经济学人精读｜数字商业：美国最终迎来金融科技时代【1】

America is home to both Silicon Valleyand Wall Street, yet it has long seemed in the dark ages on digital payments.Until 2018 card purchases required handsignatures , 15 years after Europe switched to chip-and-pin . A cosy credit-card duopoly, consisting of Visa and Mastercard, works with the banks to issue cards, with the result that there has been too little competition and sky-high profit margins. Asia has leapt ahead, with pervasive, fast anddirt-cheap payments services, and a new generation of dynamic fintech firms that have rapidly reached scale. Having outdated and expensive digital financial plumbing is nomere technicality: as online shopping becomes a bigger part of everyday spending, it threatens to become a heavy tax on innovation. And it means toofew people, especially in poorer households, have access to cheap and simple financial tools.

hand signatures 手签

chip and pin noun U

a system for credit cards and debit cards , in which the card has a chipcontaining a secret number that only the owner of the card knows. The owner hasto use this number every time the card is used. The secret number makes it moredifficult for people to use the card if it has been stolen. 芯片密码系统〔一种信用卡和借记卡系统，卡主每次使用付款时都要输入密码〕 :

• Most shoppersprefer chip and pin to the old system. 与旧的系统相比，大多数顾客都更喜欢芯片密码系统。

leap verb

I always + adv / prepto jump high into the air or to jump in order to landin a different place 跳，跳跃 :

• She leapt overthe fence. 她跳过篱笆。

• The smalleranimals can easily leap from tree to tree. 身体较小的动物可以在树丛间轻巧地跳来跳去。

⇒ picture atjump

Fintech 金融科技，由英文单词 Fintech 翻译而来， Fintech 则是由金融“ Finance ”与科技“ Technology ”两个词合成而来。金融科技，主要是指代那些可用于撕裂传统金融服务方式的高新技术。