Bank of America ATM's now offering cappuccino

had my first interaction with a new Bank of America ATM today. You know, the ones that take cash and check deposits without the use of envelopes? Yea, those ones. Little did you know, they serve a good cappuccino too.

Well, maybe the cappuccino is a stretch, but the check and cash thing isn't. What impressed me was that when I inserted the check, it automatically knew how much it was for. I was quite impressed, especially with the speed and accuracy to which the transaction was recorded.

I hear the next generation of ATMs will include finger print and eye detection as well as pedicures. I'm lobbying for a dry-cleaning and a baby sitting service though. Read more!

PayPal looking to cut the chord from the eBay brand

New CMO of PayPal talks about elevating the company's brand and separating the brand from eBay.

IMHO it's more about building trust with consumers than it is cutting the eBay chord.

Shopping online is all about trust. When it comes to doing transactions on eBay, you have to take the word of their rating system that the person you're buying that original Optimus Prime action figure from is a legit seller.

Same sort of trust applies to the PayPal brand. Who is PayPal? Why should I give them access to my checking account? Will I wake up one morning and see my balance at zero and that someone in Peru had a field day, buying all sorts of stuff online?

As Billy Joel once said, "it's a matter of trust."

I use PayPal for some transactions. I started linking a credit card to the account. That way, if I got hosed, it wasn't "real" money. After a period of time, I came to the conclusion that PayPal is a good service. It's convenient and it is safe (maybe not 100% safe, because what really is?).

After my trust was built with the brand, I entered in my checking account info. Now transactions are instant. I get my "stuff" sooner rather than later because those I'm sending money to, get it right away. I also use it for accepting payment from those who are purchasing photos from me.

So, yea, I would agree that the PayPal brand is somewhat wrapped around eBay's but it really comes down to building trust with consumers. Maybe the company needs to do some paid advertising or some word of mouth campaigning to establish a higher level of trust to those less savvy about using the internet for banking transactions. Read more!