Real-Time Risk. Aldridge Irene

have a sudden urge to send money back to your parents in Canada? TransferWise will take your order right there and then. Need to apply for a loan at the same time? No problem – 100 or so new apps will be at the ready to process your information and issue preapproval in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

      The ability to fulfill your latest craze or wish anywhere at any time is clearly driving much of market innovation. In response to people's 24/7 newly found ability to demand financial services, companies like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) now offer around‐the‐clock trading in selected futures. Whenever you want it, you can bet your money on the latest thought or piece of research.

      Adding to the real‐time 24/7 availability of services is the proliferation of smart watches. Whereas “traditional” mobile devices may be securely packed out of site, say, in your back pocket, the wrist gadget is much harder to ignore. And the millennials reportedly love it. In response, the development of smartwatch applications devoted exclusively to all things financial has exploded. According to Benzinga, there are at least 22 fintech apps coming to Apple Inc.'s smartwatch (see “Financial Services Applications Being Developed for the Apple Smartwatch”). And there is no mention of Bloomberg or Thomson Reuters on this list. Are they wise to stay away from the smartwatch, or will someone else just step in and replace them altogether?

      FINANCIAL SERVICES APPLICATIONS BEING DEVELOPED FOR THE APPLE SMARTWATCH

      1. Scutify. Scutify (a financial social network) was the first fintech company to confirm to Benzinga that it was developing an app for Apple Watch.

      “Anyone that's an investor [will] want to be able to check stock quotes and interface with their portfolio and see if the portfolio is up or down and what it's doing for the day,” Cody Willard, chairman of Scutify, told Benzinga. When asked why Scutify was so eager to jump on the Apple Watch bandwagon, Willard recalled the words of a hockey legend that was famously quoted by Apple co‐founder Steve Jobs.

      “You want to be as, Wayne Gretzky famously said, skating to where the puck is going, not to where it is,” said Willard. “We've got to move forward if we're moving to a wearables culture.”

      2. NewsHedge. NewsHedge, a Chicago‐based fintech startup that develops software solutions for the global financial community, is working on an app for multiple smartwatches.

      3. Prism. Consumers want a simple way to pay bills. Prism, a startup devoted to addressing this issue, has developed an Apple Watch companion app for use with its iPhone app.

      4. Unspent. Unspent, an app that allows users to track their spending and set up budgets for multiple spending types, is coming to Apple Watch.

      5. Fidelity. Fidelity is building an app for Apple Watch that will give its customers a “distinctive overview of global markets and alerts on stocks and investments in real‐time right on their wrist.”

      6. iBank. iBank will provide some of the same features as Unspent – plus a whole lot more.

      7. MoneyWiz 2. MoneyWiz is bringing its latest app to Apple's highly anticipated smartwatch. The app will allow users to check account balances and create expenses/incomes on the go. Users will also be able to change the theme to match the look of their watch.

      8. Citibank. Citigroup Inc. has developed an Apple Watch app that will allow customers to check their account details and locate the nearest ATMs, among other features.

      9. E*TRADE. E*TRADE plans to have an app available in time for the Apple Watch's domestic debut on April 24. Finance Magnates detailed the app, which will allow users to “follow the markets and their own portfolios.” Users will not be able to enter trades, however.

      10. IG Group Holdings. In a separate story, Finance Magnates reported that IG Group Holdings Plc was the first company to announce an actual trading application for the Apple Watch.

      11. Chronicle. Some people need help remembering when it's time to pay their bills. Chronicle hopes to meet their needs.

      12. Redfin. Scheduled to debut at launch, the Redfin home buying app will allow users to find nearby homes that are for sale, view photos and statistics (prices, square footage, etc.) and info with friends and family, among other features.

      13. Trulia. According to Time, Trulia will also bring real estate listings to the Apple Watch.

      14. BillGuard. Lots of apps allow users to track their spending – this one also lets them know when a fraudulent charge has been made. According to Time, BillGuard (which is already on iOS and Android) will provide those features to Apple Watch users.

      15. Discover. Time also reported that Discover Financial Services is making an app that will allow Discover cardholders to check available credit, bank balances and other tidbits.

      16. BankMobile. According to Bank Innovation, BankMobile is among the startups that are interested in Apple's new smartwatch. The company, which claims to be the only banking service in America with “absolutely no fees,” is reportedly working on an Apple Watch app.

      17. DAB Bank. Bank Innovation also reported that German company DAB Bank is developing an Apple Watch app.

      18. PortfolioWatch. PortfolioWatch is one of the few apps that actually requires users to pay a couple bucks. Buy the iPhone/iPad version today and get the Apple Watch version for free when it becomes available.

      19. 24me. There has been a lot of talk about the Apple Watch's various health and fitness features, but few have talked about its ability to act as a personal assistant. 24me could change that. Best of all, users can add info from their favorite financial service providers.

      20. Pennies. Another personal budgeting app, Pennies is available for the iPhone and is being developed for the Apple Watch.

      21. Call Levels. Call Levels announced this week that it is bringing its real‐time financial monitoring and notification service to Apple's smartwatch.

      22. Mint. Mint was one of the first apps confirmed for the Apple Watch. The company describes it as a “companion to the Mint iPhone experience.”

      CHEAPER AND FASTER TECHNOLOGY

      What would it mean to you if your technology costs dropped? Over the past 30 years, the costs of computing have been falling steadily and, sometimes, exponentially. Some 30 years ago, a computer of decent processing power cost as much as US$20 million and was so big that it required its own highly air‐conditioned room. Today, a machine with comparable specifications can be picked up at a local Best Buy for about $200, and it is about the size of a high school yearbook. The decline in the costs of computer technology has been driven by several factors:

      1. Broadly‐based demand for fast, superior computing by retail users, such as video gamers, has created a business case for a larger‐scale manufacturing of computers, reducing costs.

      2. Investments in research and development by Silicon Valley consumer‐oriented companies, such as Google and Apple, have resulted in faster, leaner, and more affordable solutions.

      3. Overseas investments by countries such as Singapore enabled foreign production of top‐quality components at a fraction of the cost, reducing overall ticket prices of machines.

      Lower costs have permeated every aspect of computing from data storage to analytic power, allowing innovations such as cloud computing to flourish.

      CLOUD COMPUTING

      The term cloud refers to a collection of computers, each with its separate processing and storage engines, which are interconnected and operate with a single interface. The interface is a complex computer program with built‐in intelligence to automatically distribute the workload and the storage capacity among the participating machines. The cloud enables companies to reduce their data storage and processing costs by outsourcing at least some of their infrastructure and data storage.

      A great example of a successful cloud deployment is Tradier.

      According to