【Unlocking Word Meanings】
今日の単語・フレーズ
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. collaboration /kəˌlæb əˈreɪ ʃən/ (n.) – the act of two or more parties working together to create something beneficial to both
Example: Our collaboration with your company will hopefully hasten the launch of our product.
2. alternative / ɔlˈtɜr nə tɪv, æl-/ (adj.) – involving a choice
Example: We can try an alternative plan should our first plan fail.
3. recipient /rɪˈsɪp i ənt/ (n.) – someone who is given something
Example: The recipients of the message include all the supervisors.
4. subsidiary /səbˈsɪd iˌɛr i/ (n.) – a company that is under the ownership of another company
Example: The food stalls are subsidiaries of the restaurant.
5. venture /ˈvɛn tʃər/ (n.) – a business project which is pursued in the hope of profit; something that involves risky decisions
Example: The company went bankrupt because of its unsuccessful ventures.
【Article】
ニュース記事
Read the text below.
In France, a collaboration between Twitter and Groupe BPCE, one of the country’s largest banks, led to the launching of a new way to transfer money on the Internet.
Twitter and Groupe BPCE have co-developed an alternative payment service called “S-money.” Launched in October last year, the service allows users to directly transfer money from their bank account to another through Twitter messages or tweets.
To use S-money, users only need to have a Twitter account and a French bank account. According to Groupe BPCE, S-money is available to all French banks. Its security standards are the same as those used by credit card companies. The bank details of both the sender and the recipient are also kept private.
S-money was initially a subsidiary of Group BPCE. Before integrating with Twitter, its services were exclusive to managing monetary exchanges through text messaging. Now, clients can use S-money to send money either by text message or through a tweet.
Groupe BPCE chief executive officer Jean-Yves Forel [zhahn eev] stated that S-money is the first of its kind. It exemplifies the bank’s efforts to provide new methods of payment that are creative, practical, and useful to a modern user. Forel believes that S-money’s alliance with Twitter will push the banking industry to evolve and merge with social networks.
The collaboration is one of Twitter’s main ventures to enter the growing industry of online banking. However, Twitter plays no role in the process of the transfer itself. Like text messaging, the social networking site merely acts as an electronic messenger to S-money, which manages the payment transfers according to the users’ tweets.
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【Viewpoint Discussion】
ディスカッションテーマ
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
· Would you want to have S-money available in your country? Why or why not?
· What kind of business project would you want to collaborate with Twitter on? Please explain your answer.
Discussion B
· What are the advantages of transferring or sending money online? Please explain your answer.
· How important is it for businesses to adapt to new technology? Please provide details.