A Tea Reader
A Tea Reader

Author: Katrina Avila Munichiello

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2017-03-21

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780804848992

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A Tea Reader contains a selection of stories that cover the spectrum of life. This anthology shares the ways that tea has changed lives through personal, intimate stories. Read of deep family moments, conquered heartbreak, and peace found in the face of loss. A Tea Reader includes stories from all types of tea people: people brought up in the tea tradition, those newly discovering it, classic writings from long-ago tea lovers and those making tea a career. Together these tales create a new image of a tea drinker. They show that tea is not simply something you drink, but it also provides quiet moments for making important decisions, a catalyst for conversation, and the energy we sometimes need to operate in our lives. The stories found in A Tea Reader cover the spectrum of life, such as the development of new friendships, beginning new careers, taking dream journeys, and essentially sharing the deep moments of life with friends and families. Whether you are a tea lover or not, here you will discover stories that speak to you and inspire you. Sit down, grab a cup, and read on.

Technological Change, Financial Innovation, and Diffusion in Banking
Technological Change, Financial Innovation, and Diffusion in Banking

Author: W. Scott Frame

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-08

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13: 1437928730

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Discusses the technological change and financial innovation that commercial banking has experienced during the past 25 years. Describes the role of the financial system in economies and how technological change and financial innovation can improve social welfare. Surveys the literature relating to several specific financial innovations, which are new products or services, production processes, or organizational forms. The past quarter century has been a period of substantial change in terms of banking products, services, and production technologies. Moreover, while much effort has been devoted to understanding the characteristics of users and adopters of financial innovations, we still know little about how and why financial innovations are initially developed.

Cash Use Across Countries and the Demand for Central Bank Digital Currency
Cash Use Across Countries and the Demand for Central Bank Digital Currency

Author: Mr.Tanai Khiaonarong

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-03-01

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13: 1484399609

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The level and trend in cash use in a country will influence the demand for central bank digital currency (CBDC). While access to digital currency will be more convenient than traveling to an ATM, it only makes CBDC like a bank debit card—not better. Demand for digital currency will thus be weak in countries where cash use is already very low, due to a preference for cash substitutes (cards, electronic money, mobile phone payments). Where cash use is very high, demand should be stronger, due to a lack of cash substitutes. As the demand for CBDC is tied to the current level of cash use, we estimate the level and trend in cash use for 11 countries using four different measures. A tentative forecast of cash use is also made. After showing that declining cash use is largely associated with demographic change, we tie the level of cash use to the likely demand for CBDC in different countries. In this process, we suggest that one measure of cash use is more useful than the others. If cash is important for monetary policy, payment instrument competition, or as an alternative payment instrument in the event of operational problems with privately supplied payment methods, the introduction of CBDC may best be introduced before cash substitutes become so ubiquitous that the viability of CBDC could be in doubt.

The Unbanking of America
The Unbanking of America

Author: Lisa Servon

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2017-01-10

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 0544611187

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Why Americans are fleeing our broken banking system: “Startling and absorbing…Required reading for fans of muckraking authors like Barbara Ehrenreich.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) What do an undocumented immigrant in the South Bronx, a high-net-worth entrepreneur, and a twentysomething graduate student have in common? All three are victims of our dysfunctional mainstream bank and credit system. Nearly half of all Americans live from paycheck to paycheck, and income volatility has doubled over the past thirty years. Banks, with their high monthly fees and overdraft charges, are gouging their lower- and middle-income customers while serving only the wealthiest Americans. Lisa Servon delivers a stunning indictment of America’s banks, together with eye-opening dispatches from inside a range of banking alternatives that have sprung up to fill the void. She works as a teller at RiteCheck, a check-cashing business in the South Bronx, and as a payday lender in Oakland. She looks closely at the workings of a tanda, an informal lending club. And she delivers engaging, hopeful portraits of the entrepreneurs reacting to the unbanking of America by designing systems to creatively serve those outside the one percent. “Valuable evidence on the fragility of the personal economies of most Americans these days.”—Kirkus Reviews “An intelligent plea for financial justice…[An] excellent book.”—The Christian Science Monitor

Two-Sided Market, R&D and Payments System Evolution
Two-Sided Market, R&D and Payments System Evolution

Author: Bin Grace Li

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-03-18

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 1484399625

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It takes many years for more efficient electronic payments to be widely used, and the fees that merchants (consumers) pay for using those services are increasing (decreasing) over time. We address these puzzles by studying payments system evolution with a dynamic model in a twosided market setting. We calibrate the model to the U.S. payment card data, and conduct welfare and policy analysis. Our analysis shows that the market power of electronic payment networks plays important roles in explaining the slow adoption and asymmetric price changes, and the welfare impact of regulations may vary significantly through the endogenous R&D channel.

Innovation Economics, Engineering and Management Handbook 2
Innovation Economics, Engineering and Management Handbook 2

Author: Dimitri Uzunidis

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2021-06-08

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1119832519

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Innovation, in economic activity, in managerial concepts and in engineering design, results from creative activities, entrepreneurial strategies and the business climate. Innovation leads to technological, organizational and commercial changes, due to the relationships between enterprises, public institutions and civil society organizations. These innovation networks create new knowledge and contribute to the dissemination of new socio-economic and technological models, through new production and marketing methods. Innovation Economics, Engineering and Management Handbook 2 is the second of the two volumes that comprise this book. The main objectives across both volumes are to study the innovation processes in todays information and knowledge society; to analyze how links between research and business have intensified; and to discuss the methods by which innovation emerges and is managed by firms, not only from a local perspective but also a global one. The studies presented in these two volumes contribute toward an understanding of the systemic nature of innovations and enable reflection on their potential applications, in order to think about the meaning of growth and prosperity

Strategies of Competition in the Bank Card Business
Strategies of Competition in the Bank Card Business

Author: Jarunee Wonglimpiyarat

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13:

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This is the first book to describe the history of the innovation of the bank card, from development to commercialization. It describes the strategies employed by innovators in order to achieve competitive advantage, and the use of technology to manage implementation. Interviews and questionnaire surveys are conducted with all the major players in the bank card industry - Barclays, Citibank, American Express, Diners Club, Visa International, Mondex International and Europay. The result is a clear and penetrating insight into all aspects of the bank card market. Innovations in bank cards - ATM/cash cards, credit cards, EFTPOS/debit cards and smart cards - are analyzed; as are the collaborative strategies employed by the banks to realize the benefits of bank card technology. Strategies of Competition has been written for bankers and those who work in the financial service industry, students undertaking courses in technology/strategic management, and MBA students. It provides a detailed and up-to-date analysis of the logic that banks and bankers adopt in setting bank card strategies under a complex socio-economic environment and competitive conditions. The book is essential reading for all who need to understand the strategic integration and management of banking products and innovations as they relate to the bank card business. Specific topics addressed include: the use of technology in providing banking products/services; strategies in securing the benefits of innovations; and banking sector capability in the innovation and launch of smart cards.