Get smarter than your boss in 3 minutes with today's business news.
🚨 CommBank is being sued by an Aussie crypto group
💸 Apple needs to let developers have their own payment links
🎬 Disney's going back to the box office
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Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.
🚨 CommBank is being sued by an Aussie crypto group
💸 Apple needs to let developers have their own payment links
🎬 Disney's going back to the box office
New research from Canstar shows Australians are more likely to purchase a property they haven't seen...than a pet they haven't seen! Kinda makes sense, it's tough to gauge a dog's personality via Zoom.
Background: We all know CommBank (aka CBA). They're the biggest of the big 4 banks, with nearly 16 million customers. Whaat?! And now, they're being sued by a Colombian-Australian remittance service called Colcambios Australia. This crew supports the transfer of money from overseas using crypto.
What happened: It's a thrifty idea. Colombian students in Oz get financial support from their families back home, and Colcambios converts it from Colombian pesos to a crypto, and then deposits it as AUD into their Aussie bank accounts.
What else: CBA has flagged these deposits as potential proceeds of fraud, and wrote letters to CBA customers, urging them to contact police in Colombia. So the group has sued CBA for defamation.
So what's the key learning?
💡The tensions between big banks and the cryptocurrency industry are getting more heated than an ep of Geordie Shore.
💡Big banks are regulated and reviewed very tightly by the crew at ASIC and APRA, who aren't afraid to whack the banks with massive fines. Remember when Westpac copped a $1.3 billion fine? And CBA a $700 million fine?
💡It's fair to say banks are sensitive to any company that sits outside of the regulations...and we know cryptocurrencies do. Which is actually part of their appeal. So it will be interesting to see if anything changes after the Senate's inquiry into tech and finance, which is happening as we speak.
Background: Welcome to Apple v Epic Games: Battle Royale. Apple...well we know who they are. Epic Games created Fortnite - a battle game with over 350 million users.
What happened: Fortnite added a tool that would let users bypass Apple's in-app purchase, so they could buy the app through Fortnite itself. This was a massive no-no, so Apple banned the Fortnite app from the App Store. Ouch.
What else: Epic Games reckons Apple was abusing its market power by forcing companies to use Apple's payment systems. So it sued Apple, and won. Now, developers can include buttons or links to other places where users can pay.
💡Epic Games may have won the battle, but they lost the war. The bad news is Apple needs to change its payments system to allow for 3rd party payments. The good news is the court found that Apple doesn't have a monopoly in the digital mobile gaming world.
💡If Apple was considered a monopoly, it could have been forced to sell parts of their business. This would hurt them big time. Especially since Apple has 55% of the mobile gaming market, and Apple's App Store sales grossed a massive US$64 billion in 2020.
💡It's still a win for app developers though, who will no longer need to give Apple a cut of their app purchases.
Background: Disney owns companies like Marvel, Pixar and Touchstone Pictures. But, by far, Marvel is its biggest cash cow.
What happened: Last year, as lockdowns came into force across the world, streaming platforms like Disney+ started offering new release movies online. It was good for us, but bad for cinemas.
What else: But now, get your Choctops and overpriced popcorn deals ready, Flux fam. Disney has promised to give the rest of their film releases this year a proper go at the box office. It's a big win for cinemas, who kinda became redundant.
So what's the key learning?
💡 Box office sales have copped a beating this year, and for once, COVID is off the hook. We can lay blame on streaming services for this one.
💡 Streaming services like Disney+ have been launching flicks on their platforms on the same day that they launch in the box office. And it's not just bad news for cinemas who lose out on ticket sales - it's also bad news for actors, who lose a cut of box office revenue.
💡Actor Scarlett Johansson actually sued Disney for releasing black Widow on Disney+ on the same day as it hit theatres. But exclusive runs could turn things around. Shang-Chi set a box office record for the US Labor Day holiday due to an exclusive show. Hopefully Disney keeps its promise.
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