john maddente | midwestern clarity

Last year, consumers and small businesses used the free peer to peer online payment platform called  Zelle , to complete $806B worth of transactions.   I n 2023, three billion Zelle payments equated to $100 million  of transaction activity.... per hour .   The Zelle platform owners are seven of our nation's largest banks.  Those banks and over 2000 smaller banks and credit unions -- make Zelle available to customers for simple, instant, fund transfers.  Unfortunately, there are countless bad actors preying on unsuspecting payers.   freepik image In recent years,  consumer watchdog groups , t he Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and politicians like Elizabeth Warren , Sherrod Brown and Maxine Waters  have targeted Zelle's operator,  Early Warning Services, LLC (EWS)  and large bank owners of the platform, for  consumer losses due to fraud.   On December 20th, the  CFPB announced it was suing ...

T his week at a conference, I listened to featured speaker, Austan Goolsbee , who is President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, a noted Economist and frequent contributor to the financial press.  He's also likeable.  Official Portrait One day I'll post on entertaining economists because there are several on both sides of the aisle and Dr. Goolsbee, an Obama cabinet appointee and acolyte, will definately be part of that post. An amusing story Mr. Goolsbee told about a pleasant sense of wonder he experienced while attending a meeting in the Oval Office with President Obama and  Larry Summers  (the pleasant part ended abruptly) made the audience roar.   Afterward, during the Q and A period, I anxiously awaited my turn with the microphone.  When prompted, I found the "on" switch with only minor assistance.  My question to Mr. Goolsbee, which I'll paraphrase, was... We hear much debate from economists and financial journalists about the likelih...

Official portrait, 1981 Having grown weary of internecine clashes within the Republican Party, I recently had an exchange with a local GOP leader.  Here's what I wrote.... " Thanks for your response.    You mention I should share my thoughts with the State GOP.    Fair point.    Reagan’s “Eleventh Commandment” applies to   all  Republicans.   I’m approaching retirement which will free up my time to learn, but right now, I won’t pretend to be steeped in state politics.    I know Vos is controversial to say the least and I have much to learn about the influences of the lobbies in your message.    I have no reason to doubt the veracity of your claims about who’s ruling the roost and those special interests concern me.   Now, for added context on where  I’m coming from , bear with me….   I’m a lifelong Wisconsinite who’s voted Republican at state and federal levels for 42 years.    That’s right. ...

T hey say life is a journey not a destination, but today I want a destination.  Written while in a somewhat foul mood, what follows are 25 randomly itemized 'things' I don't care for (Mother taught me that it's better to put it that way instead of saying, "I hate " such and such ).   Some of these items are mere dislikes, others indeed border on deep loathing.  You decide which is which. 😇 THINGS I DON'T CARE FOR: 1. Merging traffic. 2. Political messages at non-political events I pay to attend. 3.  Any sort of fruit placed on a pizza.  (Yes, technically tomato is a fruit but let's forget that) 4.  Most reality TV shows. 5.  Shiny, spherical orbs placed on pedestals on a home's front yard (also fake deer). 6.  People who prey on the weak or disadvantaged. 7.  People who covet criminal rights over victim rights.     8.  Several MSNBC commentators. 9.  The short-lived customer satisfaction that comes from drivewa...

Image by Racool_studio</a> on Freepik T ake me out to the ballgame.... Attending a major league baseball game is a thoroughly American experience.  It's also a unique game where the defense has the ball and that ball is often hurled at 100 mph.   It's a classic sport with something to delight everyone.  As spectators, we usually can forget about life's problems for a few innings.  Or, at least we could. Now, the MLB , its franchise owners, the players union, or some combination thereof, have joined the ranks of those in the NFL who thought it was a great idea to radiate political messages in giant letters in the endzone.  (And even allow messaging on the back of player helmets). I hadn't noticed anything similar in professional baseball until recently.  Just beyond the center field wall at Target Field in Minneapolis, one can see, actually one  must see, a large sign blaring two words: "END RACISM".  Who are proponents of the Target F...

1. President Biden's staff, in their sole discretion, will frame each debate question in advance of the debate 2. President Biden can view a Teleprompter live wired to his staff during and after the debate, until he's off camera 3. President Biden shall be allowed unfettered use of stimulants before, during and after the debate  4. President Biden shall not appear on split screen while watching opponent speak, nor shall opponent appear on split screen while President Biden speaks 5. President Biden, at the teleprompting of his staff, will start and end the debate at a time of his choosing

C heck out my latest  post on LinkedIn if you are interested in that common question designed to tell an organization something useful about customer satisfaction and loyalty.   Aside from leading marketers to easy conclusions, singular use of the NPS question is often annoying to the consumer.  For many of us, it's simply not the question we want to answer, nor do we want our views confined to a Likert Scale for marketing purposes.  I suspect some NPS devotees don't want to deal with unstructured data.  Perhaps more marketing heads will require their surveymonkeys to leverage AI and mine that data that  tells them so much more than a checkbox. Image by upklyak on Freepik

Image by freepik   Film  titles appear below in alphabetical order... Airplane! (1980) clip here. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) clip here. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) clip here. My Favorite Year (1982) clip here. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) clip here.

Image by freepik W ho doesn't read consumer reviews on the Internet?  I take them seriously when making purchase decisions and while drafting them after my own experiences. Many of my reactions as a consumer come in oral rather than written form.  For example, a couple of months ago I left a voice message for a service manager about outstanding service I received from one of his auto technicians.  While traveling last month, I spoke directly with the chef of a restaurant to compliment his dish, after telling the manager about it. In essence, the majority of my reactions as a consumer -- whether published online, or spoken, are positive.  This past week was abnormal in that I published two reviews of healthcare professionals : one an Orthodontist  (positive) and the other an Optometrist  (negative).   The hyperlink to the Orthodontist will take you to the website associated with this business that dispenses superb care and service; in my view....

I f Seinfeld became a hit TV program as a show about "nothing," then this post is a nod to that empty theme of everyday life.  Here are two items about nothing in particular...  By George Webb Corporation - http://www.georgewebb.com 1. For three consecutive mornings, I've happily eaten breakfast at George Webb , a Wisconsin chain of some 30+ counter and booth style restaurants which first opened for business in 1948.  I've been enjoying them -- and particularly their cheese hash browns -- since the Seventies.  However, I'm ordering their free water as my beverage for the foreseeable future.  I recognize the ill effects of that silent thief we call inflation, but $3.30 for their small size glass of institutional orange juice?  Ridiculous.   John Maddente photo 2. I'm guessing few of my seven readers are familiar with Luckbox   magazine.  Its stated focus on "Life, Money, Probability" is geared toward Traders and other professional invest...

Image By freepik S lade was a 1970s British band that could wake up any audience.  As a teen, I was mesmerized by Noddy Holder' s raspy voice, his onstage penguin steps with mirrored stove pipe hat and the sound of Slades' instruments.  One track called, " Cum On Feel the Noize " (yes, they had a penchant for deliberate misspellings with song titles like, "Look Wot You Dun") still warms my nostalgic heart.  I thought of that song today while listening to an NPR podcast about Trump's recent NATO comments. There were two parts to Trump's NATO invective.  The first should be ignored as "noise" and the other should be heeded as a "signal".  First, the ridiculous assertion that he'd invite Putin to invade NATO countries that don't pay their bills should be ignored, but the second one about NATO members not paying their "bills" requires closer examination as a signal. One problem with the American Left, is that they f...