Tag Archives: finance

Bredemarket’s Three (So Far) Industry Pillar Pages

Since I started creating (sort of) pillar pages in April 2022, I’ve built more, including three devoted to particular industries.

My “Banking Changes” Post Needs an Update

Back in July 2023, I wrote a post about financial remote onboarding which included a section entitled “Three changes in banking over the last fifty years.” The first change I addressed was locational change.

The first crack in the whole idea of “going to the bank” was the ability to bank without entering the door of the bank…and being able to bank on Sunday at midnight if you felt like it. Yes, I’m talking about Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), where the “teller,” instead of being a person, was a bunch of metal and a TV screen.

But when I was recently reading a Bluesky post from mclevin that stated (correctly) that the decline in tellers didn’t start with artificial intelligence, but automated teller machines, it occurred to me that even the once-revolutionary ATM is itself outdated in financial terms.

Think about it.

What are the two most important functions of an ATM?

  • To deposit paper checks.
  • To obtain physical cash.

I think you see where this is going.

While the ATM still fulfills these functions today, how often do we receive paper checks? And even if we do, why go to a distant ATM to deposit the check when you can often perform the same function using your mobile phone?

And how often do we use cash to pay for things? Often we use a card…or a mobile phone.

Why No BOI?

(Business terrorist image Imagen 3/Google Gemini)

I asked my good buddy Google Gemini to describe the court arguments against FinCEN beneficial ownership reporting (which as of this hour is on a court-mandated hold pending a possible Supreme Court stay). Two of the items identified by Gemini are Bill of Rights related.

“Some argue the reporting requirements force businesses to disclose information about their owners, which they consider a form of compelled speech. The First Amendment protects freedom of expression, and this argument suggests the government is overstepping its bounds.”

“Critics argue that the collection of beneficial ownership information constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. They contend that this collection is overly broad and lacks sufficient justification to meet the constitutional standard of reasonableness.”

Human sources, including Engage Wealth Advisors, mention these same concerns.

So the big boys are still subject to KYC, KYB, and AML regulations, while the little boys (sole proprietors) aren’t. The ones in the middle who would have been subject to the Corporate Transparency Act remain in a state of limbo.

Of course, if an anonymous entity claimed that BOI opponents are Putin lovers who want to hide terrorist activities, those same opponents would want to know who is saying that about them. What’s good for me isn’t good for thee…

Oh BOI Again, Subject to Change

On December 23, 2024, we learned that Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting WOULD be required, albeit later than originally planned.

The next day, December 24, I wrote a Bredemarket blog post about this.

Two days later, December 26, my December 24 blog post was already outdated. 

“On December 26, 2024, a different panel from the Fifth Circuit issued an order that vacated the court’s prior December 23 order granting a stay of the preliminary injunction. As a result, the injunction issued in Texas Top Cop Shop remains in effect nationwide and reporting companies are currently not required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN.”

The notice above was published on January 4.

Check back on January 6.

Know Your…Everyone

It all started with “Know Your Customer,” a shorthand phrase used by financial institutions and related entities who need to know who their customers are.

But then various governments, industries, and entities got into the act with their own variants, such as “Know Your Business.”

I was curious about how many of these “know your” variants I’ve discussed in the Bredemarket blog. Here’s what I found:

I’m sure I’ll come up with some others.

Oh BOI

Beneficial Ownership Information alert. From Proskauer:

“On December 23, 2024, the Fifth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals (the “Fifth Circuit”) issued an order that has the effect of reinstituting the deadlines under the Corporate Transparency Act (the (“CTA”)….

“The CTA requires a range of entities, primarily smaller, otherwise unregulated companies, to file a report with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) identifying the entities’ beneficial owners—the persons who ultimately own or control the company—and provide similar identifying information about the persons who formed the entity.

“FinCEN has recognized that the timing of the order lifting the injunction may be particularly burdensome and has extended the reporting deadlines.  Accordingly, reporting companies created prior to January 1, 2024, that are not eligible for an exemption, are required to file beneficial ownership reports by January 13, 2025 (and not January 1, 2025).”

Financial Fraud by Kids? No, by Impersonators

If you look at the evidence, it may appear that financial fraud is being committed by kids. But that’s not accurate; it’s being committed by fraudsters who are impersonating kids, according to the National News.

“”Fraudsters are targeting children’s identities because they can exploit the information for an extended period,” said Rob Woods, director of fraud and identity for LexisNexis Risk Solutions….

“With criminals well aware of the likelihood of the child’s identity theft going undetected, Mr Woods said LexisNexis is seeing criminals opening bank accounts, applying for loans and even committing other financial crimes with the fake identity.”

So perhaps you had better check Junior’s credit rating.

Saving Money When Filling Prescriptions: Not You, The Companies

Healthcare is complicated. When most of us receive prescriptions from our doctor, either the doctor gives us a physical slip of paper with the prescription, or the doctor electronically sends the prescription to your pharmacy of choice. After that, you deal with the pharmacy yourself. Normally it goes smoothly. Sometimes it doesn’t.

  • Maybe the patient’s insurance company doesn’t cover the prescription, or charges an exorbitant price for it.
  • Maybe the patient never picks the prescription up. (The industry term is “adherence.”)
Ritalin. CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2805908.

There are a lot of companies that want to help drug companies, physicians, and others make this process more seamless and less costly (for example, by maximizing gross-to-net, or GTN).

How many companies want to help? One afternoon I estimated that 30 companies are in this market. Based upon past experience in the identity verification industry (namely, all those battlecards my team created), this means that there are probably really more than 100 companies in the market.

While the companies obviously have to please the patients who need the prescriptions, they’re not critically important because the patients (usually) don’t pay the companies for the improved service.

So the companies have to sell others on their services.

Alto Technologies: “Alto Technologies’ configurable platform integrates hub and dispensing capabilities into an automated and seamless single service provider solution that improves patient experience and reduces administrative burden.”

Medisafe: “Patient support begins with onboarding and continues throughout treatment, with intuitive guidance throughout every encounter. From initial prescription to benefits investigation and authorization to shipment tracking, patients receive streamlined support with educational information and real-time updates.”

Phil: “Streamline medication access for your patients and providers. Our digital hub platform empowers retail and specialty-lite manufacturers with an alternative channel solution…”

Truepill: “Whether you’re an established brand looking to reach your patients directly, or an emerging company planning your go-to-market strategy, Virtual Pharmacy is the digital pharmacy solution built to scale.”

Of course, there are many more.

And they all need to tell their stories…

My (Sort Of) Financial Identity Fraud Experience

I refrained from discussing this for a couple of days, but I was recently a victim of attempted financial identity fraud.

Well, SORT OF attempted identity fraud. I don’t know if this really counts, since I don’t know if the fraudster had my identity.

But the issue was resolved in less than 48 hours.

By the way, I have purposely changed the names of two of the companies I mention, to protect my PII. Which is a shame, because “Wildebeest Bank” went above and beyond in correcting the issue.

That doesn’t look right

Among its other services, Wildebeest Bank (not its real name) sends me an email whenever a purchase is made on my card, but my card is not present.

This is a fairly common occurrence. Among other things, my website, my business insurance, my business address, and my accounting software are all billed to my card.

But less than 48 hours ago, at 3:30 pm on Wednesday afternoon, I received an unexpected notice.

Your card was not present during a recent purchase

Your card was used to make a purchase at enron*publications us

We noticed your check card ending in 1234 was used to make a $8.48 purchase at enron*publications us today. The card wasn’t present at the time the purchase was made.

If you did not make this purchase, please call the nuber listed on the back of your card.

Log in to your account to review this transaction.

I didn’t recall making any $8.48 purchase, and once I looked up enron*publications us (not its real name), I realized that I definitely DIDN’T purchase anything from that company.

Before calling the bank, I double checked my account and found NO transaction for $8.48, even in a “pending” state.

So I called Wildebeest Bank

I called the number on the back of my card and connected with a woman in a call center who investigated why I got an email for a transaction that didn’t appear.

This is obviously not the Wildebeest Bank call center woman who helped me. But I’m sure she had a computer. By Earl Andrew at English Wikipedia – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17793658

After accessing several internal systems, the woman discovered that the purchase was attempted, but declined. The fraudster had my card account number, but didn’t have the correct expiration date.

Frankly, I’m not even sure if the fraudster had my name. Did the fraudster just punch in 16 digits and hope they would work?

Anyway, after this conversation, the woman from Wildebeest Bank transferred me to the fraud department.

The Fraud Department

So my call was transferred to the Fraud Department.

Not the man at Wildebeest Bank’s Fraud Department. And I bet the man who helped me didn’t have a cool beret like this guy. CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=245337

The man at the Fraud Department advised me to cancel the card and get a new one.

I was wondering how long this would take, since one of bills was going to be charged to my card in the next two weeks, and I didn’t want any hiccup from a denied card purchase.

Anti-Fraud Man explained that if I could go to a Wildebeest Bank branch by the next day (Thursday), I could get a new card immediately.

“Could I go today?” I asked.

“Sure,” he replied.

It was about 3:50 pm by that time, or 20 minutes since I received the initial email.

So I drove to the bank

I hopped in my car, drove to a local bank branch, and went to a desk.

Not the real person who helped me at my bank branch, but the real person was nice also. By Melwinsy – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35660323.

You may recall that I started Bredemarket in the fall of 2020, right in the middle of COVID. When I opened my account, the bank WOULDN’T let me go to my local bank branch and I had to open the account remotely. Since then I’ve been in the bank branch several times; it’s a nice place.

Anyway, the fraud department had already cancelled my compromised card, so the man at the bank branch only had to issue me a temporary card and guide me through its activation. This temporary card would last me until the new card arrived in the mail. It had the same card number as the new card so I could temporarily use it for purchases, but the permanent card would have a different expiration date and security code.

I could have provided the temporary card’s number, expiration date, and security code to the company that was going to bill me in two weeks, but I preferred to wait until I received the permanent card. I asked the man at the bank branch how long that would take.

“I can expedite it,” he said.

I get a present at Box 259

Less than 48 hours later, on Friday morning, I was notified that I had a package at my business address.

Bredemarket’s mailing address is 1030 N Mountain Ave #259, Ontario CA 91762-2114.

As I guessed, it was the permanent card, which I immediately activated and provided to the companies that auto-bill me via my card.

Here’s the short version:

  • My bank (“Wildebeest Bank”) notified me of a questionable “card not present” purchase (from “enron*publications us”) at 3:30 pm on Wednesday.
  • By 3:50 pm (20 minutes later), the bank told me that the attempted purchase was declined, but cancelled the bank card anyway.
  • By 4:15 pm (45 minutes later), I had a new temporary bank card.
  • By Friday at noon (less than 48 hours later), I had my permanent bank card.

So everyone be sure to bank at Wildebeest Bank. No confusion when you bank with them!

Black wildebeest. By derekkeats – Flickr: IMG_4955_facebook, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14620744.