A Goldman Sachs App for the Average Joe?
A few of the country's biggest brands are making some strange moves.
Goldman Sachs, a bank accustomed to multi-billion dollar dealings with wealthy customers, will make smaller loans to less wealthy consumers and small businesses via an online service. American Express — the brand (in)famous for its ultra-exclusive "black card," available only to those who charge more than $250,000 a year — is teaming up with Walmart to offer a pre-paid debit card, a product traditionally sold to low-income customers who don't have bank accounts. Banking brands of the rich and famous seem to be making grabs for the middle class.
Meanwhile, kale breakfast bowls popped up on the McDonalds menu earlier this year. Then, the hamburglar got a hipster-esque makeover. This looks like a piecemeal response to a post-recession slump in the industry. Fast food brands that survived the financial crisis relatively unscathed have been struggling. Just this week, KFC fought a campaign against its Chinese competitors, who accused the chain on social media of raising eight-legged chickens to maximize drumstick production.
Money Talking's guest host Stacey Vanek Smith of NPR's Planet Money invites Shelly Banjo of Quartz and Ben White of Politico to make sense of these moves — and asks the critical money question of the week: Which woman should be on the U.S. $10 bill?
