Finance
Gold Vending Machine
With gold prices souring to record highs, $1800 an ounce where does one purchase gold I here you say. Well, Gold to go vending machines of course.
German company, Ex Oriente LUX AG has launched the worlds first gold vending machines that dispense gold bars and coins from as small as one gram to as large as 250 grams. The "Gold to go" vending machines are currently operating in the US, Britain, Italy, the United Emirates and Germany.
The vending machines value the gold coins and bars according to the latest gold prices which is updated close to real time.
Ex Oriente Lux AG are currently negotiating with potential partners globally to bring the self serve vendor machines to high security locations such as banks, airports, casinos, jewelry outlets, shopping centers and hotels.
Another perfect example of taking an existing product and creating a brand new market.
With no required staff, small patch of real estate and rising gold prices, we can sense a possible franchise model in the works for Ex Oriente Lux AG.
It appears that anything can be dispensed through vendor machines these days, so what is next?
One Big Switch
We have seen the likes of Spreets, Living Social and Groupon leading the trend in the group buying concept over the last couple of years. It's popularity has increased immensely over the last year or so with the crowd, who are always looking for a great deal. We are starting to see a number of new startups taking the crowd power group buying concept to a new level.
Australian startup One Big Switch, is using crowd power to obtain better mortgage deals with the various financial institutions for everyday mortgage holders. One Big Switch launched its first campaign "Choice Big Bank Switch" on the 31st July 2011 to find 1000 Australian mortgage holders willing to switch banks for a better mortgage deal. 10,000 Australian consumers registered in the first 12 hrs and 40,000 registered in the first 2 weeks.
Concept is simple, mortgage holders interested in switching banks for a better deal register on the One Big Switch site. One Big Switch negotiates with lenders, seeking the best deal and rate for the switchers. Mortgage lenders compete with each other to attract the group of switchers with a special offer and rate. The registered mortgage holders then have the opportunity to determine if the winning lender offer is right for them.
One Big Switch monetization is based on a commission model which is paid by the lending company who win over the switchers. One Big Switch advises that full disclosure of commission payments is disclosed to all switchers.
Currently One Big Switch is looking at other switching offers such as electricity and other market segments.
Another great example of an innovative startup creating a twist on an existing competitive market concept. Why not start a similar concept in your corner of the globe, inturn demolishing government and corporate dominance. People power is showing no signs of slowing down.
It’s Pozible
Australia's Kickstarter. Meet Pozible. If you haven't yet heard of Crowdfunding, have a listen. Crowdfunding pulls in the resources of a crowd to get projects going, and essentially, funded.
Less bank loans and interest rates, and more getting outright cash injection from the community that already supports you. In addition to the moral support they and perhaps even strangers can provide, they can join up and do it monetarily.
In return for financial contributions, an oft seen return are the 'rewards' that contributors get based on what amount they contribute. You could get a photo of the team you're funding for your 1 dollar contribution, or a visit from them around the world for your 2000 dollar contribution. In the case of Pozible, the project maker sets the reward and amongst them so far I see shoutouts, signed copies of finished books, artworks and more.
The format and even layout hark very much to crowdfunding star Kickstarter but where Pozible comes in with a difference, apart from it's Australianess, is it's Network Collaborators.
Though now a large part of the direction that Kickstarter is taking, Pozible is doing this collaboration from the start. Kickstarter works in collaboration with the likes of TED and Sundance to help fund curated projects along the lines of each organisation. This, Pozible also does, straight out, with Australia cultural networks and organisations.
Some very exciting names on board, the likes of Craft, Hub Melbourne, Incubator and the Sydney Film School number on the list.
Pozible seems headed in the strong direction to nurture a creative community through support on multiple levels. That of the individual, their network, larger cultural bodies and the eyes on the internet.
American Express ‘Serve’
AMEX channels PayPal in their new online service offering all the benefits of their network plus some really useful extras – Serve. Informal spending (think paying the babysitter), negotiation (haggling over products with vendors in-service), and a bank card that acts like an AMEX and with access to your associated Serve online account.An interesting embarkation into what seems like a well-laid out personal financial system. Integrating all the learning taken from informal transaction research (think mobile banking in India) with the conveniences of a more regulated system (the credit card world of the US).
We mentioned mobile, Serve also looks to be used via mobile phones. A handy mobile app can quickly do transfers or even split the bill at a group meal, iPhone or Android.And on the peer-to-peer (P2P) side of things, all you need to transfer money to whoever is their email address.
Though payments are the focus, AMEX is looking to use the Serve platform to develop partnerships with organisations. Launching with partnerships with Ticketmaster, Concur (a business travel expense account manager) and Flipswap (an electronic goods recycling provider)- these third party sites will use Serve to de-friction the financial experience of their services.
American Express Gets Social
AmEx jumps into the social media game with a campaign entitled “Social Currency”.After the usual rounds of much research, AmEx has come to a point where they’ve decided to get on board the Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare trains.
Tying up with Facebook and Twitter, AmEx looks to promote the more innovative use of customer reward points. Realising that the use of reward points was a large talking factor with their customers, they’ve taken to publishing the rewards redeemed directly to said customer’s profiles. With the more innovative reward choices set to run as part of an upcoming campaign, the customer becomes the selling point.
In their link up with Foursquare, AmEx sees their usual rounds of discounts at partnered venues. But with the geo-location difference. A more targeted experience that launched at tech-startup-pop-culture central South by Southwest (or SXSW) this last week.A steady foray into the world of social media sees this credit card giant getting the hang of it. But using that information to generate it’s own advertising campaign, that keeps the budget down, incentivises the screen-time hungry public and involves your customers on a level to engage.
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