regs to riches

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#24

saving our space subscription

Vass Bednar
Oct 14, 2020
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This is a newsletter about regulatory hacking featuring (mostly) Canadian startups.
Every week, I contextualize a Canadian startup in the legislative landscape.
Because all start-ups need a policy strategy to succeed.
🏺 company: Quber 
🤡 wildcard: regulating annual increases of digital subscriptions 
📕 book: The Tangled Web We Weave - Inside The Shadow System That Shapes the Internet 
☄️ space: The impacts of COVID-10 on the space industry (OECD)  
💅 tune: bad girl - mall girl 
Twitter avatar for @monicaheisey
monicaheisey @monicaheisey
WHY are twentysomething women not in charge of contact tracing?? you could show my friends a photo of a random pub full of men and have their ages, occupations, probable marital status and star signs in under 30 mins! @ the government let's GO
9:53 AM ∙ Oct 7, 2020
35,519Likes3,028Retweets
Twitter avatar for @WolfieChristl
Wolfie Christl @WolfieChristl
Nesta is running a fintech 'challenge' to 'unlock the power of open banking', especially for people 'excluded from access to fair financial services' #psd2 challenges.org/challenge/open… Here's the list of 'finalist' apps. Most of them look deeply problematic: openup2020.org/explore-the-op…
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10:42 AM ∙ Sep 28, 2020
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company: QUBER

Let’s get in the Atlantic bubble for a minute.

Quber is a New-Brunswick-based fintech (at least I *think* it is a fintech - we will get to that in a second). It is essentially with a gamified budgeting app to help low income people save money for emergencies and other short-term goals. An admirable intention, for sure.

I think that the firm has a great mission and is tackling a worthy problem. My guess is that they may face regulatory barriers related to their ability to hold funds on other people’s behalf.

Deposits made with QUBER are insured by a Canadian credit union (they don’t say which one) in an abstraction that QUBER refers to as a “vault.” And while you can essentially “hide” money from yourself, you don’t earn any interest (plus: current high-interest savings rates could be said to be a disincentive). So QUBER is basically a digital shoebox under your bed.

I scrolled through the firm’s FAQ in an effort to appreciate their design a bit better. I don’t think it is a very good program. Check this out:

Please note: When selecting a Saving Rule that only sends a small amount of money to your Saving Jar each time it fires (ex. rounding up to the nearest dollar on coffees), money will appear as if it’s in your Jar well before it actually leaves your Primary Bank Account. It is important to be mindful of your Primary Bank Account balance when your Saving Jar finally hits $20 to avoid incurring a non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee from your bank when QUBER tries to withdraw money.

So much for “set it and forget it 🤷

Perhaps the transaction costs on micro-transfers aren’t worth QUBER picking up the tab. So - your *actual* bank may charge you fees - the ultimate worst of which is an NSF fee.

Wouldn’t it be a more productive design for Quber to NOT “take” money from your account if you don’t have any there?

Further, I found some of Quber ‘s messaging problematic:

We know that most people have a difficult time reaching their goals due to poor financial planning and excessive impulse spending.

It can also be difficult to save because of the rising cost of living and stagnant wages(?). Geez.

I guess QUBER is a nice idea, but why not just set a savings goal with your *own* bank? QUBER is inventive, creative, and well intentioned but badly executed. I hope it can partner with one of the big 5 and waive any incidental NSF fees as they seek to support people and their efforts to save more.

On the fintech train - albeit not Canadian - is Greenwood. 🇺🇸

It is a banking platform for Black and Latinx communities. The banking platform redistributes wealth my donating to the UNCF and NAACP through spare change round ups. I was also trying to learn more about what a “public bank” is this week.

Twitter avatar for @PublicBankNYC
Public Bank NYC @PublicBankNYC
BIG NEWS: The fight is on for a #PublicBank in NYC! It's time to divest public money from Wall St. and invest in community-led development that advances racial and economic justice. citylimits.org/2020/09/29/cou…
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6:22 PM ∙ Sep 29, 2020
123Likes42Retweets

Here’s a 2018 article from the New Republic - Why Public Banks are Suddenly Popular. My Googling tells me that there was a movement of sorts to have an Ontario Public Bank back in 2011 (big thanks to the Canadian Citizens Coalition for Monetary Reform). 🏦


🤡 wildcard: a ceiling for annual subscription increases

Speaking of managing money: Netflix’s subscription is going up - again (well, the last price increase was in November of 2018). Perhaps this was to be expected (SEE: Covid-19 presents Netflix with chance to hike prices). Current users will be notified 30 days before the price increases.

Twitter avatar for @CTVNews
CTV News @CTVNews
Netflix Canada increases prices for its monthly standard, premium plans
ctvnews.caNetflix Canada increases prices for its monthly standard, premium plansNetflix Canada is increasing some of its prices again.
11:56 AM ∙ Oct 8, 2020
17Likes31Retweets

The company’s last price increase in Canada was announced in November 2018. At that time it bumped up the basic monthly plan by a dollar to $9.99, the standard by $3 to $13.99, and the premium by $3 to $16.99.

Twitter avatar for @Swarlayzers
a. :( @Swarlayzers
Netflix getting wild disrespectful with a $2 price increase while having one of their weakest content years
3:02 PM ∙ Oct 8, 2020
40Likes4Retweets
Twitter avatar for @srslyjaimee
jaimee 🍂 @srslyjaimee
It's been real Netflix Canada but I'm gonna have to cancel my subscription. The increase in price vs the limited selection just isn't worth it anymore.
6:49 PM ∙ Oct 8, 2020
Twitter avatar for @robmichh
Robert Porco @robmichh
How is Netflix Canada raising their prices again?? Can you BE any more greedy!
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1:29 PM ∙ Oct 8, 2020
688Likes100Retweets

🃏 My wildcard - as we consider all the levers/pulleys/tools/and other abstractions we have “at our fingertips” to regulate technologies, I wonder if the state should explore capping annual price increases for digital subscriptions.

Of course, price increases can reflect cost increases on the supply side, and they are subject to basic economics i.e. Netflix/the company takes on the risk of losing subscriptions. At it stands, Netflix has ~180M subscribers. So, assuming they are planning on rolling out this price increase everywhere [eventually] and there’s *no* drop off from the increase [big V-assumption], that is an extra $4B/year.

SOURCE: Recode (2019).

You are likely familiar with how the province sets a ceiling for annual rent increases (without regulating the rental market). Typically consumer products with rising prices - not digital - influenced by trading conditions and even things like…the weather. Yet recurring digital subscriptions sort of turn is into hostages.

Quick skim of the prices of some of the most popular digital subscriptions:

  • Apple Music - $9.99/mo, $14.99/family plan, $4.99/student

  • Amazon Prime - $7.99/mo

  • Blockbuster (RIP) - Membership was $50/year or $100 for a lifetime membership, and individual rentals were $10.

  • ClassPass - pay-as-you-go, minimum $45/mo.

  • Costco - $60/yr

  • Spotify - $9.99/mo

Am I bonkers? In California, online subscription retailers face tougher regulation through the Automatic Renewal Law (ARL). Under ARL, retailers that promote auto-renewal subscriptions online need to allow online cancellation. Online dating service eHarmony faced a consumer-protection lawsuit in response to its automatic-charging practices. So - some broad precedent in regulating subscription companies from a consumer protection standpoint


📚 legislative pages: the tangled web we weave - inside the shadow system that shapes the internet

With “Lurking,” “If, Then,” “Reset,” etc. I feel like I accidentally enrolled myself in a class about the history of the internet and I am NOT MAD ABOUT IT.

Twitter avatar for @nytimesbooks
New York Times Books @nytimesbooks
In “The Tangled Web We Weave,” James Ball looks to the structure of the internet and the history of its growth as the deeper sources of our current problems
nyti.msThe Problem Is in the Internet’s BonesIn “The Tangled Web We Weave,” James Ball looks to the structure of the internet and the history of its growth as the deeper sources of our current problems.
10:15 PM ∙ Oct 7, 2020
29Likes3Retweets

🚀 space

COVID is also affecting the business of outer space, according to a new OECD report.

While many space sector firms seem to be able to cope, a significant number is struggling, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises that constitute the bulk of commercial actors in the space industry. Considering the high costs of entry to the sector, there is a risk that the crisis could lead to more industry concentration, eliminating smaller and younger firms that are key sources of innovation, employment and economic growth. Space agencies and other public administrations therefore need to fully consider vulnerable smaller actors in their overall crisis responses.

Twitter avatar for @OECDinnovation
OECD Innovation @OECDinnovation
Recent #SpaceSector growth generated unprecedented levels of entrepreneurship & startup activity, but #COVID19 could reverse this trend. How can countries support vulnerable smaller actors? We take a look 🚀 oe.cd/3bf #SpaceEconomyLeaders20 #WorldSpaceWeek2020
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3:10 PM ∙ Oct 7, 2020
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Also, researchers are mad that the US is trying to be the “gatekeeper of space.”

Twitter avatar for @VICE
VICE @VICE
Space is for everyone.
bit.lyThe U.S. Is Trying to Be the ‘Gatekeeper’ of Space, Researchers WarnA new article urges nations need to “speak up, now” with their objections to U.S. policy on space mining.
9:00 PM ∙ Oct 8, 2020
38Likes3Retweets
Twitter avatar for @NPR
NPR @NPR
Estée Lauder is reportedly paying $17,500 an hour to have astronauts take photos and videos of its skincare serum in space. NASA has set aside 90 hours of crew time for commercial and marketing activities like this.
trib.alInfluencers In Space: Astronauts Prepare To Receive Cosmetics And A New ToiletNASA has recently sent some Estée Lauder skin care products up to the International Space Station.
7:04 AM ∙ Oct 12, 2020
791Likes331Retweets
What do we think about sponcon from astronauts?

💅 tune: bad girl from “mall girl”


🤓 Vass Bednar is a smart generalist working at the intersection of technology and public policy.

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