1 . More treasured than the gold in its vaults (金库) are the data a bank has stored on its servers. Banks enjoy a monopoly over data that has helped them get away with awful service and fend off newcomers with better ideas. In Europe, at least, that is all about to change.
The source of this disruption is a new set of regulations, named the Second Payment Service Directive, or “PSD2”. The rules, which are being finalised and will be in force from January next year, will force banks to share data easily with licensed third parties. Bankers in Europe scream that their profits and customer relationships are under threat. Fearing they could be next，America’s bankers are already trying to persuade their regulators to keep their data monopoly well-preserved. Such reactions are predictable and wrong.
Some concerns about PSD2 make sense. In particular, it is reasonable to wonder about the privacy and security implications of sensitive financial data being shared with third parties. But banks themselves are hardly immune to cyber attack. And the way that European regulators propose to deal with these worries looks promising. Third parties that want to use bank data will need to convince national regulators that their data defences are solid and must submit to annual inspections. New entrants to cyber must also takeout deception insurance; their insurers will have a clear reason to demand state of their cyber security. Many online payments will become more secure than they are today, because of the officially instructed requirements for the use of a vigorous authentication process involving two-step confirmation.
The gap between writing rules and implementing them is always large. So the following might make sense. First, agreement from customers to provide access to their bank data must be gained explicitly, not buried in pages of wordy professional terms. The purposes for which data might be used should be clearly explained; and individuals’ agreement to share their personal information should be easily reversible. Second, regulators must be decisive and cruel both in ensuring that banks open up their database to others and in withdrawing the licences of third parties that break the rules, particularly on cyber security.
Since the new entrants will not be licensed to engage in riskier forms of finance—such as lending money—it makes sense to regulate them with a lighter touch. But if some financial technology providers do end up becoming systemically important, higher standards of oversight might be necessary.
1. According to the author, what is the change about to happen to Europe?| A．Data stored in servers will fail to offer service. |
| B．Banks will better treasure their stored gold than data. |
| C．Banks will lose control of data stored on their servers. |
| D．Banks will have to share what they exclusively control. |
| A．They feel alarmed at it. | B．They feel confused at it. |
| C．They accept it as rational. | D．They take it as ridiculous. |
| A．They are predictable and wrong. | B．They are reasonable but intolerable. |
| C．They are unnecessary and insensible. | D．They are understandable but unnecessary. |
| A．Customers must be granted the right to privacy. |
| B．Regulators should be rough in conducting regulations. |
| C．Higher running supervision might be adopted if necessary. |
| D．New entrants to cyber must takeout deception insurance. |
With travel and the environment in the news so much lately, you’ve probably heard the word ecotourism. As travelers become more aware of their effect on the planet and want to do their part to make a difference, ecotourism has really taken off.
What is ecotourism? The definition isn’t as hard to determine as you might think. According to the International Ecotourism Society, it is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that protects the environment and sustains the well-being of the local people”. To be simple, it’s travel that has a positive effect on a destination’s ecology and economy.
Ecotourism lets travelers participate in activities that benefit the environment. For example, travelers can act as citizen scientists in places around the world, including national parks and dive sites, to help do research and collect data. Meanwhile, ecotourism helps local communities to do well and become successful and strong. That can happen in a number of ways, involving some type of financial aspect, from providing jobs to supporting local businesses.
Being a responsible traveler, you’ll have a much more satisfying and rewarding experience. Instead of simply visiting tourist attractions and eating at chain restaurants, you can get completely involved in a local culture and really get to know the people who live there. It enriches your own life and opens your mind to new ideas.
Ecotourism is an amazing way to discover the world. Nature is full of wonders everywhere. Being able to get out in a natural area that is protected and largely undeveloped offers a chance to connect with plants and animals you may never see anywhere else. Just be sure to leave it as you found it for future explorers to discover. Get your sneakers ready, pack your bags and head for nature. A big and beautiful world is waiting for you out there.
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3 . China's digital currency may be world's first. According to Xinhua Newspaper, China may issue the world's first central bank digital currency (CBDC) to cut the costs of circulating traditional paper money and boost policy makers' control of money supply. The CBDC is a new form of money issued digitally by the central bank and serves as legal currency. The to-be-issued currency could be put into electronic wallets to support direct and peer-to-peer transactions (对等交易). The “wallet” could be an app on a smartphone, but the final design has not yet been settled.
At the beginning stage, the CBDC is for domestic use only. In the future, it is designed to adopt the same exchange rate as physical money, but the international transaction system will be much more complex. "If China successfully issued the world's first CBDC, it will motivate other countries to make relevant studies and join the competition of creating CBDC," said Huang Yiping, director of the Institute of Digital Finance at Peking University. As some officials said, the CBDC will replace bank notes and coins, or the cash in circulation and it is designed for retail (零售) payments at the early stage.
In other countries, many central banks have begun planning to issue their own digital currencies. The Bank for International Settlements, a club of central banks, last month said it expects one-fifth of the world's population will have access to a CBDC by 2024.
China is the clear frontrunner. On February 17th it ended the third big test of its digital currency, handing out 10 million yuan to 50,000 shoppers in Beijing. It has announced a joint venture (合资企业) with SWIFT, an interbank-messaging system used for international payments. Sweden, another supporter, has extended its digital currency project.
The latest big central bank to get serious about a CBDC is the European Central Bank (ECB). Speaking to The Economist on February 10th, Christine Lagarde, its president, said she planned to seek approval from her colleagues to begin preparing for a digital EURO.
1. What can we say about the CBDC?| A．It has been issued in China. | B．It will be used legally in China. |
| C．It is a new form of paper money. | D．It could be put into people's wallets. |
| A．Digital currency has replaced the paper money totally. |
| B．The world population will have access to CBDC by 2024. |
| C．Sweden has begun to study its own digital currency. |
| D．ECB has got approval from its members for a digital EURO. |
| A．Adventurer. | B．Pioneer. | C．Challenger. | D．Supporter. |
| A．A science journal. | B．An economic magazine. |
| C．A computer paper. | D．An educational report. |
