【摘要】2020年MBA考试越来越近了，在备考的最后关头千万不要乱了阵脚哦，越是临近考试越要静下心来培养一种良好的考场心态，把每一天都当考试当天，每一道题都当考试题，尽快锻炼自己不怯考场的能力。以下内容是2020年MBA考试考前英语外刊阅读（十）。

 

After years of timidity Big Tech, with its billions of users and gigantic war chest, at last appears serious about crashing their party. Amazon introduced a credit card for underbanked shoppers in June; Apple launched its own credit card in August. Facebook announced a new payments system on November 12th (its mooted cryptocurrency, Libra, however, has lost many of its backers and will face stiff regulatory scrutiny). The next day Google said it would start offering current (checking) accounts in America in 2020.

 

Individually, each initiative is relatively minor, says Antony Jenkins, a former boss of Barclays, a bank, now at 10x, a fintech firm. But together they mark the acceleration of a trend that could reshape the finance industry. The gafas have long had an interest in finance. Yet until recently they focused on payments, each in its own way.

 

Apple Pay and Google Pay are digital wallets: they hold a digital version of cards but do not process transactions. Neither charges merchants a fee. They simply store everything in one place and make payments more secure by masking customer details. Google collects transaction data; Apple does not. Otherwise holding a phone over a contactless terminal is the same as tapping a card.

 

文本选自：The Economist(经济学人)

 

板块：Finance and economics

 

原文标题：Big Tech takes aim at the low-profit retail-banking industry

 

参考翻译

 

经过多年的小心行事，拥有数十亿用户和巨额资金的大型科技公司，似乎终于要加入它们(金融科技领域)了。今年6月，亚马逊向没有信用记录或信用不良的消费者推出了一种信用卡;8月，苹果公司推出了自己的信用卡。11月12日，Facebook宣布了一套新的支付系统(其备受争议的加密货币Libra, 已经失去了许多支持者，将面临严格的监管审查)。谷歌隔日表示，将于2020年开始在美国提供活期(支票)账户的服务。

 

巴克莱银行的前老板安东尼•詹金斯，现在任职于10x(10x Future Technologies)这家金融科技公司，他表示，就个体而言，每一项举措的影响力都是相对较小的。但它们联合起来，标志着一种可重塑金融业的加速趋势。美国科技界的四大巨头一直对金融领域颇感兴趣。然而，直到最近，他们才以各自不同的方式专注于支付业务的发展。

 

苹果支付和谷歌支付都属于电子钱包：它们持有电子版本的卡，但不处理交易。它们也不向商家收取任何费用。他们只是把所有信息都储存在一个地方，通过加密客户的个人信息，让支付更加安全。谷歌会收集交易数据;苹果则不会。除此以外，把手机置于非接触式终端上就相当于轻触刷卡。

 

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