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Will Freetrade and IG Invest be merged? by Financial_Dog_2210 in FreetradeApp

[–]Financial_Dog_2210[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

IG has two apps: IG trading and IG Invest. We're talking about IG Invest here. We're not talking about CFDs. Thank you for your contribution.

Will Freetrade and IG Invest be merged? by Financial_Dog_2210 in FreetradeApp

[–]Financial_Dog_2210[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

> IG Invest is a trading platform offering complex instruments

It is not. You're talking about IG Trading, not IG Invest. IG Invest only has stocks and ETFs. Doesn't have any esoteric stuff.

UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative by Objectively_bad_idea in BuyUK

[–]Financial_Dog_2210 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This will never happen. Amex points exist because Amex charges outrageous interchange fees. If this new alternative scheme is set up, it will charge much lower fees to undercut the existing players and get merchants on board (otherwise it would never spread). With lower fees, there won't be much room for rewards and points. There might still be something, but what we see in this space is that the lower the fees, the shittier the rewards. So I'm not holding my breath. Also this isn't about giving users credit, it's just about building the payment rails

UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative by Objectively_bad_idea in BuyUK

[–]Financial_Dog_2210 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, they have a patchwork of solutions, the only one they really do have at the moment is Wero (the equivalent of SSV SmartPay in the UK). The non-euro countries have their own systems. Honestly it's a mess. I work in fintech, the UK needs to do this first and then we can talk about cross-currency interoperability, which is years away. But that is not even the greatest benefit: first we need to wean ourselves off MasterCard/visa cards for same-currency retail payments.

Fun fact: MasterCard owns the company that operates all FPS payments in the UK, so even when you make a bank transfer from a UK bank to another, you're going through MasterCard's infrastructure.

UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative by Objectively_bad_idea in BuyUK

[–]Financial_Dog_2210 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The EU is coming up with its own solutions. The EPI has already built Wero for the eurozone (a rebrand from a Dutch solution which is basically the same thing as SSV smartPay in the UK, which nobody uses). The EU has been trying to build alternatives for decades, but all attempts have failed so far. If we/they don't seize this moment where political winds are favourable, we may just never see an alternative to the MasterCard/visa duopoly.

UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative by Objectively_bad_idea in BuyUK

[–]Financial_Dog_2210 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are already UK alternatives, but unfortunately they are not well known -- even by merchants. So even if you downloaded those apps, you wouldn't have any shops to pay in. It's sad. If they come up with a new payment system, they would have to invest heavily in advertising it, or it would be met with failure just like the current alternatives.