Payments Views
Glenbrook's commentary and opinion
blog written by members of the
Glenbrook team. We share our
"rants and raves" on industry topics,
large and small.

Russ Jones

The Five Biggest Trends in Payments

By Russ Jones on January 14 2019

All of the 2019 prediction stories got me thinking about the mega trends in the payments industry. These are the year-over-year tectonic shifts in the industry that you can bet your company’s strategy on — maybe even bet your career on. In a landscape of trees, this is what the forest looks like. Trend #1 […]

Regulation

Madness in Marijuana Payments – Part 2

By Beth Horowitz Steel on November 16 2018

Since my April 2018 post, there’s been a lot of activity in the “land of weed.” Multiple countries and U.S. states have moved toward legalization. Major non-cannabis industries are investing heavily in cannabis related products and cannabis-based companies. With U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions out, his strict stance against marijuana perhaps no longer holding, many are […]

Bitcoin

A Dollar by Any Other Name: Thoughts on Digital Fiat Currency

By Carol Coye Benson on July 26 2018

What are central banks – and governments – going to do about cryptocurrencies? I was in New York last week to better understand what central bankers are thinking about – and doing – with respect to “Digital Fiat Currency”. The workshop was part of an ITU Focus Group Program on “Standardizing Digital Fiat Currency and […]

Glenbrook

Payment Rails and Other Tales

By Russ Jones on July 17 2018

In Glenbrook’s Payments Boot Camp™, we are always talking about payments systems – how they work, how they evolved, who uses them, who provides them, who profits from them, and how they are changing. So I was a little surprised when one of the participants approached me recently at break and asked if we would […]

Financial Inclusion

Welcome to CFSI EMERGE

By Cici Northup on July 9 2018

Recently, I attended the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) EMERGE Financial Health Forum. The event, held June 6-8, 2018 in Los Angeles, is intended to help organizations working in financial services and financial health learn about current trends, insights, research, and policy updates. This was my first time attending and I wanted to share […]

Glenbrook

5 Payments Challenges Facing Nonprofits

By Lello Gebisa on June 11 2018

Tax Day has come and gone, and Americans have filed our returns and many of us even took the time to itemize our charitable contributions. According to the IRS, these contributions totaled over $390B in 2016 – a new record year of giving. While the rise in giving is welcome news, nonprofits also have to […]

Glenbrook

Madness in Marijuana Payments

By Beth Horowitz Steel on April 2 2018

In my state’s recent midterm primary elections, I voted for the referendum on legalizing recreational marijuana. It reminded me of recent conversations I’ve had with payments professionals trying to tackle the issue of providing safe and secure financial services to marijuana-based businesses: One CEO said they have put serious effort into this market. They’ve worked […]

Payments Views

Amazon Go is the Uberization of Retail

By Russ Jones on March 1 2018

I had a chance to visit the Amazon Go Store recently and wanted to speculate a bit on how it all works, from a payments perspective, and think about the implications. The new concept store, if you haven’t heard, eliminates the all-sacred checkout. Who cares about Apple Pay adoption rates or EMV transaction speed when […]

Cici Northup

Gen Z – The Next Payments Influencers

By Cici Northup on January 18 2018

A country’s economy is made up of multiple generations. And while we in the payments industry have been watching (and are fascinated by) the financial behavior of the Millennials (e.g. excessive student debt, delayed home buying, preference for digital, etc.), hot on their heels is Generation Z. Currently characterized as self-aware, persistent, realistic, innovative and […]