Here are our top five tweets from the week that was. Keep tweeting, and we may feature you next Friday.
@JeffLivingston8: Distribution + BofA brand = watch out #Square!! “@pymnts: #BankofAmerica Launches #Square-Like mPay Service ow.ly/ffJpe”
Square is a wildly successful company that’s in the mPayments fight for the long haul, but their competition certainly got tougher this week with Bank of America’s entrance into the swipe-and-dongle industry. It seems like we see startups as well as major payments players offering their own versions of Square’s idea on a nearly weekly basis, and while Jack Dorsey’s company can lay claim to being the original, the market’s been crowded very quickly. Imagine: in a few years, if you’re still using a Square dongle, you might be a payments hipster.
@stephfierman: How many ways could Discover promote and leverage Diners Club international growth? Ow.ly/fccIC via @pymnts. I like it.
Steph is referring to our piece with Diners Club International president Eduardo Tobon, who spoke with MPD founder David Evans about his plans to reenergize the Diners Club brand abroad. Tobon referenced five fundamental concepts: idea, possibility, innovation, growth and future; that he believes will Diners Club moving forward and expand its global footprint. If you missed the interview, give it a listen here.
@MasterCardNews: Walt Macnee, #MasterCard welcomes all to roundtable in #MAConvoSuite #CashlessConvo bit.ly/W3XUud
Did you know that $88 million Americans are financially underserved? How about that that number increases to $2.5 billion – yes billion – when you count all the adults worldwide? These are just some of the facts we learned when PYMNTS.com had the pleasure of covering MasterCard’s Cashless Conversation on Financial Inclusion at the company’s headquarters in Purchase, N.Y. The depth of knowledge that was shared was impressive, as thinkers from the financial, academic and non-profit spheres all combined for one conversation. Fortunately, PYMTNS.com also had the privilege of speaking with Walt Macnee, vice chairman for MasterCard Worldwide, who shared his thoughts on what role financial institutions should play in aiding the financially underserved.
@WSJ: “We want to enable consumers to pay with whatever they want to pay,” says PayPal president David Marcus. on.wsj.com./TYB1ea
If you’re into payments and you missed the Wall Street Journal’s interview with David Marcus, president of PayPal, it’s a must read. The online payments giant is interested in becoming an offline payments giant as well, and they certainly have the brand and consumer base to do so. Marcus’ full quote on the subject: “We really want to be an open wallet, we want to enable consumers to pay with whatever they want to pay. We have a path to making all of these transactions profitable. We’re doing more and more credit and we’re going to continue expanding there.”
@raytamblyn: Congratulations to the entire V.me team! @pymnts: Visa’s V.me #Mobile Wallet Leaves Beta Backed By 50 U.S. Banks divvy.it/Qdv8eo
It’s nice to hear some positive reviews of the Amazon Lockers, because it’s about to get a whole lot bigger with the news that Staples will soon house the service. Overall consumer reaction to Lockers should be fun to gauge once the system is in widespread use, and it could serve as a huge boon to Amazon at a time when others like PayPal are encroaching on its turf.
Have a good weekend, and happy tweeting!
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