Transcript:
Conway Gittens: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Wall Street had a wild ride in August but in the end it turned out to be the fourth straight month of gains for the S&P 500. Earnings season is basically over and despite a few notable blunders the numbers were good. Profit growth for the S&P 500 rose a stronger-than-expected 13 percent in the second quarter. Revenue growth also topped forecasts.
Focus now turns squarely to the job market. The coming week will bring data on layoffs, private employment, and it all culminates with the government’s August numbers on hiring and unemployment.
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Turning now to the other news….with online credit card fraud predicted to top $91 billion by 2028, credit card companies are exploring new ways to stop criminals.
Mastercard and Visa are testing out the idea of getting rid of the practice of inputting your credit card number when making an online purchase altogether. Instead, they want to use your biometrics to generate a unique number called a token for each purchase.
Biometrics and tokenization, as it is called, takes data encryption to a whole new level. The upside to this is it will make it much harder for criminals to get access to your credit card or pin numbers online or at physical locations. The downside: if the biometrics software fails to recognize you, then your purchase will be rejected and a fraud alert will go out, impacting your credit card use everywhere.
MasterCard, however, is confident in the technology. “Thanks to artificial intelligence and the proliferation of smart devices, biometrics have become a powerful authentication tool - using your unique fingerprint, iris or face to confirm your identity and secure your data.”
Mastercard is working with bankers, payment providers, and retailers around the world to implement the new technology, with full-scale testing already underway in India.
That’ll do it for your Daily Briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
Related: Americans tally record high credit card debt — how it affects you
