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Here are the three most relevant developments in the world of structured reporting we became aware of in the course of last week. 1 Workiva: No slowdown in growth Despite the recent rebound, equities had been hammered in 2022. The S&P is still down nearly 10%, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ still down over 16%. Workiva […]
The post XBRL News from China and the US, Workiva first appeared on Daily Fintech.
Here are the three most relevant developments in the world of structured reporting we became aware of in the course of last week – which is of course a summer holiday week, hence less news flow than usual. 1 Pulian Software: winning bid for China Bond XBRL Xinpi Reporting Platform Securities Times e Company News, […]
The post XBRL News from China and Workiva first appeared on Daily Fintech.
Here are the three most relevant developments in the world of structured reporting we became aware of in the course of last week. 1 Ninghai Expressway: There is a difference … Tonghuashun (300033) Financial Research Center reported on July 18 that some investors asked questions to Ninghai Expressway (600377). In the 2021 annual report disclosed […]
The post XBRL News about Ninghai Expressway, FERC and money markets first appeared on Daily Fintech.
Here are the three most relevant developments in the world of structured reporting we became aware of in the course of last week. 1 China signals importance and likely future adoption of ISSB standards Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) addressed the draft sustainability reporting standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards […]
The post XBRL News from China, the UK and Malta appeared first on Daily Fintech.
Here are the three most relevant developments in the world of structured reporting we became aware of in the course of last week. 1 Chinese Central Bank releases 22-25 fintech development plan PBOC recently issued the “Fintech Development Plan (2022 – 2025)” (金融科技发展规划（2022-2025年）), which “proposes guidance opinions for the development of fintech in a new […]
The post XBRL News from China, Switzerland and elsewhere appeared first on Daily Fintech.
Bernard Lunn is a Fintech deal-maker, investor, entrepreneur and advisor. He is CEO of Daily Fintech and author of The Blockchain Economy. On Tuesday I attended some events in London promoting the nexus of Gibraltar + UK + Israel in Fintech & Crypto. I was invited by an international law firm based in Gibraltar with strong connections […]
The post Think Gibraltar + UK + Israel + China for Fintech & Crypto appeared first on Daily Fintech.
KPMG released their pulse report on global venture capital trends for Q3 2019 yesterday. There were some key highlights from the report worth discussing about. The most pleasantly surprising trend is the increase in VC investments in Europe. Despite Brexit and Germany moving towards a recession, venture and scale up investments in Europe hit a […]
The post Venture Capital in Europe peaks, China falls as investors shun IPOs appeared first on Daily Fintech.
Earlier this month, a senior official of the People Bank of China (PBoC) announced that the country was ready to launch its digital currency. The announcement was made at a China Finance 40 (CF40) group discussion and it was revealed that China has been working on this for the past five years. Image Source The […]
The post China’s digital currency could be a response to Libra appeared first on Daily Fintech.
A few days ago, I had a LinkedIn discussion with Richard Turrin on QR Codes and their relevance in today’s go-cashless world. A few commentators on the post felt QR codes were the thing of the post, and I had a different view. I believe, in a world that’s getting digitised in a hurry, QR code is what bridges the digital world with brick and mortar.
QR Codes have gone through ups and downs since they were first created in 1994 by Japan’s automobile industry. QR – stood for “Quick Response”. However, those were days when mobile phones were clunky and the user journeys weren’t as friction-free as the ones we have these days.
When a customer scanned a QR code, an app or a website would be launched on the mobile using EDGE or GPRS. Once the website came up, users would have to use the clunky interface to fill in relevant details. I guess, that was enough to kill the QR code – or so many thought at that time.
QR Codes are more efficient than Barcodes because they are able to hold more information than Barcodes. This is because, QR codes have a two dimensional layout, where as with Barcodes it is just a one dimensional horizontal layout. And purely from a marketing perspective, QR Codes can be customised with a firm’s brand on it, unlike bar codes.
Utility of QR Codes seem better than Barcodes. But are they safe to store our information? For example, can I store my bank card details in a QR code and claim it is more secure? It certainly is – atleast in most scenarios.
Credit card thefts and frauds come in different shapes and forms. Even in a contactless payment mode, account details are still transmitted to the point of sale (PoS) device. So if the PoS device is hacked, hackers can get hold of the customer’s payment details. If at the point of sale, there is an issue with the internet, the customer experience could be poor.
The other hiccup is the case of lost devices, as QR codes do not check for user identity. This can however be overcome by asking for biometric information from the user at the time of registering. It could also be a selfie of the user at registration. At the point of sale, the device using QR codes, may have to use some ways of identifying the user.
Since QR codes rely on Wi-Fi networks, a hacker could get into the network and overlay fake QR codes. And then there is this issue of different variations of QR codes released by different vendors. There needs to be standards for ease of use from a customer’s stand point.
Despite some of these downsides, what makes QR codes special?
With better internet access and smartphone penetration, QR codes have become more common place in Asia. Smartphone penetration in China has risen to 63% and to 35% in Asia as a whole. In Latin America (Argentina), customers have taken to QR codes as it is a simple interface for the unbanked to perform digital transactions.
Pictures showing Alipay and WeChat QR codes in China and PayTM QR Codes in India have brought the concept back to life – in a big way. In India, PayTM are running campaigns to get millions of small and medium entreprises onto QR Codes. In Africa, firms like Dumapay are using QRCode to simplify the point of sale payments process. It has become easy for a roadside shop to accept payments using a QR code print out and no Point of Sale device.
Apart from payments, QR Codes can be used for several other interactions. They can be use for
China has taken the use of QR codes to a whole new level, as observed in the picture below. A quick google search on China and QR Codes reveal some really cool use of this tool.
As QR Codes are versatile, most top apps like Pinterest, Snapchat, Wechat and device manufacturers like Xiaomi, Motorola, Samsung, Huawei all have inbuilt QR Code readers.
But in the wrong hands, QR Codes can be used to lead a customer to a malicious page and get hacked in the process. There is definitely caution needed when using QR Codes.
It may be hard for the west to embrace QR Codes like Asia, Latin America (in some parts) and even Africa. But several firms across the world are creating their own customised QR Codes to stay relevant. QR Codes may not have succeeded in the past and they may not be the future either. But they most certainly have a place in the present.
Arunkumar Krishnakumar is a Venture Capital investor at Green Shores Capital focusing on Inclusion and a podcast host.
I have no positions or commercial relationships with the companies or people mentioned. I am not receiving compensation for this post.
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I must credit the research behind this post to Keir Finlow Bates. Keir is an entrepreneur based out of Finland, where he runs a Blockchain research company. I recently came across his research report on the Blockchain patent market.
It was refreshing to see that the report was published on LinkedIn and free for everybody to access and benefit from. It had good coverage, understandable trends, a few obvious names at the top, and a few disappointing stats too. Keir had spent three days researching on Blockchain patent information on ‘google patents’ and compiled the statistics in his report.
Before we get into the findings of the report, I just wanted to discuss the question, “Do patents matter at all?”. I believe, the answer is “It depends”. It depends on your willingness to defend them – if you are the patent holder.
With 97% of all patents, the costs are not justified. The inventor spends the money filing the patent, but do not reap any benefits. 50% of patents are expire as inventors do not pay the maintenance fees. So why file a patent at all?
Patents make sense if your product is extremely complex and hard to develop, and if the costs of defending the patent is affordable/justified. It also helps with perception (that you own the product IP), and posturing (that you will defend it).
However, defending a patent takes years, and costs millions of dollars. So it may not necessarily be an option for a startup with a differentiated product and shallow pockets. It may also not make sense if the invention’s life span is relatively shorter. By the time the patent battle is fought in courts, the life of the product would be over.
Patents are often very narrowly defined, and getting around them shouldn’t necessarily be hard work for a smart competitor/imitator. In a conversation with a startup CEO I met recently, she revealed that she wasn’t so fond of patenting her product. She reasoned that she had to give away a lot of information about her product during the patenting exercise, that it makes it easier for a competitor to create a close enough version of it.
In the case of Blockchain, I feel, patents are a KPI to mark industry and thought leadership than protecting IP. Apart from a handful of architectural improvisation in Blockchain, innovation has been largely incremental.
Another point to ponder is that, Blockchain is a technology that knows no boundaries. As there are several Blockchain friendly island jurisdictions, patenting within major jurisdictions like the US, Europe or China may be meaningless. However, the race for getting on top of the patent list is still on.
Source: Keir’s report
Coming back to Keir’s analysis, one key dimension I missed on it was China. It’s no news to us that China is racing ahead of the rest of the world in patenting its inventions with most emerging technologies like AI, Blockchain and Quantum Computing.
A research on patent databases Patentics and Incopat about a year ago, identified that Alibaba was leading the Blockchain tally, even ahead of IBM. Of the top 36 companies with at least 20 Blockchain patents, about 50% of them were Chinese firms including BAT.
Keir’s analysis was performed on Google patent, which supposedly includes China Patents – but the data in the report indicates otherwise. The key takeaway from the reports are that,
One key point stands out for me. Is the system of patenting fundamentally broken? If I spent two years of my life creating a complex product, addressing a huge market, I should be able to patent it, and defend my patent. Cost shouldn’t be a barrier to defend my work.
Instead of raising the innovation bar for competitors/imitators, the patenting system has perhaps raised the cost bar for inventors to defend their IP.
Arunkumar Krishnakumar is a Venture Capital investor at Green Shores Capital focusing on Inclusion and a podcast host.
I have no positions or commercial relationships with the companies or people mentioned. I am not receiving compensation for this post.
Subscribe by email to join Fintech leaders who read our research daily to stay ahead of the curve. Check out our advisory services (how we pay for this free original research).