• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Blockchain Consultants

Blockchain Transformations Done Here

  • Pricing Page
  • Block Examples
  • Landing Page

google

Hyperledger Vs Ethereum — Which Blockchain Platform Will Benefit Your Business?

December 8, 2020 by Blockchain Consultants

Codezeros

The two popular open-source Blockchain platforms, Hyperledger and Ethereum have created ripples of innovation in the blockchain world. They have not only found numerous blockchain applications but are also continuously encouraging blockchain developers around the world to engage in its collaborative development of framework and tools. Ethereum development company has tremendously changed the very face of the technology industry, and Hyperledger Blockchain Development, on the other hand, is warming up and doing a great job on the block.

In this article, we will underline the differences between these two highly sought-after blockchain platforms by discussing in lengths about their features.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is an open-source distributed public blockchain network which allows access of data to each participant in the network. Every time a new block is added to the Ethereum Blockchain, it will also be added to the universal copy that exists with all the individual nodes in the network. Everyone across the globe can connect with the help of Ethereum Blockchain Development and maintain the current state of the network. For this very reason, Ethereum is widely referred to as the “World Computer”.

What is Hyperledger?

Developed and hosted by Linux Foundation, Hyperledger is an open-source blockchain project. It was developed keeping in mind the distinctive needs of organizations. So, the Hyperledger Blockchain framework allows enterprises to customize Blockchain applications in accordance with their unique requirements. Hyperledger comprises tools and projects that assure to deliver high scalability, confidentiality, and resilience.

Purpose

Ethereum is designed and developed with the purpose of running smart contracts on EVM for the mass consumption of decentralized applications.

Hyperledger development, however, leverages blockchain technology for business. It has a modular architecture and provides flexibility in the way the enterprises want to use it.

Confidentiality

Ethereum is a public network so it is entirely transparent and all the transactions recorded in the Blockchain network are both visible and accessible by every peer.

Contrary to Ethereum, Hyperledger being a permissioned Blockchain platform is highly secured. All the transactions on the network are visible and accessible only to the parties having correct encryption keys.

Consensus Mechanism

With Blockchain Ethereum Development, all the participant nodes must reach consensus over all the transactions, irrespective of whether an individual node participates in a particular transaction or not. By leveraging the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, all nodes must agree on a ledger to access the recorded entries in the network.

Hyperledger, on the other hand, allows nodes to choose between a no-op (no consensus needed) and Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT). In the latter approach, two or more parties can agree on a key to influence the desired outcome. This precludes undesirable third parties from intervening in the agreement.

Programming Language

Ethereum uses a high-level contract-oriented programming language called Solidity to write smart contracts. However, Hyperledger uses the term “chaincode” as a synonym for “smart contracts”. These “chains codes” are written in Golang, which is a programming language created by Google.

Cryptocurrency

Ethereum has a built-in cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH) and participants can mine Ether by paying “gas” as the cost of each transaction they carry out on the network.

Unlike Ethereum, Hyperledger does not require cryptocurrencies for transactions. Hence mining of cryptocurrencies is not required at all which allows for a scalable consensus algorithm that enables it to handle high transaction rates that further automate business deals made across the network.

But looking at both sides of the coin, as Ethereum has its own ether, it can turn out to be advantageous over Hyperledger in the cases which require a cryptocurrency.

Ethereum vs Hyperledger: When to use which?

Ethereum can be used when,

  • You want to develop public applications or B2C applications. With Ethereum Development Company, one can create a node and each node on the network possesses a copy of the blockchain.
  • You want a community-led by blockchain developers as Ethereum is enhanced and improved by developers worldwide.
  • You are open to working with third parties since most of the tools used for Ethereum Development rely on third-party, open-source projects.

Hyperledger can be used when,

  • You specifically want to develop B2B applications as it is explicitly designed to cater to B2B requirements.
  • You want to define your unique Blockchain infrastructure right from consensus algorithms to which nodes can decrypt which block on the network.
  • You are comfortable using in-house tools supported by top companies as the Hyperledger Blockchain framework is backed by Linux Foundation.

To conclude, both Ethereum and Hyperledger are highly flexible and come with their own set of advantages that are useful for different business scenarios and challenges. You can choose to work with any of these two tools based on the requirement of your blockchain project.

Hyperledger Vs Ethereum — Which Blockchain Platform Will Benefit Your Business?

Source

Filed Under: blockchain, blockchain development, blockchain technology Tagged With: article, blockchain, blockchain-application, blockchain-development, blockchain-startup, blockchain-technology, Business, Companies, Cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency, data, Deals, decentralized, developers, encryption, ETH, ether, ethereum, Ethereum Blockchain, EVM, Go, google, Hyperledger, Infrastructure, Ledger, linux, mining, other, smart contracts, solidity, Technology, world

Bug Bounty Rewards For “Stargate” Doubled By A Wiser Cosmos

October 9, 2020 by Blockchain Consultants

As Cosmos (ATOM) is slowly leading up to its next major network upgrade, Stargate, it announced a bug bounty campaign with double the rewards. This campaign will last three months, and aims to improve the robustness of the software before its inevitable release.

Doubling Down On The Bug Bounties

The Stargate upgrade will see Cosmos complete the original roadmap it had laid down in its whitepaper, and stands to include the first implementation of the IBC protocol. IBC will allow Cosmos to connect to various other blockchain networks, increasing its use cases.

Zaki Manian, one of the early contributors, explained that the Stargate testnet is fully geared to launch. Even so, various teams of Cosmos are very keen to see further testing to the upgrade, in order to help identify critical bugs and exploits that may have slipped past the integration and engineering process.

New Dollar Tax in Argentina Could Boost Crypto Adoption

New Dollar Tax in Argentina Could Boost Crypto Adoption

Learning Lessons From The Past

Through doing so, the team is eager to try and avoid repeating the previous two incidents occurring this past year, where critical components were discovered to hold formidable bug. Back in July of this year, Tendermint’s consensus algorithm had a critical vulnerability discovered within it, which was promptly identified by Bluzelle, the blockchain firm. All the way back in October of 2019, a high-severity security vulnerability was discovered by the Cosmos team itself.

The bug bounty, starting today and ending on the 31st December, 2020, has no maximum program reward. What this means, is there’s no set cap on the amount of money a single bug can be worth, and there’s no limit to the amount of bugs one can report.

As stipulated, a minimum of $5,000 will be given for any identified critical bugs, which stands as twice as much as the last series of bug bounties. Alongside this, high, medium, and low-risk bugs will have their rewards increased, as well.

Originally, they were valued at $1,000, $500, and $100, respectively, but have now been increased to $3,000, $1,000, and $200, respectively.

Maintaining Its Open-Source Philosophy

Tess Rinearson stands as the Vice President of Engineering at Interchan GmbH, a Cosmos development firm. Rinearson gave comment about the matter, explaining that the process of proactively identifying and patching bugs stands as a critical part of any blockchain protocol to make it strong and resilient.

Alongside this, Rinearson gave comment about the release of the Stargate codebase, claiming that it renews the commitment from the firm to maintain an open-source community. Rinearson reaffirmed its goal of bringing Cosmos into a new era, as well.

Bug Bounty Rewards For “Stargate” Doubled By A Wiser Cosmos

Source

Filed Under: blockchain, cryptocurrency Tagged With: Argentina, blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, google, IBC, Market, money, other, security, Software, Stargate, tax, Trading, Vice President

French and Italian Regulators Go After Unlicensed Crypto Services 

September 22, 2020 by Blockchain Consultants

Cryptocurrency scams have continued to grow, and their influence is reaching even the farthest parts of the world. However, regulators worldwide are also improving their ability to track and apprehend these criminal enterprises’ operators.

AMF Cleans Its Crypto Investment Space

Earlier this week, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), France’s top financial regulator, sent out a list of investment companies operating within its borders without the proper authorization. While the companies provide investments in different asset classes, some are also linked with cryptocurrencies.

Most notable among the crypto-linked scam sites is BitcoinFrance. Per the report, the company promises users free access to its proprietary Bitcoin trading software once they deposit $250. The company allegedly has an app that trades crypto markets and purportedly generates $1,000 in earnings daily. It also adds that its investments are risk-free, and customers’ funds are guaranteed. As the AMF said, the list could change at any time as most of these fraudulent companies tend to switch their operations and identities.

So far, the AMF has been doing its bit to ensure effective oversight of its digital asset space. The agency has worked to close loopholes that could provide an avenue for criminals to thrive, and like many other regulators, it has introduced licensing requirements for most industry players.

In July, the agency partnered with another local regulator, les Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), to remind crypto ATM operators of their licensing requirements under the country’s Monetary and Financial Code.

In a press release, the AMF explained that it had noticed a surge in crypto ATM installations and deployments across the country. However, any company that seeks to operate these devices will have to register before proceeding.

“Registration entails, in particular, the setting up of an organization, procedures and internal control system capable of ensuring compliance with the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML-FT) and enabling the freezing of assets,” the release added.

CONSOB’s Blacklisting Spree

Elsewhere, in Italy, the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB), the country’s top securities regulator, has been on a rampant website blocking campaign recently.

The latest action took place on September 18, and it confirmed that the agency had blocked 284 websites since July 2019. These sites claim to specialize in offering forex and cryptocurrency trades, but none had gotten authorizations from the agency.

CONSOB added that most of these companies had shown significant signs of being fraudulent. The moves are coming as the European Union gears up to adopt a new set of cryptocurrency rules. According to a report from Reuters last week, the regional authority has published two documents outlining its mission to adopt digital finance as a means of enhancing its cross-border payments service.

“By 2024, the EU should put in place a comprehensive framework enabling the uptake of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and crypto-assets in the financial sector. It should also address the risks associated with these technologies,” one of the documents read.

As Reuters added, the E.U. is considering enforcing Anti-Money Laundering and identity verification to cryptocurrency transactions. Once done, it will be ready to adopt these assets into its financial regime.

French and Italian Regulators Go After Unlicensed Crypto Services 

Source

Filed Under: blockchain, cryptocurrency Tagged With: ACPR, Bitcoin, bitcoin trading, Companies, Compliance, crypto, Cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency, DLT, Earnings, EU, european union, finance, Financial sector, France, Go, google, investment, Investments, Italy, Ledger, Markets, money, Money Laundering, other, payments, scam, scams, Software, Space, Technology, Trading, world

5 Things You Need to Know Before developing blockchain applications?

August 8, 2020 by Blockchain Consultants

Codezeros

Currently, blockchain technology is majorly affecting the design, financial markets, and the construction industry. However, developers are trying to integrate this technology into other industries too. Many companies are putting their hands in this technology to certainly have a competitive edge over their competitors. Also, no one wants to miss out on the amazing opportunities that this next-generation technology can bring to the businesses.

Blockchain is an evolving technology, so it is important to understand the basics of it. Keeping that in mind, let’s learn about things you should know before developing blockchain applications:

Simply a database

If you will search about blockchain on Google or ask a developer, you will get responses like distributed ledger technology, mining, global ledger, or immutable record. Quite confusing, right? But, when you look into all these technological terms, you will learn blockchain is simply a database.

Moreover, this groundbreaking technology posses a special design feature that changes the base layer of the internet to secures the users’ data. Blockchain pairs a private and a public key to enable decryption and one-way encryption.

Reduces the risk of hacking

In the blockchain, a decentralized transaction ecosystem has been used to provide a real-time database to multiple parties. Here, the parties have a complete copy of the latest as well as the previous history of transactional data.

The access is distributed as decentralized and the risk is reduced to an extent that no single party can breach or temper the data. Therefore, no hacker can record ransom, or hold any data as everyone involved has a complete copy of the database and its history.

No middleman needed

Blockchain provides tokens with digitized services and those tokens can be shifted through the internet without any help of the third party to verify or proceed with the transaction. An algorithm is used to process the decentralized blockchain technology.

Even the medical industry is trying its hands on blockchain innovations relating to the womb to tomb medical records. The industry experts are researching to enhance and improve the record-keeping system of the medical history of every patient. This can help patients to seek holistic care and securely manage their health records. However, the patient can provide access to their health care history to the healthcare centers through a private and cryptographic key. So, the days are gone when patients need to recollect the paper files about their past health records for their future health care provider’s use.

Became popular across the country

In 2018, legislation related to the potential of blockchain software development is in consideration of passing in 14 state legislatures. Most of them have explicitly mandated for the agencies to utilize blockchain technology or establish the study to understand blockchain technology. When compared with last year’s data of active legislatures exploring this technology, this year the increased number of exploration has indicated that the blockchain is here to stay and continue to grow.

Represent transformational changes

The design and construction industries are using several use cases to connect to the blockchain. In these industries funding, planning, designing, maintenance, operation, and construction is needed to manage different projects. Blockchain might ease the communication between stakeholders to streamline this complex process.

Another blockchain area to look into is the Smart Contract. Enabled with blockchain development services, it is an automated self-enforcing contract. Similar to the traditional contract, it governs the relationship between the parties but also governance-on-wheels as the flow and funds are connected to help and automate a series of events.

A complex transaction for the construction or design industry can be brought down with blockchain development services into a series of actions that are connected to the payments. Therefore, the document can govern the service agreement between parties and behaves as a project management platform. For example, after the payment of one blockchain services is automatically done, the other is notified to start with the work.

Blockchain is designed with advanced accessibility and enables investors to invest directly through the purchase of tokens. The investors can also redeem their interest on the bonds through tokens rather than cash. Moreover, it is difficult to predict the future applications of this fast-paced technological development and machinations. If you are planning to integrate the blockchain application, you can consult an enterprise blockchain development company. It will help you to understand where this technology can fit best in your business.

5 Things You Need to Know Before developing blockchain applications?

Source

Filed Under: blockchain, blockchain development, blockchain technology Tagged With: blockchain, blockchain-development, blockchain-technology, Bonds, Business, Companies, data, database, decentralized, design, developers, encryption, events, funding, google, health, healthcare, innovations, Internet, Ledger, Legislation, Markets, mining, other, payments, smart contract, Software, software development, Technology

Germanys COVID-19 contacts tracing app to link to labs for test result notification

April 23, 2020 by Blockchain Consultants

A German research institute that’s involved in developing a COVID-19 contacts tracing app with the backing of the national government has released some new details about the work, which suggests the app is being designed as more of a “one-stop shop” to manage coronavirus impacts at an individual level, rather than having a sole function of alerting users to potential infection risk.

Work on the German app began at the start of March, per the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft institute, with initial funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Health funding a feasibility study.

In a PDF published today, the research organization reveals the government-backed app will include functionality for health authorities to directly notify users about a COVID-19 test result if they’ve opted in to get results this way.

It says the system must ensure only people who test positive for the virus make their measurement data available to avoid incorrect data being input. For the purposes of “this validation process,” it envisages “a digital connection to the existing diagnostic laboratories is implemented in the technical implementation.”

“App users can thus voluntarily activate this notification function and thus be informed more quickly and directly about their test results,” it writes in the press release (which we’ve translated from German with Google Translate) — arguing that such direct digital notification of tests results will mean that no “valuable time” is lost to curb the spread of the virus.

Governments across Europe are scrambling to get Bluetooth-powered contacts tracing apps off the ground, with apps also in the works from a number of other countries, including the U.K. and France, despite ongoing questions over the efficacy of digital contacts tracing versus such an infectious virus.

The great hope is that digital tools will offer a route out of economically crippling population lockdowns by providing a way to automate at least some contacts tracing — based on widespread smartphone penetration and the use of Bluetooth-powered device proximity as a proxy for coronavirus exposure.

Preventing a new wave of infections as lockdown restrictions are lifted is the near-term goal. Although — in line with Europe’s rights frameworks — use of contacts tracing apps looks set to be voluntary across most of the region, with governments wary about being seen to impose “health surveillance” on citizens, as has essentially happened in China.

However if contacts tracing apps end up larded with features that are deep linking into national health systems, that raises questions about how optional their use will really be.

An earlier proposal by a German consortium of medical device manufacturers, laboratories, clinics, clinical data management systems and blockchain solution providers — proposing a blockchain-based Digital Corona Health Certificate, which was touted as being able to generate “verifiable, certified test results that can be fed into any tracing app” to cut down on false positives — claimed to have backing from the City of Cologne’s public health department, as one example of potential function creep.

In March, Der Spiegel also reported on a large-scale study being coordinated by the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig, to examine antibody levels to try to determine immunity across the population. Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) was reportedly involved in that study — and has been a key operator in the national contacts tracing push.

Both RKI and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft institute are also involved in parallel German-led pan-EU standardization efforts for COVID-19 contacts tracing apps (called PEPP-PT) that’s been the leading voice for apps to centralize proximity data with governments/health authorities, rather than storing it on users’ device and performing risk processing locally.

As we reported earlier, PEPP-PT and its government backers appear to be squaring up for a battle with Apple over iOS restrictions on Bluetooth.

PEPP-PT bases its claim of being a “privacy-preserving” standard on not backing protocols or apps that use location data or mobile phone numbers — with only arbitrary (but pseudonymized) proximity IDs shared for the purpose of tracking close encounters between devices and potential coronavirus infections.

It has claimed it’s agnostic between centralization of proximity data versus decentralization, though so far the only protocol it’s publicly committed to is a centralized one.

Yet, at the same time, regional privacy experts, the EU parliament and even the European Commission have urged national governments to practice data minimization and decentralized when it comes to COVID-19 contacts tracing in order to boost citizen trust by shrinking associated privacy risks.

If apps are voluntary, citizens’ trust must be earned not assumed, is the key argument. Without substantial uptake the utility of digital contacts tracing seems doubtful.

Apple and Google have also come down on the decentralized side of this debate — outting a joint effort last week for an API and later opt-in system-wide contacts tracing. The first version of their API is slated to be in developers’ hands next week.

Meanwhile, a coalition of nearly 300 academics signed an open letter at the start of this week warning that centralized systems risked surveillance creep — voicing support for decentralized protocols, such as DP-3T: Another contact tracing protocol that’s being developed by a separate European coalition which has been highly critical of PEPP-PT.

And while PEPP-PT claimed recently to have seven governments signed up to its approach, and 40 more in the pipeline, at least two of the claimed EU supporters (Switzerland and Spain) had actually said they will use a decentralized approach.

The coalition has also been losing support from a number of key research institutions which had initially backed its push for a “privacy-preserving” standard, as controversy around its intent and lack of transparency has grown.

Nonetheless, the two biggest EU economies, Germany and France, appear to be digging in behind a push to centralize proximity data — putting Apple in their sights.

Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the French government is pressurizing Apple to remove Bluetooth restrictions for its COVID-19 contacts tracing app which also relies on a “trusted authority” running a central server (we’ve covered the French ROBERT protocol in detail here).

It’s possible Germany and France are sticking to their centralized guns because of wider plans to pack more into these contacts tracing apps than simply Bluetooth-powered alerts — as suggested by the Fraunhofer document.

Access to data is another likely motivator.

“Only if research can access sufficiently valid data it is possible to create forecasts that are the basis for planning further steps against are the spread of the virus,” the institute goes on. (Though, as we’ve written before, the DP-3T decentralized protocol sets out a path for users to opt in to share proximity data for research purposes.)

Another strand that’s evident from the Fraunhofer PDF is sovereignty.

“Overall, the approach is based on the conviction that the state healthcare system must have sovereignty over which criteria, risk calculations, recommendations for action and feedback are in one such system,” it writes, adding: “In order to achieve the greatest possible usability on end devices on the market, technical cooperation with the targeted operating system providers, Google and Apple, is necessary.”

Apple and Google did not respond to requests for comment on whether they will be making any changes to their API as a result of French and German pressure.

Fraunhofer further notes that “full compatibility” between the German app and the centralized one being developed by French research institutes Inria and Inserm was achieved in the “past few weeks” — underlining that the two nations are leading this particular contacts tracing push.

In related news this week, Europe’s Data Protection Board (EDPB) put out guidance for developers of contacts tracing apps, which stressed an EU legal principle related to processing personal data that’s known as purpose limitation — warning that apps need to have purposes “specific enough to exclude further processing for purposes unrelated to the management of the COVID-19 health crisis (e.g., commercial or law enforcement purposes)”.

Which sounds a bit like the regulator drawing a line in the sand to warn states that might be tempted to turn contacts tracing apps into coronavirus immunity passports.

The EDPB also urged that “careful consideration” be given to data minimisation and data protection by design and by default — two other key legal principles baked into Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, albeit with some flex during a public health emergency.

However the regulatory body took a pragmatic view on the centralization vs decentralization debate — saying both approaches are “viable” in a contacts tracing context, with the key caveat that “adequate security measures” must be in place.

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/23/germanys-covid-19-contacts-tracing-app-to-link-to-labs-for-test-result-notification/

Filed Under: blockchain Tagged With: api, Apple, apple inc, blockchain, Bluetooth, cologne, contacts tracing, coronavirus, COVID-19, DP-3T, Europe, european commission, european union, France, General Data Protection Regulation, Germany, google, health systems, iOS, mobile app, spain, switzerland, United Kingdom

Leaked pics reveal Google smart debit card to rival Apples

April 17, 2020 by Blockchain Consultants

Would you pay with a “Google Card?” TechCrunch has obtained imagery that shows Google is developing its own physical and virtual debit cards. The Google card and associated checking account will allow users to buy things with a card, mobile phone or online. It connects to a Google app with new features that let users easily monitor purchases, check their balance or lock their account. The card will be co-branded with different bank partners, including CITI and Stanford Federal Credit Union.

A source provided TechCrunch with the images seen here, as well as proof that they came from Google. Another source confirmed that Google has recently worked on a payments card that its team hopes will become the foundation of its Google Pay app — and help it rival Apple Pay and the Apple Card. Currently, Google Pay only allows online and peer-to-peer payments by connecting a traditionally issued payment card. A “Google Pay Card” would vastly expand the app’s use cases, and Google’s potential as a fintech giant.

Google the financial services company?

By building a smart debit card, Google has the opportunity to unlock new streams of revenue and data. It could potentially charge interchange fees on purchases made with the card or other checking account fees, and then split them with its banking partners. Depending on its privacy decisions, Google could use transaction data on what people buy to improve ad campaign measurement or even targeting. Brands might be willing to buy more Google ads if the tech giant can prove they drive a sales lift.

The long-term implications are even greater. While once the industry joke was that every app eventually becomes a messaging app, more recently it’s been that every tech company eventually becomes a financial services company. A smart debit card and checking accounts could pave the way for Google offering banking, stock brokerage, financial advice or robo-advising, accounting, insurance or lending.

Young

Image Credits: jossnatu / Getty Images

Google’s vast access to data could allow it to more accurately manage risk than traditional financial institutions. Its deep connection to consumers via apps, ads, search and the Android operating system gives it ample ways to promote and integrate financial services. With the COVID-19 downturn taking shape, high-margin finance products could help Google develop efficient revenue opportunities and build its share price back up.

When TechCrunch asked Google for confirmation, it did not dispute our findings or assertions. The company offered us a statement it provided reporters following a November story, wherein Google told The Wall Street Journal it was experimenting in the checking account space. TechCrunch is the first to report Google’s debit card plans:

We’re exploring how we can partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer smart checking accounts through Google Pay, helping their customers benefit from useful insights and budgeting tools, while keeping their money in an FDIC or NCUA-insured account. Our lead partners today are Citi and Stanford Federal Credit Union, and we look forward to sharing more details in the coming months.

For now, Google’s strategy is to let partnered banks and credit unions provide the underlying financial infrastructure and navigate regulation while it builds smarter interfaces and user experiences. It’s forseeable that one day Google might cut out the banks and take all the spoils for itself. Google launched a Wallet debit card in 2013 as an extension of its old payment app Google Wallet, but shut the card down in 2016. Given Google’s penchant for renaming or shutting down then reviving products, building a new debit card feels on-brand.

With people around the world suddenly more concerned about their finances amidst the coronavirus economic disaster, a debit card with more transparency and controls could be appealing.

First look at the Google Card

Traditional banking products can be clunky, often requiring phone communication with customer service or sifting through cluttered websites to address security issues. Google hopes to make financial management as intuitive as its email and mapping apps. The card and app designs shown here are not final, and it’s unclear when Google’s debit card may launch. But let’s take a look at what these internal Google materials reveal about its ambitions for its payment instrument.

The Google debit card will come co-branded with the Google name and its partnered bank, though the exact name of the product is still unknown. In the designs, it’s a chip card on the Visa network, though Google could potentially support other networks like Mastercard. Users are able to add money or transfer funds out of their account from the connected Google app, which is likely to be Google Pay, and use a fingerprint and PIN for account security.

Once connected to their bank or credit union account, users could pay for purchases in retail stores with a physical Google debit card, including with contactless payments, by just holding it up to a card reader. A virtual version of the card that lives on a user’s phone can also be used for Bluetooth mobile payments. Meanwhile, a virtual card number can be used for online or in-app payments.

Users are shown a list of recent transactions, with each including the merchant name, date and price. They can dig into each transaction to see the location on a map, get directions or call the store. If users don’t recognize a transaction, it’s easy to protect themselves with the card’s vast security options.

If a customer suspects foul play because they lost their card, they can lock it and optionally order a replacement while still being able to pay with their phone or online, thanks to Google’s virtual card number system that’s different than the one on their physical card. If instead they suspect their virtual card number was stolen by a hacker, they can quickly reset it. And if they believe someone has gained unauthorized access to their account, they can lock it entirely to block all types of payments and transfers.

The settings reveal options for notifications and privacy controls to “decide what information you share,” though we don’t have imagery of what’s contained in those menus. It’s unclear how much power Google will give customers to limit the company or merchant’s data access. Google’s decisions there could impact how transaction data might fuel its other businesses.

Fintech everywhere

Google is a relative late-comer to offering its own card. Apple launched its Apple Card in August, offering a slickly designed titanium Mastercard credit card backed by Goldman Sachs. It charges minimal customer fees, comes with a virtual card for use through Apple Pay and generates interest.

Apple Card

Apple does collect interchange fees from merchants, though, which Google could similarly gather to earn revenue. Last month, Apple changed the Card’s privacy settings to share more data with Goldman Sachs that might also help the two provide additional financial services. Apple Pay now accounts for 5% of global card transactions, and is forecast to hit 10% by 2024, according to Bernstein research. The underlines the gigantic market Google is gunning for here.

The stock brokerage and robo-advisor apps have also joined the payments race. Wealthfront launched cash accounts and debit cards last February, bringing in $1 billion in assets in two months and doubling the company’s total holdings to $20 billion by September. Betterment launched its checking product in October 2019 with a Visa debit card, but it doesn’t generate interest.

Robinhood botched the December 2018 launch of its checking accounts due to ineligible insurance, but relaunched in October 2019 with debit card withdrawls from 75,000 ATMs and a solid interest rate. It’s unclear how Google’s card will work with ATMs or how its checking accounts will generate interest.

Robinhood’s debit cards

The appeal for Google and the rest is clear. It seems whenever companies help move people’s money around, some of it inevitably “falls off the truck” and lands in their pockets. Financial services are typically low-overhead ways to generate revenue. That could be especially enticing, as Google has found many of its side hustle “other bets” to be unsustainable. It’s moved to prune some of these tertiary projects, such as its Makani wind energy kites.

Google may never find businesses as lucrative as its core in search and advertising, but it has the advantages to become a serious player in fintech. Its vast sums of cash, deep bench of engineering talent, experience building complex utilities, numerous consumer touch points and near-bottomless well of data could give it an edge over stodgier old banks and scrappier startups. And while Facebook slams into regulatory scrutiny and is forced to scale back its Libra cryptocurrency, Google’s more familiar approach via debit cards could pay off.

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/17/google-card/

Filed Under: cryptocurrency Tagged With: Apple Card, Apple Pay, betterment, checking account, debit card, google, Google Pay, Robinhood, Wealthfront

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 6
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

Design Inspiration

Get the latest on minimalism and white space. Simple as that.

Copyright © 2021 · Revolution Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in