar launched “Morningstar Global Sustainable Activities Involvement Indexes (SAI)”, a new product that provides investors with access to companies and investments that function in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ESG best practices.
For a start, SAI included five indexes-Basic needs, climate issues, human capital, resource sustainability, and healthy ecosystems.
FlexTrade Systems/Blue Ocean Technologies (BOT)
FlexTrade Systems collaborated with Blue Ocean Technologies to extend FlexTrade’s sell-side products to broker-dealers.
The partnership enables clients to access after-hours trading in the equities markets from 8.00 pm to 4.00 am (eastern) on Blue Ocean’s ATS platform.
Morgan Stanley
According to media reports, financial behemoth Morgan Stanley has re-entered the ETF race and will go head-to-head against other wealth managers and financial institutions.
The financial giant launched six ETFs in the United States last month, and several more are coming on stream.
Morgan Stanley created the World Equity Benchmark Series (WEBS) ETFs in partnership with Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in 1996 and sold its stake to BGI in 2000.
BlackRock acquired WEBS in 2009 and rebranded as iShares.
Crypto, Blockchain and Digital Assets
eToro
As a part of its expansion into the crypto space, social investing and trading platform eToro received approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) for its money transmitter and virtual currency licenses (a.k.a “BitLicense”).
The approval comes as regulatory scrutiny increases on existing crypto firms.
New York State residents will trade crypto and other securities once the license becomes functional.
Circle
Stablecoin issuer Circle revealed it was allocating $65 million of its USDC cash reserves to Citizens Trust Bank as part of its policy commitment to Minority-Owned Depository Institutions (MDIs) and Community Banks.
The partnership includes financial inclusion and digital financial literacy initiatives in Atlanta.
Tezos Blockchain/ Google Cloud
As a part of its expansion into the Web3 space, Google Cloud partnered with Tezos Foundation to enable corporate clients to deploy Web3 applications.
Per the partnership, Google Cloud became a blockchain validator, which allows blockchain node activation and operations within its infrastructure.
Fintech, Personal Finance and Apps
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo will introduce a personal finance app for high-network individuals.
Wealth & Investment Management clients in Wells Fargo’s Private Client Group, Wealth Brokerage Services, and Financial Network Channel will have access to “Lifesync” from next month.
Lifesync will enable users to track their financial goals and targets.
Stripe
As part of its efforts in combating fraud, Stripe launched its “Enhanced Issuer Network” in partnership with major card issuers.
Key players can directly integrate Stripe Radar, its fraud-scoring product, into individual authorization platforms. Seamless access to fraud scores offers several benefits, including improved consumer checkout experiences and increased business transaction authorization rates.
Arnie
Co-founder sisters Eliza and Izabel Arnold launched Arnie, a FinTech 401k provider that functions like a brokerage account with lots of flexibility.
Arnie offers a break away from traditional providers with custom indexing, daily rebalancing of portfolios, customized investment choices, and more.
Banking, Payments and Infrastructure
JP Morgan
As part of necessary measures to curb the disclosure of sensitive information, banking giant JP Morgan banned employees from interacting with ChatGPT, the increasingly popular artificial intelligence chatbot.
With over 100 million users, the bot has generated controversy and popularity, with tech giants launching rivals.
GoDaddy
Top internet domain registrar GoDaddy launched “Payable Domains”, a product that creates payment links and allows checkout.
Domain owners can share their Payable Domain link via text QR code, social media, and other means while processing payments from the GoDaddy dashboard.
They can also receive payments into their bank accounts after verification. Fees are among the lowest in the payments industry at 2.3% and 0.03 for each online transaction.
Arvest Ban
Following its selection of Thought Machine’s “Vault” in September 2021 as its new core banking system, Arkvest Bank revealed that it became the first US financial institution to offer lending solutions on the platform.
The Arkansas-based financial institution launched an equipment finance lending product in October 2022.
REtech, Insurtech and Investing
Municipal Property Insurance Company (MPIC)
MPIC revealed it chose the insurance SaaS company Origami Risk for claims administration, underwriting, and billing activities.
The Wisconsin-based MICP will tap into Origami’s digital capabilities to deliver seamless digital risk management solutions to its clients, brokers, and agents.
Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE)/OneShield
Florida-based Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), disclosed the extension of its 16-year partnership with insurance solutions firm OneShield.
Per the extension, PURE will continue to use the various tools available in OneShield’s arsenal and will improve the software providers’ customer engagement practices.
