fictionpage Chapter 211 The Influence of PayPal
Chapter 211 The Influence of PayPal
Chapter 211 The Influence of PayPal
"A brilliant idea."
At a sprawling private estate in the suburbs of Boston, key figures from the Boston Consortium gathered together.
Under a parasol by the garden, an elderly man with hair as white as if he had just rolled in a pile of flour and wrinkles on his face that could trap a mosquito slowly put down the documents in his hand and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"Little Adams is right. If that little guy named Ernst had been born ten years earlier, we wouldn't have had to argue with those donkeys and even make painful concessions to get the Riegl-Neill Interstate Banking Operations and Branch Establishment Efficiency Act passed."
As soon as he said this, everyone present couldn't help but nod in agreement.
The McFadden Act of 1927 was like putting a shackle on the head of the Bank of America that was even more severe than a tight headband.
The bill stipulates that the National Bank must operate branches within the scope permitted by each state government; if a state prohibits branches, the National Bank cannot open a branch in that state.
What does that mean?
If a financial group can dominate a state and pass laws prohibiting out-of-state banks from entering, then even if an out-of-state bank has extraordinary abilities, it can't get involved there. In that case, the state's financial market becomes the financial group's private backyard.
It is precisely because of this regulation that there are so many banks in the United States that they could circle half the Earth, and the financial industry's cross-state expansion is extremely difficult.
But times are changing, and the bottlenecks in the banking industry are becoming increasingly apparent. For large banks, the McFadden Act is like a heavy stone weighing on their chests; if they don't remove it, they'll eventually succumb to the drought.
However, the financial industry has always been a staunch supporter of the donkey, and the influence of the elephant in this field is simply incomparable to that of the donkey.
Although abolishing this regulation would benefit the financial industries on both sides, it is clear to everyone that the donkey would reap more benefits.
Thus began an exchange of interests filled with the art of compromise.
Finally, in 1994, the U.S. Congress passed the Riegl-Neil Interstate Banking Operations and Branch Establishment Efficiency Act, which abolished restrictions on interstate operations and allowed bank holding companies to acquire banks across the United States.
Interestingly, starting from that year, Richard Burton, who had previously talked about economic development every day, suddenly transformed into a warmonger and became one of the presidents who launched the most wars in American history.
Generally speaking, warmongers mostly come from the elephant camp, after all, it is closely related to cash cows like oil and military industry, while donkeys have never been that interested in war.
This is the price of exchange; it's essentially trading interests for interests, even using the president's position as a bargaining chip.
If Ernst had been born ten years earlier, PayPay would have been launched ten years earlier, and there wouldn't have been so many complicated compromises.
Because PayPay is an online financial institution, it's not on the list of financial institutions regulated by the McFadden Act.
Want to pass a new law to regulate it? Don't be ridiculous. The wrangling in Congress alone could take years, and those guys on Wall Street will definitely follow suit and use this method to expand their depositors across the United States. They are the biggest opposition and will absolutely not allow a bill that cuts off their own source of income to pass.
"Don't underestimate PayPal. It's not just breaking geographical barriers; it's going to completely upend the financial industry."
"Savings, loans, securities, insurance, and other such things can all be done through this software, breaking away from the traditional old methods and operating with a light asset approach. You won't even need to open a single physical store to expand your financial business throughout the United States and even the world."
The speaker was Bob, the young patriarch of the Lowell family. He was only in his early forties, but at this moment he looked solemn, with excitement shining in his eyes. He looked like a wolf that hadn't eaten for three days seeing a fat sheep.
"Bob, calm down, we all know what you're trying to say," the man previously referred to as Little Adams quickly said, afraid that he would jump up on the spot in excitement.
"Calm down? How can you stay calm about something like this?!" Bob slapped his thigh, his voice rising eight octaves.
Despite being at the top of the American pyramid and having seen countless storms, he was as excited as a child who had just received candy.
Everyone knows that the financial industry has always been the Boston Group's Achilles' heel. In recent years, they've tried to expand, but geographical limitations and the tight control of other conglomerates have effectively confined their financial operations to the Northeast.
Now, PayPay is like a universal key, solving all the problems at once. This is like a windfall for the Boston Consortium's financial industry.
The five major families of the Boston Consortium are the Lowell family, the Lawrence family, the Adams family, the Lodge family, and the Kennedy family.
The Lowell family has always focused on finance. The Lawrence family has the closest marriage alliance with the Lowell family and the strongest relationship. They mainly engage in light industry, but also have some involvement in the financial industry.
The Adams family is a long-established political family, specializing in integrating political resources.
The Rocky family are professional politicians; they have members everywhere, from the legislature to local governments, responsible for bridging the gap between the government and corporations.
Compared to these four families, the Kennedy family is a relative newcomer, but they wield considerable influence in politics and the military-industrial complex. The development of the Boston Consortium's military-industrial complex is largely attributed to the Kennedy family.
Now that an opportunity has presented itself to allow the Boston financial consortium to expand beyond the Northeast and into the entire United States, how could Bob not be excited?
"Think about it, the better the internet develops, the more important this software will become. Maybe it will even change everyone's spending habits in the future!" Bob became more and more excited as he spoke.
"Right now, everyone is focused on Enron and treating PayPal as an accessory, but we see the real deal immediately."
"It connects with YueDong Games, allowing gamers to recharge their game accounts from home. It also connects with Google AdWords (GG) system, so GG users no longer need to go to the bank every day to transfer money; as long as they have money in their PayPay account, they can just click a few times on their computer."
"If games can do it, and GG can do it, then can we do it for paying utility bills and property management fees too? If we also integrate with various banks, wouldn't PayPal become a super bank card that can cover all consumer spending across the United States and even the world?"
These words caused everyone present to fall into deep thought.
After a while, someone spoke up, "That's true, but it's not easy. How could those big banks on Wall Street hand over such a vital business to someone else? They'll definitely follow suit and develop their own online payment software."
"That's right, but PayPal also has its advantages, namely that it seized the initiative. Now we'll see how much of the financial industry PayPal can carve out of the market during this window of opportunity while others follow suit," Bob said.
Finally, it was Peter Lodge, the oldest and with gray hair, who made the final decision: "Let's do two things now. First, have Massim contact them as soon as possible to fully integrate PayPay with our financial business."
"Second, we must use all our power in Congress to ensure that PayPay can develop smoothly and that no one can hinder it."
He took a sip of his coffee and continued, "PayPay certainly won't be banned, after all, Wall Street also wants a piece of the pie. But during this lull, other forces certainly won't let it dominate, and they'll definitely cause all sorts of trouble."
"But this isn't difficult. Don't forget about Enron. The giant will never let Enron's skyrocketing stock price suddenly drop. As long as we make good use of this relationship, PayPay's business will be secure."