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‘Consumers want brands that resonate with who they are’: Exploring the changing meaning of loyalty with Mastercard’s Kyle Clark
The pandemic and its new normal has caused a fundamental shift in consumers’ behaviors, habits, and preferences. But are loyalty programs sufficiently evolving to account for this shift?
To answer this question, it’s important to first consider how consumers’ lives have changed as a result of the pandemic.
Speaking at Tearsheet’s Acquire Conference in February, Kyle Clark, svp of loyalty at Mastercard, said that over the last couple of years, the constant uncertainty around lockdowns, restrictions, and lack of mobility caused consumers to reconsider and re-evaluate their consumption behaviors.
Looking into the future, Clark says the next generation of consumers, particularly Gen Z, are changing the meaning of loyalty and financial service providers need to adapt quickly in order to stay relevant.
‘My day is very atypical’: A day in the life of Marqeta’s Vidya Peters
Vidya Peters is Marqeta’s chief operating officer -- she relocated from San Francisco to Amsterdam around 18 months ago.
And with her recent relocation, Peters' workday has a bit of a different flavor than the classic 9 to 5 so many people are used to.
The move was a result of a promise she had made to her partner, who’s Dutch, that they would eventually move to the Netherlands so that their kids could get to know relatives there and be exposed to the culture. Covid is when he finally cashed in the check, said Peters.
In a nutshell, Vidya spends her day juggling roles, responsibilities, and time zones. It’s fair to say Vidya’s life is anything but boring.
'I don’t mention blockchain by design -- it lets our customers think about the semantics of their business': Shaul Kfir, Digital Asset
Digital Asset helps power what it calls the Global Economic Network, an ecosystem of interconnected global networks across which information and value are transacted seamlessly. If the internet is the network of networks, that’s what Digital Asset is creating around financial services firms. Think of a global settlement network that includes multiple financial firms and can connect in blockchain just as well as it can an Oracle database.
Shaul Kfir is the firm's chief architect and he joins us on th podcast to talk about the firm’s new rollout of its software Daml 2.0 and how its evolved over time. We also discuss the partnership Digital Asset cut with SETL on the blockchain protocol which will underpin the Regulated Liability Network. If you’re looking for a view into where the world is headed with blockchain and the incumbent financial industry, you’re going to want to pay attention.
Just look at the charts
1. UnionPay's market share dominance
Source: Richard Turrin
2. New GPT AI-powered large language model for banking
Source: Evan Kirstel
Today's stories
Pay taxes with Venmo?
ACI Worldwide is offering PayPal and Venmo payments to federal taxpayers (PYMNTS)
Dollar General is piloting BNPL
Dollar General announced a series of new financial services aimed at increasing access to banking options and providing additional customer payment alternatives (Finextra)
Goldman Sachs ties up with Galaxy Digital
Goldman Sachs is offering interested clients access to an ether fund issued by Galaxy Digital, according to regulatory documents filed with the U.S. SEC (CoinDesk)
Better.com = Youarefired.com
Better.com employees learned of layoffs when severance checks appeared in the firm's payroll app (TechCrunch)
A new unicorn, Stax wants to take on Stripe
Payments firm reached unicorn status with a valuation of just over $1 billion after raising $245 million (PYMNTS)
Goldman Sachs investment bank is too damn profitable
GS is doing so well with investment banking that investors are skeptical of chairman and CEO David Solomon’s efforts to transform the legendary Wall Street firm into catering to both Wall Street and Main Street (Institutional Investor)
Selfbook valued at $300 million after Series A extension
Hotel payment software provider Selfbook has completed a $15 million extension of its Series A financing that values the company at $300 million in Tiger-led extension (TechCrunch)
Creative marketing ideas that keep banking on its toes
A unique and effective marketing campaign is crucial to any sector, but banking needs them the most because 'traditional' can get old, real fast (The Financial Brand)
Bain Capital Venture pours into crypto projects
Bain Capital Ventures -- one of the world's biggest startup investment firms -- is launching a $560 million fund focused exclusively on crypto-related efforts (Bloomberg)
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