So without further ado, Mark, tell me what’s on your fintech bucket (err wish) list?
When you start looking at what’s going on—broadly speaking, this summer, the idea of payment wearables is front and center. Visa has its new Rio Ring—a contactless payment device for athletes competing in the upcoming Olympics. They won’t have the same problem that you and I will have with soggy dollars in their tight new swim suits.
So when are these Rings going to be made available to non-Olympians like you and me?
Great question…I assume it’s soon. But these devices, which are great, still don’t attack the problem we have.
Which is what?
The cash-only establishment…because there are still quite a few cash-only ice cream and clam shack establishments at the Cape and in Newport. And even though there are other establishments that do accept credit, many haven’t updated their terminals to support NFC.
So you won’t be using your Ring when you buy your clam bellies and/or your 3 scoops of rocky road?
Alas, no…the soggy dollar (or more realistically, the soggy Andrew Jackson/soon to be Harriet Tubman) will have to do.
I knew your list would include fried seafood and ice cream, which is ditto for me….but is it really a bucket (err wish) list when we’ve grown up gorging ourselves on this stuff?
No, but when we think of fintech bucket lists, it would be awesome to have mobile, call-ahead ordering at the nearby lobster pound, so you’re not #400 in line to get your 1.25 lb chicken lobster. For me, I also wish the kid who sells the Boston Globe on the corner would accept Venmo. It’s an ease-of-use want that also removes the need to carry cash and coin, which no one wants to do, no matter the size of their bathing suit.
And certainly not in Rio…those suits are a little too small to carry anything not already on one’s person.
Mobile devices have grown to be a third appendage up top. But all this said, nothing beats a physical book to read on the beach…none of this Kindle stuff for me.
So Rings and other fashionable wearables (and books) are on your summer fintech bucket (err wish) list; what else?
Well, given the fact my second child is forthcoming, direct delivery from AMZN Prime is high on the list this summer…especially when it comes to diapers. So what’s on your list for this summer?
We’re taking our annual pilgrimage to a quaint place in the Hudson Valley, where thankfully I won’t need to use any soggy dollars or even my iPhone (unless it’s to take photos of my kid in a kayak or to be incredibly vain and take video of my horrific golf swing…in slo-mo). But we’ll certainly take a couple of treks to Newport, where I know some of the establishments only accept cash and coin. I’m really coming around to this Ring, largely because it’s named after me, but also because it sounds so perfectly simple—no device, no card, just a simple replacement.
But remember, the business/merchant has to be able to accept NFC-based payments. So your new Ring might just be an accessory for your finger. That said, NFC is less of an issue in 2016 and will continue to become less of an issue as the summers pass, but for now…
For now, I’m just looking forward to a little R&R.
Me too.
Payments hub 
