Top News In Payments: Apple Card Sees High Demand, SoftBank In Talks To Rescue WeWork

Today in the payment’s news roundup, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said there has been a lot of demand for Apple Card as of its launch in August. Also, JPMorgan and SoftBank are reportedly in discussions to rescue WeWork before it runs out of money. And Wells Fargo managed to slightly beat revenue predictions when it announced its earnings on Tuesday (Oct. 15).

Goldman CEO Boasts Of High Apple Card Demand

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon noted that there has been a lot of demand for Apple Card as of its launch in August. Solomon said in a conference call to investors that, since that time, “we’ve been pleased to see a high level of consumer demand for the product. From an operational and risk perspective, we’ve handled the inflows smoothly and without compromising our credit underwriting standards.”

Wells Says Today’s Costly Investments Is Tomorrow’s Innovation In Progress

Wells Fargo managed to slightly beat revenue predictions when it announced its earnings on Tuesday (Oct. 15). On the whole, however, there were more misses than hits by the numbers as the bank is still recovering from troubles that began to emerge with the account creation scandal of 2016. However, investors didn’t seem fazed by all the red arrows pointing down, as its stock price had steadily risen during the afternoon after the results hit the wire.

SoftBank, JPMorgan Discuss Bailout To Prevent WeWork Insolvency

JPMorgan and SoftBank are reportedly in discussions to rescue WeWork before it runs out of money, which is forecast to occur by mid-November. Sources told one outlet that talks between SoftBank and JPMorgan have been ongoing ever since the startup’s initial public offering (IPO) was pulled roughly two weeks ago. A bailout could reportedly involve equity from SoftBank and debt from JPMorgan.

Coinbase CEO Calls Senators’ Libra Opposition ‘Un-American’

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of San Francisco-based Coinbase, reportedly had some strong words for U.S. senators he accused of intimidating other firms to drop out of the Libra project. The Express reported that Armstrong called the senators “un-American” for their tactics. Multiple high-profile firms have dropped out of the Libra Association in the last few weeks.

Bringing Autonomous Smart Shuttles To The Masses

Environmental and safety concerns over vehicles have led many Gen Z and millennial customers to rely more on public transportation or rideshares. As a result, the individual self-driving car may not be as desirable as some manufacturers are expecting. Bringing self-driving cars to the world of public transportation is a different story, however, according to Joe Moye, CEO of autonomous mobility company Beep. The firm is approaching the smart car for public transportation through its Florida pilot program.

Citi On Simplifying Cross-Border Payments

With the always-on, 24/7/365 economy, payments that circle the globe should conceivably be as simple as those made in a peer-to-peer (P2P) transaction. In reality, however, cross-border payments are fraught with friction, particularly when it comes to business-to-business, or B2B.

In the latest installment of the “What Treasurers Need to Know” podcast series, Amit Agarwal, global head of cross-border payments at Citi, told Karen Webster that the world is becoming flatter and supply chains are getting longer, stretching across currencies as well as borders.