Latest opinions that Matt White has shared on Finextra

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Matt White

North America editor

Finextra

Member since

27 Nov 2006

Location

Toronto

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Matt's opinions

Stocks V gold: the great Christmas present debate

You'd think that with things in a bit of mess, your average punter would be a tad wary about playing the stock market at the moment. But according to a survey from Lloyds TSB's wealth management unit, half of Brits want some stocks in their Christmas stockings. Far from being seen as too risky, the bank suggests share prices are so low at the momen...

18 December 2008

Crunch hit governments turn to eBay

With tough times upon us, state and local governments in the US are looking to make a few quid by auctioning surplus goods online. Businessweek reports that everything from helicopters to armored personnel carriers to deep fat fryers are up for grabs on sites like eBay and specialist outfit GovDeals.com. The Spartanburg County, SC, Sheriff's Offic...

24 November 2008 Whatever...

All I want for Christmas is a novelty gift card

With the dire state of the economy forcing people to tighten their belts, it seems most Americans would rather forgo that pair of socks or pointless gadget this Christmas in favour of something they can actually make use of - a gift card. Research from the National Retail Federation suggests 55% of Americans will ask Santa for a gift card this year...

24 November 2008 /retail

Pay the robot, or else

Dave Birch, on his Digital Money blog, has found what may well be the fintech geek's ultimate fantasy - a payments terminal in the shape of a life-sized android. Developed in Japan (of course) by NEC, the robot lets you make payments by selecting the appropriate e-money icon on the touch screen panel embedded in his torso before swiping your NFC-e...

14 November 2008 /payments

Kazakhstan's super-rich get diamond studded credit card

The FT reports the launch of a new Mastercard credit card in oil and mineral rich Kazakhstan. Big deal, you may say, but this is no ordinary piece of plastic - it's inlaid with a 0.02 carat diamond and laced with gold. To be issued by Kazkommertsbank, the card has a $1000 annual fee and $50,000 credit limit. Predictably, the FT points out the inco...

03 November 2008 /retail Whatever...

Des O'Connor hit by card scam

Sarkozy isn't the only recent high profile victim of fraudsters. Des O'Connor - British chat show host and famously bad singer - was taken for around £1000 by a shop assistant who used his mobile phone to record the entertainer's card details. After recording the details of Des and many others, Olanrewaju Apalara went online and registered the ca...

31 October 2008 /security Whatever...

Scratch and sniff cards

With Barclaycard chief Antony Jenkins predicting that the humble plastic card is doomed as we all migrate to mobile phones and biometrics, German vendor Giesecke & Devrient looks like it has been working on some creative ways to delay the inevitable. We received a press release today reminding us of the range of 'scratch and sniff' cards they'...

29 October 2008

Evil Hank and evil Ben

Forget your boring ghosts, vampires and witches, if you really want to put the frighteners on people this Halloween you need to invest in an 'evil' Hank Paulson or Ben Bernanke mask. For the bargain price of $79.90, a quick thinking online entrepreneur will make sure you terrify even the hardiest soul. But if the credit crunch means $80 is a bit o...

28 October 2008 Whatever...

Marx cashes in on capitalism's crisis

With capitalism taking a pretty bad beating over the last few months, the work of its greatest critic, Karl Marx, is being rediscovered. Apparently, sales of Das Kapital have gone through the roof in Germany as people look for an explanation, and maybe cure, for our current plight. Publisher Karl-Dietz Verlag says it has sold around 1500 copies so...

21 October 2008 Whatever...

Jagger wants e-commerce satisfaction

Mick Jagger is joining a load of industry bods - including Steve Jobs - to draw up a report on barriers to e-commerce within the EU. He was asked to help out after taking part in a roundtable discussion on the subject in Brussels earlier this week. The report comes as the EU looks to make it easier for people to buy online across national borders. ...

19 September 2008 /payments /retail Whatever...