Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
This weekend is the Lord Mayor’s Parade, where we do literally
parade the new Lord Mayor of London, Fiona Woolf. This is not the political
Mayor of London, Boris, but the Lord Mayor, an office that dates back over
seven...
Does anyone care
about Square?
We will soon live in a world without payments. As retailers
integrate more of the financial transaction into their trade processes, the
more we live in a world where payments become increasingly irrelevant. The ability
to walk into a coffee...
Today’s news in Britain is all about payday lenders once
more due to a grilling of Wonga in front of a Parliamentary Committee
yesterday. It’s amazing the emotions such lenders activities ignite. They make
politicians and the media angry because...
Our wearable future
and the first Bank Google Glass apps
I was wondering how long it would take for a wearable bank
app to appear, especially as we now have Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Watch,
so it was no surprise to see my friends over at the Financial Brand spot the
first release of these services. It is
also no surprise that Banco Sabadell is one of the first to be mentioned, as
folks will know if they’ve read my interview with Pol Navarro who heads up
innovation there (see postnote) ...
RBS: yet another
British Jekyll and Hyde Bank
There was a whole load of stuff going on in the banking
world last week about Q3 bank results and, in particular, whether the Royal
Bank of Scotland should split into a good bank and bad bank. Like Northern Rock
– or should that be Jekyll and Hyde? – the idea is to take the toxic assets on
RBS’s books – all £38 billion of them! – and place them in a separately run
business ...
New book: "Digital Bank" by Chris Skinner launches
today
After blogging daily for over six years, I decided to edit
the best parts of the blog that talk about the battle to digitise the bank into
a book over the summer. It’s not a Blook (Blog book) as it’s been written
specifically as chapters, incorporating some of the best parts of the blog, but
adding a lot more. Officially available
from today in both book and Kindle form, here’s the lowdown:
How do you build a Digital Bank?
One of the great US Bloggers, Jim Marous, picked up on the
release of my new book Digital Bank, and asked for an
interview with me. As the discussion outlines the book's profile and
content rather nicley, I'm republishing the interview here ...
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
One
hundred big banks could go, warns McKinsey - The Telegraph
A fifth of the largest global banks coud be broken up or bought within the next
few years, according to McKinsey
OFT
instructed Wonga to make changes to its business - The Telegraph
Pay day loans company denies suggestions it was censured by the competition
watchdog
Italian
banks near saturation point on government debt - Reuters
MILAN (Reuters) - Italian banks are near saturation point after two years spent
frantically buying their own government's bonds, forcing the Treasury to find
alternative investors at home and abroad to finance a 2-trillion euro debt.
'Superwoman'
Nicola Horlick to launch peer-to-peer finance firm - The Independent
Former City ‘Superwoman’ Nicola Horlick will become the latest to jump on the
crowdfunding bandwagon when she launches her own peer-to-peer finance firm next
year.
Co-op
faces £500m IT bill months after computer writedown - The Telegraph
The Co-op Bank is set to spend as much as £500m on its computer systems just
months after writing off close to £150m on a failed IT project.
Cyber
war is being won by ‘crook stars’ - The Independent
Criminal gangs are winning the war in cyberspace as they can pay talented
youngsters enough money to “party like rock stars”, according to one of the
sector’s leading experts.
UK
'fastest-growing Western economy' - BBC
The UK is set to grow faster than any other Western economy, according to a
report by the accountants Grant Thornton.
The
Wall Street boss glad she was sacked - BBC
The Wall Street high flyer who was pleased she lost her top jobs
HSBC
sees profits surge by 30% - BBC
HSBC saw profit surge 30% in the three months to the end of September, boosted
by a strong performance in the UK and Hong Kong.
All
aboard for Europe's shrinking bank branch network - Reuters
Banks have shut about 20,000 branches across Europe in the last four years,
including 5,500 last year and 7,200 in 2011, according to a Reuters analysis of
European Central Bank data.
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Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
