Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Humour

Creating the world that is the best it can be

Attending a dinner with family the other night, we got into a kind of argument or debate that had me in one corner as the boomer and my friend, a young parent, as GenZ. It was a heated debate and I don’t think either of us won. What do you think? Summarising the discussion, I’ll…

Anyone want to hire an old man who knows COBOL?

Seven years ago, I was citing the fact that 43% of the global financial system runs on a computer language no-one speaks anymore. Seven years later, PC Magazine (are PC’s still a thing?) picked up on this theme with the headline: The World Depends on 60-Year-Old Code No One Knows Anymore | PCMag … and sub-headline:…

Dear Bank Manager

I liked this so much, it needed to be shared. It is a letter allegedly sent to my bank manager. Enjoy! Dear Bank Manager, I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his depositing…

What does AI think about your job?

I shared an update the other day that has had a lot of reaction, so I’m sharing it here on the blog. The update is from Generative AI on what corporate players would look like if they were animals.   The CEO is a lion? HR is a monkey? Sales is a fox? Interestingly they…

Barry Banker and the Market of Doom

I’ve been writing children’s stories for a while, and decided to try to apply my childish impishness to the seriousness of banking. That’s a true FinTech approach where we integrate the parent and child. So, here’s my attempt to create an exciting moment in time: Barry Banker and the Market of Doom. Barry Banker had worked…

What has the government ever done for us?

It made me smile when watching Billions during an exchange between Chuck Rhoades (the Attorney General) and a bitcoin miner in Episode 1 of Series 5 (nerdy). Bitcoin miner: "What's the dollar backed by, since we went off the gold standard?" Legislator: "Roads, the military, industry, the credit of the federal government, that sort of…

Fintech Island Discs

About a year ago, Barb MacLean started a fun FinTech playlist where, each week, she picks out the top FinTech comments of the week and adds a music track to the column. If you’re not aware of it, subscribe here. It made me think, whilst out for a walk the other day, about creating a…

This week’s FU!

In our final FU before Christmas, we made it a jolly one and, before you watch this week’s show, how about a little quiz for yourself? The fastest growing service ever launched achieved over a million users in five days. Who or what is it? Central banks cannot go bankrupt. However what made the Belgian…

“Hello” exclusive! Chris Skinner visits a bank branch

I grew up with Mills & Boon, where old ladies wrote sexy stories about men on horses who would rip off the bodice of a young woman and deliver his sword. These days it seems to be Hello! that fills this vacuum, with Princess Kate flying on an economy flight and described as such: Who…

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Chris Skinner
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Kids creating the future bank | TEDxAthens

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