The Fed wants to Venmo you

Peter Thiel once said that “the people who have monopolies pretend not to.”

If we ever needed a tangible example, a leaked 2019 Google document highlighting 5 rules for written communication does the trick. 

Obtained by The Markup, the document starts by saying, “Words matter. Especially in antitrust law” — and highlights how Microsoft got in antitrust hot water when its employees threatened to “cut off Netscape’s air supply.”

Watch what you say

In an attempt to deflect perception of a monopoly in search and other products, Google coaches its employees. Massage your language, with some talking points: 

1. We’re out to help users, not hurt competitors. 
2. Our users should always be free to switch, and we don’t lock anyone in.
3. We’ve got lots of competitors, so don’t assume we control or dominate any market.
4. Don’t try to define a market or estimate our market share. 
5. Assume every document you generate, including email, will be seen by regulators. 

The Markup noted that during Congress’ recent antitrust rodeo, Google CEO Sundar Pichai practiced what the company preaches.

Pichai fielded 61 questions and “did not say the words ‘network effects’ or ‘dominant’ once and steered clear of defining any particular market.” Now that’s discipline.

How The Hustle talks monopoly 

We have some other suggestions for how Google can try not to sound like a monopoly — ad-libbed from the American Film Institute’s top 5 movie quotes ever:

1. “Frankly, my dear, we’re not a monopoly.” (Gone With The Wind)
2. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse, because it’s extremely fair.” (The Godfather)
3. “I coulda been a contender but the market is so competitive.” (On the Waterfront)
4. “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in a dominant position anymore.” (The Wizard of Oz)
5. “Here’s looking at you, kid, who is allowed to switch to other services freely.” (Casablanca)

Next time you pay back your pals for a drive-in concert ticket, don’t be alarmed if they ask you to “FedNow me.”

Forget Venmo. The Fed is launching the next big thing in fintech — a 24/7 payments platform called “FedNow Service.” It charges no transaction fees, and you don’t even need an app to use it.

Call it a fintech public option

Right now, Venmo and Zelle run on a platform called The Clearing House. Basically, it’s a group of major banks that have agreed to allow instant deposits.

The problem? A lot of regional banks and credit unions don’t use The Clearing House. Only about 50%+ of the US has access.

FedNow wants ALL the banks at the party

And it’s got relationships with 10k+ financial institutions, so pretty much all of them could go.

It sounds good, but it’s going to be a while before your friends make fun of you for forgetting your FedNow username. The service isn’t hitting the market until at least 2023. 

There’s a dark horse candidate in the streaming sweepstakes.

Tubi is a free, ad-supported platform with 23k+ offerings and 25m viewers. It’s especially popular with millennials and Black and Latino viewers.

In June, Tubi streamed 200m hours, doubling its growth over the past year. It was recently acquired by Fox in a $440m deal.

How’d it get there? 

Founder Farhad Massoudi told Fast Company his mission is “super-serving the underserved.”

You won’t find Friends or original shows on Tubi. Instead, it curates deep cuts aimed at tapping into millennial nostalgia (shoutout to Heathers, the OG Mean Girls). Other Tubi gems: Seabiscuit and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Tubi also shows off the diversity of its catalog: It features Black cinema and Spanish-language categories on its main page, and it created a “United Against Inequality” feature during the Black Lives Matter protests.