Our main stories of this week includes …
Why most banks fail at transformational change
I had a few wake up calls in my years of working in financial services, and a couple of key ones gave me an insight into the mentality of major financial firms that have stayed pretty true ever since. The first was working with a …
Fin and Tech is like Father and Son
I find it interesting when you look at the Fintech start-up scene and the hotbed of interest now in the blockchain. There are 100s of companies attempting to do something in these areas, and it amuses me that my Beer and Bordeaux clash is even …
We had a great debate at the Financial Services Club last night between digital money sage Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion, and all things bitcoin master Jon Matonis. The debate was about whether blockchain is faster and cheaper, and it was clear from the start …
Who’s got the biggest (#Fintech economy)?
So as I travel around these global conferences, startup challenges and Fintech daze, I often get asked: what does it take to be a Fintech centre? This is because everyone wants to be one now that they’ve seen the buzz around the market. London has vied …
How do you spot a successful start-up?
Talking of start-ups, I’m often asked: how do you spot a successful start-up? Not sure why they ask me, as I haven’t started a start-up, but I guess it’s because I’m seeing 100s of start-ups out there. For example, there were 800 contenders on the …
The past week’s major news headlines include …
Mastercard Plots £1bn Vocalink Takeover Bid - Sky News
Mastercard has made an approach to buy Vocalink, which processes billions of payments each year in the UK, Sky News learns.
Barclays’ ‘nightmare scenario’ - Financial Times
Bob Diamond eyes bid for parts of bank’s subsidiary; Michael Dobson reflects on new post
Switch to digital currency could endanger banks, warns Bank of England deputy - The Telegraph
Switching to a digital version of the pound could hit banks, investment and economic growth, according to one of the Bank of England’s deputy governors.
Unpicking the banking 'con-trick' - BBC
The model of day-to-day banking used by most UK consumers is a "con-trick" and unnecessarily expensive for many, experts say.
Why is Barclays pulling out of Africa? - BBC
Why Britain's Barclays Bank is selling up
Barclays cuts dividend as profits fall 8% - Guardian
Bank to restructure its business and sell down its African operations Barclays has more than halved its dividend as it announced a fall in profits and a restructuring of its business that includes selling down its operations in Africa. Jes Staley, making his first announcement since taking the helm in
Andy Murray backs five UK start-ups - BBC
Tennis star Andy Murray makes his first investments of 2016 in UK start-up firms through the crowdfunding platform Seedrs.
Brexit would drive pound down to parity with euro, warns UBS - as it happened - Guardian
All the day’s economic and financial news, as UBS says sterling would suffer a sharp correction if Britain votes to leave the EU UBS says Brexit would hammer the pound In other news: Mervyn King says Eurozone is doomed China cuts RRR Eurozone is back in deflation European markets fall
Former Deutsche Bank Executive Jain to Join SoFi Board - Wall Street Journal
Mr. Jain will be the first top former bank executive to be added to the lending startup’s board
Finland: The sick man of Europe? - BBC
Is Finland now 'the sick man of Europe'?
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The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:
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...
