🇯🇵 Japan's latest low

Visa and Mastercard cut merchants some slack | Japan's yen hit a 30-year low against the US dollar | [Finimize](   TOGETHER WITH     Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for March 28th in 3:14 minutes.   ⏰ You want to reach your investment goals as soon as possible. So check out [our free guide to ISAs with IG](, and find out how the right tax-free savings account could help you reach financial freedom faster. [Check out the guide](. Today's big stories - Payment giants Visa and Mastercard finally settled their long-standing legal battle against fee-laden merchants - Europe’s IPO market has a brand-new glow – [Read Now]( - The Japanese yen reached its weakest level against the US dollar in over 30 years Small Wonders [Small Wonders] What’s going on here? Payment processing companies Visa and Mastercard agreed to [trim]( their fees by an iota, but that tiny sacrifice should save merchants some $30 billion over the next five years. What does this mean? Visa and Mastercard didn't just wake up feeling generous on Wednesday. Shopkeepers have been legally protesting the “interchange fees” they pay card companies for nearly 20 years. Bear in mind, they hand over around 2% of a sale every time a customer swipes their credit card, which added up to over $100 billion in the US last year. So to put an end to the back and forth, Visa and Mastercard agreed to slice 0.07 percentage points off their average fee over the next five years. The settlement will also free up merchants to charge customers more for Visa and Mastercard transactions, pushing them toward cards that cost shops less. Why should I care? Zooming out: Capital One won. Even though Visa and Mastercard set those fees, it’s the banks behind them that keep most of the takings. JPMorgan, for example, pulled in $31 billion from fees alone last year. So JPMorgan, along with the likes of Bank of America and Citigroup, won’t exactly be thrilled about the agreement. At least Capital One took control earlier this year, [announcing]( plans to buy Discover Financial Services to keep fees on its cards lower for merchants, without needing to lean on Visa and Mastercard as the middlemen. The bigger picture: Klarna’s getting radical. Visa and Mastercard’s compromise can’t compare to Klarna’s plans, mind you. The buy-now-pay-later giant is working on a [system]( that will let UK customers pay off their balance straight from their bank accounts, bypassing debit card networks and the fees that come with them. Not only will that save Klarna some spare change, but it’ll cement the Stockholm-based company as a mover and shaker ahead of its planned public listing later this year. You might also like: [Here’s how to make the most of a year full of IPOs.]( Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Small Wonders&utm_campaign=daily-global-28-03-2024&utm_source=email) Analyst Take IPOs Are Back, Baby (And Not Just In The US) [IPOs Are Back, Baby (And Not Just In The US)]( [Photo of Carl Hazeley] Carl Hazeley, Analyst [IPOs]( are back in fashion – and not just in the US. Swiss skincare company Galderma made its fresh-faced debut last week, smoothing out some market wrinkles. See, shares in the maker of cosmetic fillers and medical creams rose as much as 18% on their first day. That's a promising sign in Europe, where [billions]( of dollars worth of companies are lining up to go public. So that’s today’s Insight: [Europe’s IPO market has a brand-new glow and you could take advantage](. [Read or listen to the Insight here]( SPONSORED BY ARCHAX Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. 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[Find Out More]( Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. [Take 2 minutes to learn more](. When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. If you want your brand featured here, [get in touch.]( ‘90s Revival [‘90s Revival] What’s going on here? The Japanese yen fell to its weakest level against the US dollar since 1990. What does this mean? Japan’s currency has had a rough start to the year, with the yen weakening against every developed country’s currency. See, despite Japan bringing interest rates up from their sub-zero spot, those rates still look squat – and lower interest rates make a country’s currency less attractive to investors. Meanwhile, the US dollar – the strongest currency this year – has picked up by 7% against the yen. So after the yen reached its lowest level against the dollar in over three decades on Wednesday, whispers spread that Japanese government officials were planning on meeting with the Bank of Japan (BoJ). Investors then started speculating that the central bank might intervene in the currency market, selling its own stacks of US dollars and buying the yen to give it a leg up. Why should I care? Zooming in: Investors are seizing the opportunity. The US’s 5.25% interest rate is widely expected to hit 4.5% by the end of the year. But in Japan, investors expect the barely-above-zero rate to land at just 0.3% by then. Traders had expected rates to end up higher, bringing the yen up with them, but those hopes have been dashed by the BoJ. That has investors sticking with their “carry trades”: borrowing money in yen to buy a currency that earns a higher interest rate, and pocketing the difference between the two. For markets: Businesses love a bargain. Mind you, the weaker yen does have one benefit. The cheaper currency makes Japanese companies’ products and services more affordable for international customers, while the stronger US dollar means they make more yen per buck when converting their takings back into their home currency. That’s plumped up the earnings of Japanese firms which, in turn, has attracted investors to their stocks – especially as their valuations look cheap and business-boosting government reforms are underway. You might also like: [Japan’s interest rate turnaround will create new winners and losers.]( Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=‘90s Revival&utm_campaign=daily-global-28-03-2024&utm_source=email) 💬 Quote of the day "Gambling: The sure way of getting nothing for something." – Wilson Mizner (an American playwright and entrepreneur) [Tweet this]( SPONSORED BY OAKLEY CAPITAL INVESTMENTS Private investments just got a little less private Private-equity-backed businesses often harness an industry’s most disruptive tech – and the most ambition. They also provide [access to sectors and parts of the economy that public portfolios can’t reach](. Healthcare, for one, has relied on private investment to develop innovative medical solutions. Privately backed education technology is transforming how students access and structure their education. And [revolutionary AI-based products]( may never reach the stock market. But the individual investor isn’t doomed to miss out on these [unique, disruptive, private businesses]( – and the returns they make. By buying shares in OCI, a publicly listed company that [invests in private equity funds]( you too could share in the winnings. After all, [OCI’s shares have risen 150%]( in the last five years. [Find Out More]( Past performance is not a guarantee, projection or prediction and is not necessarily indicative of future results. The ability to achieve successful results depends on a number of factors, and the past performance of the Oakley Funds and the investments on which Oakley Capital Limited has advised may not necessarily be repeated. When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. If you want your brand featured here, [get in touch.]( 🎯 On Our Radar 1. Think of your biggest financial dream. Your wildest fantasy might be [more achievable than you think](. 2. New crypto projects are spawned every day. Here's your [guide to investing in bitcoin](.* 3. The Baltimore Bridge came down. The rest of the US might [want to take note](. 4. 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