Subsequent to our previous post on ewallets, there have been a number of developments at the ewallet front. These will be covered in a two parter; part one follows, part two in the next post.
Apple Card
- App-based credit card with option for a physical card
- Sign-up in minutes via app and use immediately 1
- Big tech's first foray into neo banking, on Apple's upmarket chops
- Users may develop into an upper class, spending bloc
- Thus enticing merchants and others to sign-up
Meituan mei=beautiful | tuan=mission
- Vending machines, mamak & petrol stations not compelling use cases 2
- But food could be (with some marketing incentives)
- In China, Meituan (food delivery) has grown to take on WeChat and Alipay
- How? Roast duck costs 80% less delivered compared to buying it yourself 3
- Hawkers making quantum leap into ecommerce and on-demand supply
Canteens bonus topic: cashless school canteens
- Teach the concepts of ledger, income & expense (vs habitual spending)
- Wallet could be incorporated into a school badge etc, restricted to school
- Welfare (eg. one square meal a day) can be channeled directly to a child
- Monitor food trends (eg. are kids eating enough fruit & veg vs fried chicken)
- Cash handling can still be taught during, say, year 5-6 , the rest go cashless
