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NEWS Propel backs ‘gamechanger’ Guideline
Spain’s BBVA is a limited partner, was the lead investor in a recent $7 million funding round for US-based online platform Guideline.
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Earlier this year, BBVA announced it was closing its in- house venture arm, BBVA Ventures, and was taking the $100 million fund it had earmarked for the initiative, and another $150 million, and putting all of it into Propel. Guideline, meanwhile, was set up by the co-founder of Taskrabbit Kevin Busque with the vision of maximising an individual’s pot of retirement money by reducing costs through technology, transparency and simplicity. Busque’s vision came about after he set up 401(k) plans for his employees at TaskRabbit, and was surprised how much money disappeared in fees. He says: “You start to notice all of the hands in the cookie jar: TPAs, fiduciaries,
ropel Venture Partners, the VC firm in which
recordkeepers, fund managers, broker/dealers, sponsors, custodians, RIAs, and on and on. It’s incredibly confusing, which I imagine is the intention.”
Propel partner Ryan Gilbert comments: “The US employer based retirement plans market is immense, having grown from $4.4 trillion in 2014 to over $6 trillion by 2016. However, participants in small business 401(k) plans are paying exorbitant fees on their assets, ranging between 0.68% and 2.66%. Guideline is changing the ‘high-fee low-growth’ game by focusing on 401(k) growth, without collecting fees based on the size of a participant’s retirement portfolio. We’re extremely excited about the way Guideline is rethinking and rebuilding small business retirement plans.”
Scott Thompson Apple Pay touches down in Switzerland
supported by Visa and MasterCard. Stefan Holbein, Country Manager Visa Europe Schweiz, comments: “Given the iPhone population in Switzerland is extremely high, the launch of Apple Pay is sure to make it the most convenient mobile payment solution for Switzerland.”
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It’s the first European country in which the service has been introduced, outside of the UK. It is also available in
pple Pay has launched in Switzerland,
the US, Canada, Australia, China and Singapore. Bonus Card, CornerCard and SwissBankers have signed up to support Apple Pay in Switzerland. Although shoppers will struggle initially to finds stores in which they can purchase items. At launch, only Apple Stores, Aldi, Avec, C&A, k kiosk, Mobile Zone, P&B, Spar, and TopCC are accepting it, while Lidl plans to be onboard in the near future.
Scott Thompson
www.ibsintelligence.com © IBS Intelligence 2016
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