Bill Hanifin
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This week’s Loyalty Quote consists of two, framed in confrontational juxtaposition.
First, Chris Larsen, chairman and founder of E-loan who embraces the title of disruptor was quoted in the February 2013 issue of American Banker Magazine saying “The time has come for virtual currencies”. Larsen was referring to the rise of several alternative currency mechanisms including his own Ripple and the original disruptor, Bitcoin. Larsen has set a high bar for his new venture Ripple, stating that it is a system that ”cuts the banks right out of the picture by allowing anyone to act as a bank and grant credit within the Ripple system to anyone they know.”
Contrast Larsen’s optimism towards creating payment anarchy with this statement from Jesse Dorogusker, vice president of register at Square. “Cash isn’t dead just yet.”
Spoken during an interview where he discussed Square’s latest platform, “Business In A Box”, he reminded the world that even disruptors such as Square realize there will probably always remain a role for cash in our economy.
The opposing quotes are a reminder that our customer databases, while chocked full of transactional data, represent the actions of people, each of which brings their distinct views to daily commerce.
Innovation and disruption are needed to capture the attention of the digitally progressive in your customer universe, but traditional methods of communication and commerce can’t be left behind.
