News and notes from around the interweb:
- Facebook, Google, and Amazon want banks to share your transaction-level date with them. (WSJ) They promise not to use it to target you with ads, and presumably the more your data is shared it still won’t be stolen. Or something. These companies can offer deeper engagement with customers, though banks have data privacy hurdles to overcome — and likely build Google’s, Amazon’s, and Facebook’s business more than their own in the process.
As part of the proposed deals, Facebook asked banks for information about where its users are shopping with their debit and credit cards outside of purchases they make using Facebook Messenger, the people said. Messenger has some 1.3 billion monthly active users, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call last month.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Amazon.com Inc. also have asked banks to share data if they join with them, in order to provide basic banking services on applications such as Google Assistant and Alexa, according to people familiar with the conversations.
- Frontier Airlines is offering elite status after 2 roundtrip taken by October 15 with status lasting through the end of the year. Registration required. If I lived in Denver or Orlando, indeed if they offered inflight internet since they have a strong presence in Austin, I’d be all over this and their new credit card that offers one elite qualifying mile per dollar spent. For 100,000 mile elites all tickets are refundable.
Copyright: zhukovsky / 123RF Stock Photo - This interview with Delta CEO Ed Bastian contains some interesting nuggets. Though it’s mostly a puff piece, Bastian is surprisingly forthcoming about acquiring a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic but not caring about the Virgin brand, and even taking veiled shots at his predecessor (needing a different leadership style for where Delta is today).
- Some Starwood hotel owners believe their businesses are bleeding as a result of the Marriott merger (HT: Point Me to the Plane)
- How McKinsey consultants think airlines should change to turn aircraft around more quickly these are the same folks that pitched every airline needing a low cost carrier within a carrier (e.g. Ted, Metrojet, Song). (HT: Bill Murphy)
Exactly why I won’t participate in those “Facebook birthday donation” campaigns. I ain’t giving FB my CC #!
Facebook is the devil. Never had an account. Never will. I hope they are bankrupted through lawsuits.
I don’t know why corporations continue to listen to McKinsey I’ve personally seen them ruin so many stable lucrative business entities (not to mention lives in the process). And nothing personal but if McKinsey was so smart why wouldn’t they just enter the business models they profess and become even more rich. I know I sound like a bitter crazy person and I don’t say it lightly. I like capitalism and think there is a place for business consulting but it’s like the blind leading the blind only to come out the other end and find some way to call it a success regardless of the results.
I’ll leave you with a few great pieces of advice from McKinsey over the years.
Quote: ““Enron has built a reputation as one of the world’s most innovative companies …”
McKinsey to AT&T circa 1980’s: Mobile phones have a limited future
McKinsey regarding AOL/Time Warner: Sure the merger will work great just listen to us.
In my industry if I hear or see that our high level execs are listening to McKinsey about anything I start looking for a new job.
Not only would people be absolutely moronic to allow their banking institutions to give ANY data to Facebook, but so would the banks… after all, Facebook is saying they need that data to provide additional service to their users.
The banks can’t possibly be that blind to what Facebook wants to do – completely eliminate the banks in favor of providing banking service to Facebook users on the Facebook platform.
Easy way to take a large chunk out of every US plane turnaround – use the door at the back too..
I think it is outrageous that facebook et. al to want one’s personal credit card usage and bank information. It demonstrates their over the top sense of entitlement and their total inability to have any concern for their customers. They feed at the trough made up of their customers and think they have to right to eat more and more and more. People should have a boycott day of not using any of these companies or devise other ways to demonstrate that without their customers, they are nothing.