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FINTECH NEWS

New Fintech App Combines all Financial Tasks into One Place: Interview with Jena Gruenebaum, Director of Client Advocacy at Marygold & Co

Posted on June 27, 2023

How many different apps do you use to manage your finances? The odds are you have an entire folder on your smartphone dedicated to banking, saving and investing, but what if you could do all that on one app? Find out more in this TechBullion interview with Jena Gruenebaum from Marygold & Co; a financial technology company which recently announced the launch of its banking and financial services app, offering streamlined and tailored solutions for money management.

Please introduce yourself to us, tell us more about your journey so far in the fintech industry and your mission at Marygold & Co?

My name is Jena Gruenebaum, and I am the director of client advocacy at Marygold & Co. I joined the company about nine months ago after spending a decade at prominent investment firms. While I am forever grateful for what each stop of my career offered in terms of learning and development, I was ready to put my efforts behind a company that was nimble and forward-thinking, with the goal of delivering the best client experience from day one — and that’s what I found in Marygold & Co.

Could you tell us about your new fintech solution, banking and financial services app plus debit card, what problems is solving, who is it for and how does it work?

The Marygold & Co. app empowers clients to bring all of their financial transactions together into one place — organizing what could otherwise be an entire folder of apps and spreadsheets into one simple and easy-to-use platform. Our unique solution addresses a myriad of common problems, from lacking convenience and accessibility to time-consuming transactions, poor financial literacy and generic, cookie-cutter services not personalized to help individual users.

To sign up, simply download the app and provide some identifying information — it’s as easy as that! While awaiting the arrival of our debit card in the mail, clients can explore the app, including an ever-growing library of content aimed at boosting financial literacy. We have something to offer clients at every stage in life, but hope to resonate with younger savers who have the opportunity to set themselves up for long-term success. We have found that these savers often lack the proper tools and resources to achieve their goals. Marygold & Co. exists to address that gap.

What trends inspired the development of this new fintech app, could you give us a market overview of the banking and financial services sector and why your new solution is a must have at this point?

We want to bring clients an experience that redefines how they think about banking. Right now, there is an entire marketplace of apps that are great for certain aspects of a person’s financial life — payments between friends, staying on top of bills, investing, saving, etc., but we want Marygold & Co. to be the platform that conveniently brings everything together in one location. With the increased demand for convenience, artificial intelligence and other digital banking trends driving innovation and change, our unique banking and financial services app truly simplifies and organizes every aspect of how clients interact with their money.

Taking a closer look at the Unlimited Money Pool investing features, how does this work and could you elaborate on the need for diversified portfolios on the app?

Money Pools are individual investment accounts designed to help clients meet short- and long-term savings goals. For example, if a client wants to purchase a home in five years, they can open an account and start contributing today. Upon opening, they will receive a recommended investment portfolio — one with risk aligned with their stated time horizon.

As the client continues to save and contribute, they have the opportunity for their money to grow in the market. The portfolio risk automatically reduces so their savings are better protected as the date for their home purchase approaches. At Marygold and Co., we offer clients the opportunity to open unlimited individual Money Pools without additional fees — so they can start saving for all their dreams.

What inspired the convenient “PayAnyone™“ capability on your app, how does it work and what makes this special?

As the name suggests, we want our clients to be able to pay anyone with a U.S. bank account, whether they are a Marygold & Co. client or not. When sending money to another Marygold app user, the app sends a push notification, and the funds are dispersed. Others without the Marygold app, will receive a text or email with instructions to accept the funds. After entering their bank account information, the app facilitates the execution of the transaction. PayAnyone™ is our unique approach to giving our clients the simplicity and ease of keeping all their transactions within one app, regardless of where their friends and family choose to bank.

The entire thrust behind Marygold & Co. is to simplify financial lives — and while other apps provide similar services, they require that the other person also have the same app. Our team knows PayAnyone™ is a better way forward.

How safe is your app, tell us more about your advanced security features, and how they empower clients to take control of their account security?

The Marygold & Co. app has a built-in mobile application protection suite (MAPS) to identify suspicious behavior and protect confidential client data and payment controls within the app. Clients experience a safe and secure app session using this new MAPS layer, which doesn’t impact any app performance issues. The app also provides security controls to handle different types of transactions (e.g., contactless, e-commerce, point-of-sale and international.) For lost or stolen cards, clients can freeze their debit cards with a simple toggle within the app.

With digital transformation, came the innovation in contactless payment, could you give us more insights into the contactless technology and how it works with the Marygold & Co. debit card?

Contactless “tap-and-pay” payments have exploded from one in every three to every other transaction in the last few years (thanks to COVID-19!). Secure, encrypted tap-to-pay technology facilitates a smoother and faster checkout experience at retail stores. Our Marygold & Co. debit card is contactless-enabled by default and globally accepted at all point-of-sale storefronts, which means all transactions support card-present (face-to-face) payments. With contactless payment technology embedded in our debit cards, key fobs and wearables, Marygold & Co. ensures a fast and convenient way for daily purchases.

What customizable savings and funding accounts are available on the Marygold & Co. debit card, how do they work and what are the benefits?

In addition to investment Money Pools, we offer two additional cash options. First are cash Money Pools, which act like a traditional savings account but are still unlimited in nature, allowing clients to bucket their emergency reserves and short-term savings in a way that makes sense for them. Second are Spend Now accounts, which act as traditional checking accounts. Debit card transactions, PayAnyone™, bill pay and other transactions are executed within Spend Now. By offering three fee-free options, clients can bucket their money in a way that makes sense for their financial goals.

What is the user response for the new debit card so far, and use cases or success stories you would like to share with us?

While our product and engineering teams were hard at work developing the app, our operations team amassed over 10,000 people for our waitlist. Having just debuted, many of those folks are now active users. Thus far, the response to the card design, delivery experience and functionality has been very positive. We look forward to continuously improving by analyzing data and feedback over the coming months.

What are you currently working on and what are your future plans for this fintech app, any available opportunities for investors and partnerships at Marygold & Co.?

As a full-service financial company, we will never stop adding to the tools and services that help our clients simplify their financial lives! We are very proud of our current product but are excited to offer retirement vehicles, budgeting tools and other in-demand features soon. Our goal is to never stop evolving on our path to make managing money the easiest part of our lives.

For more information, visit https://marygoldandco.com/

June 27, 2023/by Emmanuel Hinneh

How to Protect Your Money

So many of us are focused on how we can make the maximum amount of money possible. While this is important, learning how to protect your money is equally as critical. There are many different threats and risks out there that you need to be aware of, such as fraud, identity theft, stolen bank cards, and hackers. Thankfully, there are a variety of measures you can take to help protect your money.

Potential Risks

Fraud: Fraud is a major risk that you need to be aware of. Fraud simply means somebody attempting to deceive you or someone else for either personal or financial gain. An example of this are the spam calls that all of us have been getting about your car’s extended warranty expiring. In this example, the scammer is attempting to deceive you into giving them your credit card or bank account information to then steal your money.
Identity Theft: Identity theft, although it is a form of fraud, is an extremely dangerous risk to your money. Identity theft is where somebody attempts to steal your identity, usually by obtaining your social security number and other important personal information. In some cases they even use digital synthetic identities that are so realistic most fraud detection services are fooled. They then use your identity to open up new credit cards or bank accounts, among other things. The risk of this is that, as the account is tied to your identity, any debt can potentially be your responsibility and severely impact your credit score.
Stolen Bank Cards: Most people, at least once in their life, have checked their bank accounts to see a bunch of charges they didn’t make. Usually, this happens through somebody illegally obtaining your debit or credit card, whether it’s through theft or you simply misplacing your wallet.
Hacking: Another common risk you need to be aware of when learning how to protect your money is a hacker gaining access to your bank accounts. This can happen either through hacking the bank directly (which is extremely difficult, as banks and other financial institutions have a ton of safeguards in place) or by hacking either your phone, app, or username and password.

Best Practices: How to Protect Your Money

Now that we’ve shared a few common risks that you should be aware of, we’d like to give you a few basic, simple best practices that will help you protect your money. You might already be aware of some of these, but they are all important when thinking about how to protect your money.

Check Your Accounts Often

One of the easiest things you can do to protect your money is to check your checking, savings, and credit card accounts daily. Although it might sound a little extreme, taking the 5 minutes to briefly check your accounts allows you to stay on top of any potentially fraudulent transactions.

Monitor your Credit

There are many sources available to monitor your credit and even get notified if your credit is being checked or a new account is being opened in your name.

Lock your credit file when you are not applying for new credit. This can be a simple way to protect your identity and restrict fraudsters from impersonating you even if they gained access to your personal data. In order to lock your credit file, you will need to contact each of the following three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

Do Research on Your Bank

One of the most important steps you can take in learning how to protect your money is to thoroughly research your current and/or future banks. You will want to make sure your bank is FDIC-insured, which protects your money up to $250,000 per account. Another crucial thing to research is whether or not your bank has good customer service. Lastly, you’ll want to learn about any potential missteps that your bank has had in the past, such as the Wells Fargo scandal a decade ago, where employees were fraudulently opening new accounts without customer awareness.

Don’t Share Your Bank Info With Anyone

This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s actually one of the most common ways to have your identity or money stolen. Unless you are calling your bank directly, under no circumstances should you share your bank account information with anybody, even if they seem legitimate.

Use Strong Passwords & Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

Strong passwords and MFA can help prevent unauthorized access to your accounts. By having long, complex passwords that you change frequently, you reduce the risk of somebody or a computer program guessing your password. Multi-factor authentication is another way to keep your accounts safe. MFA uses 2+ checks to confirm your identity, such as entering a password and then inputting a numerical code texted to your phone number.

Be Sure You’re Using Secure Devices & Networks

You should only log in to your financial information from a secure, personal device and secure (password-protected) wifi network. It’s much easier for hackers to gain access to your data if you are using an unsecured, public device or wifi network. In a perfect world, you’d have a dedicated computer to access your finances, but this obviously is not realistic for most.

Protect Your Money w/ Marygold & Co.

Marygold & Co. is a new financial services app that’s dedicated to helping organize your financial life and reach your financial goals.

Not only is it revolutionizing budgeting and expense tracking through a new feature called Money Pools, but Marygold & Co. is extremely concerned with safety and security. That’s why we employ state-of-the-art technology like biometrics with facial authentication to determine if a government-issued identification is authentic and a selfie of a live person matches the picture on the ID. This is highly effective because fraudsters don’t like to have their real picture taken and faking a real face is not an easy task.

Other security measures like multifactor authentication and fingerprint credentials offer additional layers of protection once an account is opened.

You shouldn’t entrust your hard-earned money to just anybody, and Marygold & Co. will not only help protect your money but it gives you all the tools needed to push towards your financial goals.

November 13, 2021/by Smartpoint

Financial Tech, Mobile Banking Services

Early Direct Deposit

Direct deposit has gone from being a cutting-edge feature to the default for most workers and employers, and it’s no surprise why. It eliminates the hassle of cashing your check at the bank. Instead, your employer pays you electronically and the money is deposited directly into your bank account. With Marygold & Co.’s early direct deposit, you can get your money up to two days earlier than traditional banks. We make sure to process your deposits as soon as they arrive, which means you’ll most likely have access to your hard-earned money earlier than the scheduled payday.

Benefits of Direct Deposit

When you set up early direct deposit, there are a few advantages that put you ahead of everyone else (other than just getting paid two days earlier):

Early Access and Increased Accessibility

Setting up this feature not only saves time, it is so much more accessible. Since funds are electronically transferred, they are automatically credited.

Gone are the days of waiting for a check to clear.

Direct deposit, along with the rise of banking technology allows you to get your money deposited without having to physically run to the bank.

Some fintech apps, like the Marygold & Co. app, provide you with direct deposit up to two days earlier*, as well as access to all banking features through your phone.

This means your money is always with you wherever you are!

Pay your Bills on Time and Save More

Another bonus is that it takes away the stress of making sure you deposit your check in time to ensure your bills will be paid on time.

Using an account with early direct deposit can give you extra time to pay monthly bills such as rent and utilities.

Not only can you access your paycheck earlier but you can also receive your tax money up to two days early*, before it’s available at traditional banks.

Yes, we’ve concluded that it is an easy way to avoid missing out on payments, but it can also help you save more efficiently.

The Marygold & Co. interest-earning feature called ‘Money Pools‘ can be set up simultaneously with this feature to ensure that you get closer to your savings goals with each payment. You can customize this feature to have a percentage or specific amount of your paycheck deposited directly into your “Money Pool” savings account and start earning interest on your money while building your savings.

Safer Than Paper Checks!

Using online banking and perks such as this one can trigger concerns about safety.

However, direct deposit is considered much safer than being paid through check. Paper checks can easily be lost, stolen, or fraudulently cashed.

With this feature, your money is automatically transferred from your employer’s account into the bank account you choose.

The biggest hazard is ensuring your account information goes to someone you trust.

How Does Direct Deposit Work?

To start the process, your employer’s HR department or the payroll company your employer utilizes submits payroll files – which contain account information, to their bank, which then sends the data to an Automated Clearing House (ACH). A bank-to-bank electronic transfer takes place once the HR department receives account information, and the money is then deposited into your account.

Direct Deposit with Marygold & Co.

More than 93 percent of U.S. workers receive their pay by direct deposit, according to the 2019 survey “Getting Paid In America”. Direct deposit has become the standard for most workers and employers and with Marygold & Co., you can receive your money up to two days early! Marygold & Co. is a free and FDIC-insured banking and financial services app that allows customers to send, receive, spend and save money safely through their mobile devices. Using early direct deposit, along with other Marygold & Co. features will make your finances easier and more convenient to manage.

Redefine the way you bank and join our waitlist.

*Early access to direct deposit funds depends on timing of payer’s submission of deposits. We generally post such deposits on the day they are received which may be up to 2 days earlier than the payer’s scheduled payment date.

August 29, 2021/by Smartpoint

Mobile Banking Services

How to Achieve Your Financial Goals

Being financially secure is more prevalent than ever, but it still remains a challenge to many people.

Let’s discuss how to achieve your financial goals – and actually stick to it this time.

After a long and arduous 2020, more and more citizens have set their sights on being financially stable. In fact, research shows that almost 50 percent of Americans have a financially related New Year’s resolution.

Unfortunately, as reported by U.S. News & World Report, roughly 80 percent of people fail their New Year’s resolution by the second week of February.

If achieving a financial goal was a resolution for you, here are some things to help you avoid becoming part of that 80 percent.

Setting A Financial Goal

Finances are different for everyone. Perhaps you’ve set a financial goal without fully realizing it. Nerdwallet defines financial goals as “personal, big-picture objectives you set for how you’ll save and spend your money.” Some examples include:

Purchasing a bike
Buying a home
Paying off debt
Starting a business
Saving for retirement

No matter how grand the scale of your goal is, there are certain things you should be doing in order to make it a reality.

Basic Steps to Achieve Your Financial Goals

Becoming financially secure or independent means many things to many different people. Money is different for everyone, but there are basic rules that everyone should follow. These include:

Creating and sticking to a budget
Building an emergency fund
Managing credit score
Money organization
Savvy shopping
Knowing where your money goes

Creating a Budget

Budgeting is a word that everyone knows, but not everyone is able to accomplish. According to Investopedia, a budget is an estimation of revenue and expenses over a period of time.

Creating a budget is the first step in achieving any financial goal.

In order to set a budget, you must first determine your income. This is your net, take-home pay each month. Once you’ve calculated that, you need to differentiate your expenses into three categories: needs, wants, and savings.

Comb through at least a year’s worth of expenses to have the most accurate expense chart. Begin by totaling up all of your necessary expenses. This includes rent, car payments, insurance, groceries, etc. Anything you need to live will go in this category.

From there, see how much money you have left over for wants and savings. A portion of this should go into a savings account, emergency fund, and/or investments. But keep in mind you should have some money set aside for yourself to accommodate your wants. This doesn’t mean spending frivolously, but very few people will stick to a budget that doesn’t allow them to have any fun.

Sticking to a Budget

Now that you have created your budget, you need to stick to it. If you budgeted $400 for wants, you have $400 to spend on wants. If it is Friday night and your friends are going to the movies but you only have $20 left in this category, you need to have the willpower to say no. The most important step to achieving your financial goal is not spending above your means. That is why sticking to your budget is so crucial.

Building an Emergency Fund

It is incredibly important to have an emergency fund for whatever life may throw your way. An emergency fund, which differs from a savings account, is an account where the money is saved for major, unexpected expenses. Financial experts have stated that an emergency fund should hold at least enough money to cover three to six months of living expenses.

As we’ve all noticed, especially in the last year, life challenges can come at you unexpectedly. Pew Research found in September that over 15 percent of Americans had lost their job over the previous six months.

Many people have not been able to achieve their financial goals in the past because of unforeseen circumstances or expenses.

With an emergency fund, you can stay on top of these unexpected costs rather than making up for them later.

This will help keep you on the right track towards reaching your financial goals.

Setting aside money for an emergency fund should factor into your budget as to how much you will be saving and spending. Once you have saved enough money to cover at least six months’ worth of living expenses, that money can be budgeted elsewhere.

Managing Your Credit Score

A credit score is a number between 300-850, the highest being the best, based on your credit history. You can check this number by ordering your credit report from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. Everyone is entitled to one free report per year.

Managing and maintaining your credit score is a crucial step in accomplishing your financial goals. A good credit score can help you in a litany of ways, most importantly: qualifying for loans or mortgages with more favorable interest rates.

To strengthen your credit score you must first make sure you pay all your bills on time. Generally speaking, a credit card, used wisely, is a great way to build your credit as well.

Attaining a good credit score is an important factor in achieving your financial goals. You’ll spend less money on interest rates, therefore, your loans will be paid off quicker.

Keeping Organized

Staying organized is key to becoming financially secure. This means keeping a record of your bank and credit card statements, bills, and other expenses.

You should also organize what you’re saving for. With a savings account and an emergency fund, it can sometimes be confusing to keep track of all your money if they flow into the same account. Staying organized is even trickier if you’ve set multiple financial goals, like paying for a trip, saving for a home, and budgeting for new skis.

Trying out programs like Marygold & Co.’s Money Pools is a great way to stay organized and stick with your budget. Separating your goals into Money Pools allows you to visually see how much progress is being made towards each one. Programs like these will keep track of each account while also earning interest on every one of them.

Shopping Savvy

Though it seems like a no-brainer, many people fail to consider their spending habits when trying to attain a financial goal. When making a budget, sometimes ‘necessary’ expenses may not be exactly that.

Every expense adds up.

Consider a trip to the grocery store – are you:

Making a list and sticking to it?
Using coupons?
Buying the cheaper options?
Comparing prices?

Every time you spend money, how much you’re spending must be taken into account. You can lower your ‘necessary’ spending simply by being fiscally responsible. Did you really need that pack of skittles sitting in the check-out line?

Knowing Where Your Money Goes

Everyone has noticed throughout their lives that sometimes, money seems to magnificently disappear. Though it can feel like that, this is simply not the case. If you are on top of your finances, you’ll know where every penny goes.

A cup of “joe” every day doesn’t feel like it would cost that much; research has found that some people spend up to 1,000 dollars on coffee and 2,000 dollars a year on lunch. Seeing that number, many people would reconsider their drive-through coffee-drinking habits. Coffee is an overused example but you get the point.

When learning about how to achieve your financial goals, it’s vital to know where your money is being spent. Go over your bank statements and account for every single dollar spent to find out how you are spending your money and where you can cut back.

July 5, 2021/by Smartpoint

Financial Tech, Mobile Banking Services

Financial Spring Cleaning

Spring is the season for cleaning and that shouldn’t just end at home. Your finances should go through a little spring cleaning themselves. Having an organized financial life can help you better understand the flow of your money. Tracking your income, how you spend it, and how much of it you save can give you the information you need to set financial goals for yourself.

So, while you’re decluttering your closet, remodeling your back patio, consider some financial spring cleaning, as well.

Here are some ways to organize your finances this spring (or anytime, really):

Review and Establish a Budget

To ensure your finances are in order and that they remain that way, it’s best to set up a balanced and realistic budget, if you don’t have one already. Review your monthly income and expenses then establish what your financial goals are. You could be saving for a long-term investment like a down payment on a home or you could be saving for a new gaming system or a getaway.

Whether it’s a long-term or short-term goal, budgeting is essential to making sure those goals are achieved. Organize your budget on a simple spreadsheet and review it often to ensure you are on track.

Having a budget will make it easier for you to reach your savings goals because it’ll help you determine how much money you can spend and how much you need to put away. You don’t need to plan out the rest of the year perfectly but instead start by creating a monthly budget, then track your finances for that month. Once you get into the habit, you’ll find yourself becoming a budgeting expert.

Set up a Money Pool/Automated Savings

One way to keep yourself organized financially is to set up automated savings, or an interest-earning Money Pool, like the one we offer at Marygold & Co.

Having a Money Pool allows you to separate and categorize your finances all within one account, making it easy for customers to track multiple savings goals at once.

Each individual can customize their automated savings to best align with their goals and current financial standing.

You can choose to contribute to your savings goals on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, and the amount you deposit is up to your discretion as well.

Automating your savings will help prioritize your goals and will reduce the temptation to overspend. You don’t even have to worry about making those regular deposits, it’s all done for you!

Pay Off Outstanding Payments

Look over any outstanding payments, if you have the means to pay them off, then do so. If not, this is the time to work out a way to pay your debts off.

Is there anything laying around your house you could sell? Are there extra shifts you could pick up at work?

Find opportunities that’ll help you earn that extra income to help you pay off your debts.

If you are unable to pay everything off right away, setting up a debt repayment plan can help you stay on track. While you may not pay everything off in one go, at least you have taken steps to reduce that debt and eventually eliminate it.

Make sure you include your debt payment plan in your budget.

This will help you stay on top of your payments by ensuring there is money available in your checking account to contribute to this payment plan.

Automatic Billing and Investments

Having your bills automated can help you ensure that they are always paid on time and that you’re not rummaging around for extra cash to meet your phone bill payment at the end of the month.

The best part about automatic billing is you don’t even have to think about it, it is automatic after all.

Additionally, you can even set up automatic deposits to your IRA or 401k investments. Automating deposits into these accounts will ensure you’re continually investing your funds.

The advantages of investing your money include reducing your taxable income for the year.

Analyze Your Spending Habits

Analyzing your spending habits will help you point out your spending habits, bad and good. When looking over your spending habits, you might find some patterns that are preventing you from achieving your financial goals.

An important step while spring cleaning your finances is to look over your spending habits and find areas where you can save.

Are there any unnecessary monthly subscriptions billed to your credit card?

Are there unnecessary transactions you can eliminate?

These are important questions to ask yourself when analyzing your spending habits. Find areas in your daily life where you can save. Maybe pack a lunch instead of ordering out every day, you’ll definitely see big rewards from the small changes you make in your daily habits.

If you lack financial discipline, the Marygold & Co. app can help. The customizable security dashboard allows customers to limit where the card can be used.

Accounts can also be turned on or off – which can also remove the temptation to unnecessarily spend.

Clean Up and Shred Old Paperwork

It’s easy for those paper bills and bank statements to pile up on the corner of your table.

Marygold & Co. can help you keep your finances organized. The best part about the Marygold & Co. app is that you won’t have to worry about paper – checks, receipts, pay stubs, etc.

Take the time to shred and discard any old paperwork. Make sure you dispose of these documents properly as they contain very sensitive information including personal information and bank statements. We recommend using a shredder to ensure these documents are properly destroyed.

Marygold & Co. Makes It Easy

Marygold & Co. can help you sort your finances and keep them organized throughout the year through an innovative new app launching this spring.

The FDIC-insured fintech app offers customers interest-earning savings accounts and allows them to send, receive, spend and save securely through their mobile device.

Control and organize your finances easily with Marygold & Co.

Your finances will never have to go through a spring cleaning again – instead, you can keep them clean and organized.

June 9, 2021/by Smartpoint

Timothy Rooney: President of Advisory Services

Reversion to the Mean

A basic thesis on Wall Street is that what has worked well in the last market cycle is likely to underperform in a new cycle, and conversely, the underperformers of the last cycle can or should be the outperformers of the new cycle.

The basic logic is intuitive – an asset class that had been a leader in the previous run-up will, at some point, become overpriced and will struggle in the future without significant earnings growth to support the higher prices.

Historically speaking, small caps outperform large caps.

This makes sense because investors need to be compensated for the increased volatility and risk in the small-cap space.

Also, over the long term, value stocks outperform growth stocks.

Since 1926, value investing returned 1,344,600% vs. 626,600% for growth stocks, according to Forbes Advisor. And some of the most famous investors on the planet (think Warren Buffet and Benjamin Graham) are value investors.

But largely none of these long-term trends mattered over the last few years of this past market cycle.

The bull market of the last decade seemed to make investing quite easy, large-cap growth dominated, and as long as you held the big-name tech stocks your portfolio, probably did well.

This trend was exacerbated during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

During the 2020 bear market caused by the pandemic, U.S. markets bottomed on March 23, 2020. From that bottom, the S&P Growth Index initiated a historic recovery and peaked on September 1, 2020.

Much has been made in the media about how quickly markets recovered from the market bottom, but that outperformance was mostly a product of the “Big 5” stocks (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft).

As of September 2, 2020, those five stocks had a year-to-date performance of 65%, the other 495 stocks in the S&P 500 had a total YTD performance of just 3%. Since the fourth quarter of 2020, the story has begun to shift to the performance of small caps and specifically small-cap value.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the top two performing sectors of the S&P 500 were Energy and Financials.

What Does it Mean?

Is the “reversion to the mean” a story of small caps over larger caps, or is it Energy & Financials over Tech and Consumer Discretionary?

It is still early and we will continue to watch how this plays out. The main point here is to not be married to a thesis that worked very well in 2020, because the markets may have already started to revert to the mean.

“This time is different” is a phrase commonly heard toward the end of market cycles.

If you hear someone tell you that “this time is different”, run! This time is not different.

Math does not evolve over time. Corporate price/earnings ratios and other investment metrics matter just as much as they have in the past.

Don’t chase performance.

What happened in the past, even in the recent past, is not guaranteed to continue in the future.

May 1, 2021/by Smartpoint

Timothy Rooney: President of Advisory Services

How to Keep Money

“How did you go bankrupt? Bill asked. “Two ways”, Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
– E. Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926)

Once we make some money, how do we keep it?

There are many articles written about how to make money, some are shady and some are legit. But there are few articles written about how to keep money once it’s made.

Perhaps because, as a general rule, we spend a lot of time thinking about making money, and very little time thinking about not losing money.

So here are a few thoughts on how to keep money once you make money…

Have a Plan

Whether you are just starting out or have already built a “nest egg”, the punchline is straightforward: Live within your means.

Easy to say, hard to do.

As your career improves and your income increases, it is tempting to raise your level of personal spending.

I have friends in New York City who are very successful with seven-figure incomes, but they spend every penny.

Good times are not guaranteed to continue forever.

Spend time thinking about your short and long-term goals, and set aside money for each of these goals.

As your income increases over time, make a conscious effort to use the additional money to meet the goals you have established. And, until you do, try to hold off on upgrading your closet or trading in the car for a newer model.

It may sound trite, but you should create a budget.

Always know how you are spending your money. If you know where your money is going it makes it easier to make necessary trade-offs. It also makes it easier to see that your short and long-term savings goals are probably more important to you than some of the other expenditures.

Invest, Don’t Speculate

Too much of social media is caught up in get-rich-quick schemes.

Most of them are just that, schemes.

Yes, that story on IG or YouTube about that person who made a huge amount of money in a week or two is exciting. And it might even be true. But there is nothing about that that involves investing.

That is pure speculation.

Investing is unemotional.

It is about having a plan and having the conviction to execute the plan. Emotion and greed cloud judgment, so don’t be emotional.

Diversify.

Any solid investment plan includes diversification. With so much information being thrown at us every day it’s easy to be lured into making one or two big bets. The stories sound so convincing!

Putting the majority of our money into one or two big bets is not investing, it’s speculation. As long as we know the difference we can make the right decision. Unless you are a professional investor with many years of experience, diversification should be an important part of your plan. Once you have a plan, have the patience to stick with it. Get rich quick schemes almost always end badly.

Luck vs. Experience & Skill

2020 was a very unusual year.

The obvious tech stocks that were trending throughout the year did extremely well after the U.S. stock market bottomed on March 23rd.

We’ve seen too many people confuse investing in these obvious trends with market skill or investing expertise.

The markets are not likely to repeat 2020.

So, in very simple terms, know how to keep money by living within your means, having a plan that includes a budget and your short-term and long-term savings goals, and investing in those goals utilizing a diversified portfolio appropriate to the timeline of your goals.

April 24, 2021/by Smartpoint

Financial Tech

Is Contactless Payment Safe?

Thanks to COVID-19, most of us really don’t want to hand our card to someone or touch a potentially contaminated PIN pad on a POS device. Questions about passing germs and touching common surfaces have boiled to the top of our everyday thoughts.

What if there was a way to pay without worrying about the cashier handling your card or whether the payment processor has been sanitized?

Let me introduce you to the world’s newest buzzwords: contactless payments.

What Are Contactless Payments?

Investopedia defines contactless payment as a “secure method for consumers to purchase products or services by using a debit, credit, smartcard or another payment device by using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and near-field communication (NFC).”

Now that may sound confusing. Essentially a contactless payment is exactly what the title states – a way for you to make a transaction without handing the card to the cashier, swiping your card, or even touching a point-of-sale terminal. This process allows customers to tap-to-pay rather than inserting your card into a machine. Contactless transactions are made through your phone, card, watch, key fob, bracelet, or other enabled items.

However, only NFC-enabled cards allow for no-touch transactions. Your smartphone is already equipped with this chip for services like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Most banking cards are being issued with the NFC chip as the U.S. begins to migrate towards this new tap-to-pay technology. If you have noticed the sideways wifi symbol on your card, this is an indication that your card has the tap-to-pay functionality.

Technology Behind Contactless Payment

Contactless payments are possible through near-field communication (NFC). Both the card and card reader must be equipped with this in order for the transaction to work.

This technology allows the chip in your card – or phone or smart-watch – to emit secure, short-range radio waves that communicate with the point-of-sale (POS) terminal. Purchases made using this method are as simple as holding your payment method near the POS terminal.

The History of Contactless Payment

Surprisingly enough, contactless payment has been around for decades. The first example was in Seoul, South Korea in 1995 when the transit system began to use contactless bus passes.

Since then, and especially more recently, the method has exponentially grown.

The United States is slightly slower than other countries in adopting new transaction methods. However, most retailers have moved over to NFC-capable terminals and almost all major banks in America offer ways to make contactless payments.

As the world is trying to socially distance and stay healthy, contactless payment is gaining more popularity. Mastercard reported that there was an uptick of over forty percent in contactless payments in 2020.

However, being creatures of habit, many people still have trouble trusting this new method of payment versus the traditional way of paying.

This brings us to the question – is contactless payment safe?

In short, yes.

How Safe is Contactless Payment?

Many people fear that sending data wirelessly is easily intercepted. This is certainly not the case with contactless payment. For all intents and purposes, it’s just as safe as using the chip reader.

Any time information is shared between a payment method and POS terminal, the data is encrypted. Furthermore, to ensure the process is even safer, the transaction uses a one-time code that has no value outside of that transaction.

Meaning even if someone was able to get the information from the two inches between your payment and the card reader, the information would be essentially useless.

Compared to the old magnetic strip technology, contactless payment is exponentially safer. With magnetic strips, people could steal and clone the data on your card and make a completely new one, leading to fraud. This process is not possible with NFC/EMV chips.

Why Should I Use Contactless Payment?

Many people are coming around to contactless. In fact, one in three card payments is now contactless. But if you’re still not convinced, consider these advantages for contactless payments.

It’s Secure

Security is (and should be) a top priority for most businesses, especially in the fintech industry. NFC technology certainly helps make transactions as secure as possible. As the transaction goes through, all data is encrypted and uses a unique, one-time code, making it nearly impossible to clone the data. Secondly, the card or mobile device must be within centimeters of the POS terminal for tap-to-pay to work. Thirdly, the transaction is verified by using two-factor authentication or fingerprint when using your mobile device.

It’s Fast

Contactless payments don’t require a Personal Identification Number (PIN). It’s as simple as holding your card or phone up to the reader – and you’re done. Much faster compared to inserting a card in the chip reader, declining cash back, then entering your PIN – all to wait fifteen seconds for the payment to go through.

It’s Contact-Free

This is a given – but it can be understated. We’re all trying to stay safe and healthy. The pandemic has made many realize how dirty public surfaces can be. Yes, companies are taking extra measures to ensure everything is cleaned and sanitized – but this doesn’t eliminate the risk. With contactless payments, you don’t need to touch the reader that potentially hundreds of others already have.

It’s Convenient

Contactless doesn’t have to be done with a debit or credit card. Think about Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay – these are virtual wallets that eliminate the need to carry around a physical wallet. Say you’re going to the beach or on a hike – you don’t want to lose your wallet, but may want to buy something on your outing. Using a contactless payment method makes it possible to pay without physically carrying your card as long as you have your mobile phone or NFC-enabled bracelet or key fob like those offered at Marygold & Co.

Risks Of Contactless Payments

Like anything, contactless payments have risks, but NFC technology is so advanced it is less susceptible to hackers than traditional card technology and improvements are adding layers of security to protect user data. However, the impossibility of interception can’t be completely guaranteed:

Because there is no PIN entered when using contactless, whoever is physically holding the card is able to make transactions. However, there are normally lower limits set on the card for extra protection. Enhanced security controls, like Marygold & Co. offers, will enable you to manage your own limits and turn on/off contactless payment capabilities. Keep track of your card and freeze it anytime one goes missing.

How to Get Started

Most banks will offer forms of contactless payment, be it on your smartphone or your credit card.

Start by using Marygold & Co. for all your financial needs and transactions.

March 26, 2021/by Smartpoint

Financial Tech

How to Keep More of Your Paycheck

Budgeting your paycheck is something everyone should do, but it doesn’t mean everybody does. Sometimes, the hardest thing about saving is starting. If you find yourself spending beyond your paycheck, stretching it way too thin, or not contributing to your savings account – it might be time to create a plan to begin saving.

30% of Americans have a financial plan that includes savings.
69% of Americans have less than $1,000 in a savings account.
$3,500 is the median amount of savings for American households.

There are several things you can do to save more money from your paycheck each month. By developing a simple and realistic strategy that works for you, you’ll be closer to reaching your financial goals.

Here are some tips on how to keep more of your paycheck:

Budget Your Money

Start combing through your monthly spending so you can see where you can cut frivolous spending habits. Some helpful tools would be to use spreadsheets or track multiple savings goals on the Marygold & Co. mobile app. First, prioritize true essentials like rent, transportation, bills, food, and debt. Once you figure out how much you need for bills and other essential expenses, you will need to create a savings goal. Your second priority should be saving or investing in contribution accounts. Then if your budget allows for it, you can use the rest of the money on ‘emotional’ spending.

Budgeting will help you spend recreational money better since you’re more likely to be mindful about what you choose to spend it on. Placing this limit on yourself is a form of financial discipline and will help get you the most out of your paycheck.

50/30/20 Rule

According to the 50/30/20 rule, experts recommend reserving 50% of your budget for essentials such as rent and groceries, 30% for discretionary spending, and a minimum of 20% to be put into your savings. However, this system simply does not work for everyone. Your finances are personal, so you need to create a budget that works best for you.

If you have a high income, it’d be wise to spend less on discretionary items and save a larger percentage of your income. If you find yourself in the opposite situation, saving 20% of your paycheck might be stretching it too thin or currently impossible. However, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t put away 20% each month. Just remember, saving something is always better than saving nothing.

The most important question to ask yourself is, what are you saving for? Do you want to buy a house? Do you want to build an emergency fund? Are you trying to pay off debt? If you have an endpoint to look forward to, you will be encouraged and motivated to accomplish your savings goal.

Pay Yourself First Method

Pay yourself first is a budgeting technique that is as simple as the title states. Take your net monthly income total, subtract your true essentials and your savings goals and the remainder of the paycheck is what you have left for discretionary spending.

For example, say your net monthly income is $4,000. Your bills like rent, utilities, food, phone bill, medical, car insurance, car payment, student loans, and credit card bill equate to $1,800. You want to save an average of $900 a month for your vacation fund, emergency fund, debt, and a new TV. Subtract the $1,800 + $900 from your $4,000 net income. You have $1,300 left for morning coffee, happy hour, and other frivolous expenses. You can set up a direct deposit with your employer so that your wages go directly into a savings account. This ensures that money is put away every payday, first.

Start a Money Pool and Automated Savings

To ensure you are on track with your financial goals, you can set up a Money Pool, like the one we offer at Marygold & Co for each of your goals. These automated and FDIC-insured savings accounts allow you to set a specific goal amount and the frequency you want the money transferred into your savings. Customers are also able to instantly track their savings progress anytime, anywhere from their smartphones and prioritize their goals.

This saving option can be a great way to build an emergency savings fund or track progress towards a specific goal, like a new mountain bike. Separating each of your savings goals from your spending money will give you the financial discipline needed to help you save more.

Save More, Spend Less

This one is obvious. However, habits do get expensive. The daily coffee runs, $15 lunches, and after-work drinks can add up very fast. If you want to keep more of your paycheck, it’s best to find areas in your life where you can be more frugal. Here are some examples:

Try preparing food ahead of time, reducing the amount you spend on takeout.
Grocery shop with a list, and don’t stray from it. With a list, it’s easy to know exactly what you need instead of aimlessly wandering around the grocery store and picking up unnecessary purchases. Shopping with a list can also help you save money by helping you waste less food.
Stop emotional and impulsive shopping, especially online. If you have your credit card data saved online, you will be more tempted to overspend. Removing this shortcut can lessen the temptation to make an impulse purchase.
Cancel unnecessary subscriptions or services. Go through your monthly statement and see if there is anything you can remove from your monthly bill. If there is a streaming service you don’t use or an insurance service you don’t need, consider canceling it.
Financial experts suggest using your debit card more often than a credit card. It’s wiser to spend the money you actually have if it’s really necessary. Spending with a debit card will keep you accountable for your purchases. It will also prevent you from getting a credit card bill at the end of the month that you can’t pay off – leaving you penalties and debt.

Turn Up Your Contribution Rate

An important step to reducing taxes and building your retirement fund is to contribute to a tax-advantaged retirement plan. Find out if your employer offers a 401(k) plan that you can contribute to.

First things first, you must find out what your annual limits on contributions are. If you’re not already contributing the maximum allowed, consider increasing your contribution rate. You can contribute to your 401(k) tax-deferred, which means you pay no income tax until you withdraw distributions.

Don’t wait for your next paycheck to start saving. You can’t get ahead if you don’t start now.

Simplifying your saving techniques by starting an automated Money Pool with Marygold & Co. will help you organize and create consistency with your spending and savings – while allowing you to keep track of your financial goals.

Don’t let impulsive spending and a lack of savings push your paycheck to its brink. With a proper plan and good discipline, you’ll be saving successfully in no time.

March 13, 2021/by Smartpoint

Financial Tech

NFC Payment

Have you ever seen that icon on your credit card with frequency wave-like lines, similar to the WiFi icon, but sideways? That means your card is enabled for NFC payment. But what exactly does that mean?

What is NFC?

Near Field Communication is a feature available on most modern phones. As the name suggests, NFC is a method of wireless data transfer. It detects and allows technology in the vicinity to share data without an internet connection.

How Does NFC Work?

NFC may power key cards or fobs, pet microchips, and even public transit cards.

NFC is more simple to use. It is a successor to radio frequency identification. The NFC chip in your card is part of a wireless link. It is activated by another chip. Once that happens, small bits of data flow between the two devices. The transfer occurs when your card is held an inch or less from the other chip.

Advantages of NFC

There’s a reason we’re seeing this technology more and more in our everyday lives.

As FIS.com notes, there are four main advantages of NFC payment.

NFC is easy

Using NFC is simple.

You don’t have to recall a passcode since it doesn’t require a pin. With near field communications, all you need to make a payment is to hold up your phone, your NFC-equipped card, key fob, or bracelet near the POS terminal and you’re done.

When compared to EMV cards that require entering the card, waiting, and typing in your pin code, NFC cards are a one-step, quick process.

NFC is fast

As consumers, we are attracted to businesses where we don’t have to wait.

Using NFC, your transaction takes a fraction of the time it would take to pay cash or with a traditional credit card. This is good news for both customers and businesses.

Transactions are faster with near-field communication. Checkout lines are shorter, fewer staff members are required and customers move through purchase and payment rapidly.

There’s nothing to remember

NFC works automatically. No pairing code is needed.

With NFC, the only thing you need to carry is your smartphone, card, or NFC-enabled item.

NFC is energy efficient

The chips in NFC require only minimal amounts of energy to link up.

These low or passive energy chips are much more power-efficient than other wireless communication.

NFC is physically safer

As we deal with COVID-19 and the spread of other viruses, people are more sensitive than ever when it comes to touching things.

Near-field communication is a safe, contactless payment option.

You simply hold the NFC chip near the terminal and the transaction is complete. Having a means of payment that does not involve human touch has been reassuring during these difficult times.

NFC is more secure

Many people fear that something as fast and easy as NFC isn’t as secure as requiring a PIN or a signature at payment. If customers don’t trust the payment option, they won’t use it.

NFC signals are encrypted and transmitted only in close proximity. Meaning, the signal can’t be hacked by someone who is even a few feet away.

Security protection built into smartphones makes NFC payments even more secure if the transaction is made not with a card but with your phone. Thus, using your phone as your NFC chip, there is an additional layer of security.

Issuers also place lower limits on NFC transactions (example $100 max) to protect against lost or stolen cards and fraudulent transaction attempts. Some even allow you to freeze and unfreeze the NFC contactless payment option for additional security.

NFC increases customer satisfaction

Because transactions are faster, checkout lines are shorter. The result is increased customer satisfaction with the business. Ease of transaction makes customers happy. They will return to buy at this business. When they are assured NFC is a very secure way to pay it adds to customer satisfaction.

NFC encourages consumer spending

Since customers can check out faster because of tap and pay, those who might make a purchase are encouraged to do so. If there are long lineups at the movies, the grocery store, a restaurant, a gas station, or the bookstore, potential buyers will abandon their goods and leave.

NFC payment translates to a pleasant business experience. Happier customers and more efficient operations are what make buyers purchase and return to buy again. Be careful not to let your spending get out of control, though!

NFC is easy to implement

More businesses are starting to implement near-field communication as well as NFC-enabled payment terminals. Most new payment equipment now contains near-field communication technology. Setup is instantaneous.

Disadvantages of NFC

Livewire writer Priya Viswanathan points out that although there are many advantages to NFC, there is a downside.

For some businesses, implementing NFC technology may be just too expensive. Large retailers can afford the hardware and software upgrades. Some stores and shops may take a longer time to acquire new devices.

As with any change, there is a level of mistrust until consumers are assured NFC is safe and easy.

How do NFC and EMV Differ?

EMV means Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (the 1994 founders) and commonly refers to the smart chip in debit and credit cards. EMV uses a chip embedded in a card instead of a magnetic strip. Chances are you’ve probably seen it being implemented on newer cards. The EMV chip is much more secure than the magnetic strip.

NFC chip stands for near field communication technology and is typically embedded inside debit and credit cards, smartphones, or smartwatches. This chip allows data to be read by a POS terminal without inserting your card creating a contactless payment. You simply hold the NFC enabled item near the terminal and boom, payment accepted. No pin, no swipe.

The NFC “card” might not be a card at all. It could also be a key fob, a bracelet, a phone, a watch, or any other object a chip can be inserted in.

Many businesses have machines that can accept both EMV or NFC. However, some transaction terminals may take only one payment option.

Examples of NFC Payments

Welcome to the world of touchless technology. Wherever there is a POS terminal that accepts NFC transactions, you can tap and pay.

This might include a restaurant, a coffee shop, a taxi or subway ride, buying a concert ticket, or getting refreshments for that concert.

You can pay a toll, purchase a subway ticket, pay for coffee, or get snacks from a vending machine all with a contactless tap.

Why Choose Marygold & Co.?

Marygold & Co. provides you with NFC Mastercard* debit cards to enable contactless payment. Additionally, our app enables contactless payments from your Android phone, and clients have access to NFC-enabled key fobs and silicone bracelets. Support for Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay wallets are also coming in late Spring of 2021.

We have gone to great lengths to ensure customer security is the priority for contactless payment cards.

Lower limits are set on purchases and
New technology also allows you to freeze your NFC chip. You can unfreeze it at any time.
You can also lower or raise the purchase maximums whenever you wish for the NFC-equipped card, bracelet, key fob, watch, or smartphone.

As part of our customer service plan, Marygold & Co. cards have both NFC and EMV capabilities.

February 27, 2021/by Smartpoint