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In a follow up session at Money2020 where the announcement was made, Uber's Matt Wegner framed the initiative as being motivated as much by extending the service offer to Uber's drivers, as by becoming a revenue stream. 

With competition for drivers fierce, and most drivers needing their cash quickly, the ability to lodge funds into bank accounts immediately a ride is complete, rather than a few days later, will be a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining drivers. 

Credit to Denizen for calling this out in public when the natural inclination would be to quietly slip away below the radar. Recognizing - and accepting - when you simply don't have 'escape velocity' is not usually an attribute that startup founders possess. 

Speaking as a representative of the male half of the population, pretty sure leather, denim and other cards are all involved in my back pocket where I keep my wallet.

No-one mention MySpace.

Interesting.

At M2020 Europe, Facebook's Paulette Rowe referenced their WhatsApp pilot in India. It caught the eye because the 'pilot' reportedly had one million users (which provides banks with a bit of perspective on the scale of Big Tech).

If I remember correctly, Facebook had tracked user behaviour around sharing images within WhatsApp but then promptly leaving the app. It became apparent users were sharing and discussing goods to buy and sell but were going elsewhere to complete their purchase. Hence the goal was to allow users to start and finish their transactions inside the app.

In a separate thread on LinkedIn, one of the founders of a long established crypto currency, called out Amazon and Google, as the next most likely to jump.

As you say, interesting times.

It will be interesting to see if Facebook has matured as an organization in recent years and can now navigate the tricky regulatory path surrounding crypto without making the sort of clumsy mis-steps it has taken in personal data.

Glad to see you have ignored the Facebook spin that they are doing this to foster Financial Inclusion. I think we know why they are doing it.

Surely AWS is the AWS of banking?

Love to see this. Shows a real demonstrable drive to change the DNA of the bank.

Not so surprising this should come first from BBVA. Interesting to see if more initiatives follow from other banks.