The Bank of Google

In a move sure to wind Elizabeth Warren up even more, Google (GOOG) is in talks with US banks to offer everyday accounts to its customers. Rather than be a bank itself, the internet titan is looking to partner up with the likes of Citigroup (C) to set up smart accounts linked to Google Pay.

But unlike your usual bank, Google doesn’t appear to be interested in collecting fees off its account users. It is most certainly interested in our moolah, but the value it sees is in gaining more intel on where we are flashing it around. All of it. It will be hoping to feed any new insights on consumer behaviour into its ad business and keep the fight going against Amazon, which has taken the lead in online product searches.

But like Facebook’s (FB) Libra cryptocurrency and Apple’s (AAPL) credit card play, Google could face similar resistance as it attempts to get a foot in the consumer finance market. It’s not just politicians becoming increasingly vocal about the need for greater regulation; the average punter is also more suspicious about how much of their lives and behaviour they want the Silicon Valley giants to have control over. Some of us might not want Google to know our undies replacement rate, or lack thereof, after all.

Microsoft finds a new voice for Cortana

You will have heard of Alexa, but what about Cortana? While Amazon’s (AMZN) personal voice assistant has continued to blaze away, capturing 70% of the US smart speaker market, Microsoft’s (MSFT) entry into the AI space has been more reserved.

On pure stats, Cortana should be the bigger name. After all, it's installed as part of the Windows 10 system on well over 700 million devices globally. But it appears only a fraction of users are actually using Cortana’s skills. And now, only four years after launching it as a mobile app on iOS and Android, Microsoft is moving to pull the plug from early 2020 starting with countries like the UK, Germany and Australia.

The software giant came out last year to say it no longer saw Cortana as being in the same game as Alexa or Google Assistant – both of which are looking to access our lives as personal helpers. Instead, Microsoft has identified an opportunity for Cortana’s skills to help our business lives. They’re planning to pull back on consumer applications to imbed Cortana deeper into their 365 products and turn it into a personal productivity assistant – reading out your emails and filing them on command, organising meetings and meeting rooms and so on. Basically, smashing out the admin tasks we all hate.

In the business sphere, Cortana is in a shootout with Siri for dominance, and it will be a fascinating duel to see who can deliver the best results in the lucrative voice market.

Nike dumps Amazon

They weren’t around long enough to get the 7-year itch. Instead, Nike (NKE) has ripped the band-aid off its Amazon (AMZN) fling, deciding the pair aren’t meant to be. From Amazon’s inception, the only Nike kit sold on its platform were from third-party suppliers and counterfeiters. That changed in 2017 when the footwear king decided to mix it up, striking a deal to become the exclusive wholesaler to take more control of the online marketplace – simultaneously kicking retailer share prices as analysts worried about the potential fallout for bricks and mortar operators.

Breaking up with Amazon appears to be part of a broader strategy for Nike to narrow its retail partnerships and boost its direct-to-consumer channels, which have been growing three times faster than top-line revenue in recent years. In 2013, the wholesale network delivered 81% of sales. It’s since dropped to the sixties.

And how is Amazon taking the rejection? With some old-fashioned stoic silence. Like many couples, it saw this break-up on the horizon and has been quick to sign-up other suppliers to ensure Nike products are still available on its platform. It is, as you might say, moving on. But there’s no doubt having to remove Nike as a brand partner, and the legitimacy that comes with it will have stung. Just a little.