First, they would have to be granted a banking license. Secondly, they would have to be regulated the way a bank is regulated. In a less regulated market though it could happen. Large technology companies as those mentioned upto this stage of the article will likely be better served to own a bank holding company, or partner with one that can carry the regulatory and infrastructure burdens while allowing the tech firms to expand services through their existing channels without the unnecessary weight of additional regulatory expertise. This can be compared to companies either owning their own property or leasing from a specialized company that owns and manages properties. If ownership is in your capital structure interest, then do it, but if it isn’t, let someone else own it so you can put your capital into what you’re good at. If Nuon is a bank, we are sure Google already is.
Time to bring back Glass-Steagall
Isn’t Microsoft vested in the same “technologies”? Interesting to see that a LinkedIn Editor would leave them out of the whole scheme of things, especially following Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn. Perhaps a way of making Amazon/Facebook/Google “too big to fail”??…smells to high hell!! Commercial banks are not supposed to be high-risk ventures; they are supposed to manage other people’s money very conservatively. It is with this understanding that the government agrees to pick up the tab should they fail. Investment banks, on the other hand, have traditionally managed rich people’s money — people who can take bigger risks in order to get bigger returns… oligarchic deep state writ large… what a disgrace…
Wiki: Glass-Steagall Act
The plaque at the old Shakey’s pizza parlor said it all,
“Shakey’s doesn’t cash checks, the bank doesn’t make pizza.”
Owning the technology infrastructure and the “user experience” is extremely lucrative. On the other side, being a bank can be lucrative but it also requires that you maintain much of the “plumbing” of the banking process which is a) very cumbersome, b) heavily regulated, and c) becoming commoditized.
Editorial Word on Social Media Banks
The Lord would have us understand that no one’s spiritual lot can be improved by being a lender or a money changer. Overall Social Media Banks are disguised as advertisements, but it is Big Data that sells your confidential assets, emails, IP address & other very confidential information to other corporations. Facebook’s database should be printing its own dollar anytime soon. In large, big companies will play it safe with new concepts, especially with old institutions like banks. The big 4 (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft) will stay in their respective lanes as a long-term approach and might dabble in a few financial projects in the future. We would rather suggest – banks should become Google, Amazon, etc. by embracing technology and providing the next generation customer satisfaction and user experience consumers. If you stop and think about all the disruption (think of the UBERs of the world etc) it is all orienting value around the customer using new models and technology. We don’t see why the archaic bank models would be any different, as contrary to pointed out above, it may just take longer to gain trust. In the end, we Pakistanis had always listened to the notion that Israel controls the World Online economy. The plastic money is a hoax. Here you go, guys. The real New World Order.
Recent Criticism Tirade on the Cocomo Man
Boycott of all Candyland products is the talk of the town. Cult followers are going to defile anyone that doesn’t belong to their favorite party. They were too blind to see anything when the last government changed finance ministers like diapers. Some people are labeling someone a clown if they don’t know about web 3.0. They say, he is supposed to know this, he’s the minister of finance, he is representing financial policies, and he’s accountable for it all. He is the policymaker of a country that has immense IT export and resource potential.
I would say, ask Miftah about macroeconomics and then judge him. He has a Ph.D. in finance, not in technology. Even many technologists are bewildered about this. If he would’ve uttered nonsense about web 3.0, he would have received more harsh criticism for distorting facts. Everyone is disregarding the most important thing and that is he said the government won’t intervene over there. That’s the spirit Pakistan has been waiting for years. Let’s just hire a web 3.0 expert (are there any) as the finance minister. Sab theek ho jae ga?
