Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance

The main blog headlines are … Here’s what the new normal looks like There’s lots of talk about civil unrest, an unjust society, the need for a universal basic income, a change in attitude towards everything from capitalism to socialism to democracy to inclusion. Good …

If you didn’t spot it the other day, there was a headline that caught my eye: Jamie Dimon says coronavirus crisis is ‘wake-up call’ for a more inclusive economy I smiled and seethed, as it was covered widely with the words above combined with says …

Things we’re reading today include … Tracking the economic recovery What would negative interest rates mean for mortgages and savings? Bank investors rebel over Lloyds’ proposal for executive pay Why interest rates are so high in Africa More than 50,000 RBS staff to work from …

I was relaxing watching a rock concert whilst self-isolating. It made me realise the way it was. 60,000 people sweating next to each other at an open venue, mingling each others juices together. Ah, those were the days. Nothing is going to be the same. …

Things we’re reading today include … Bank of England paves way for negative interest rates Britain sells bonds with minus rates Top 1% of British earners get 17% of nation’s income Matalan founder suing PwC for ‘ineffective tax avoidance advice’ Crypto hedge funds struggle to …

I’ve often questioned the valuations of unicorns in technology, whether it be Uber or Revolut. And here we are in lockdown world and the valuations of most unicorns are crashing overnight. Monzo’s value is down 40 percent, and FinTech funding is at a three year …

Things we’re reading today include … Coronavirus: World Bank warns 60m at risk of ‘extreme poverty’ Fiserv’s First Data pays $40 million to settle FTC charges it aided merchants’ fraud Boom for payments companies as crisis forces shoppers online Covid-19 a ‘wake-up call’ to build …

There are lots of headlines and articles talking about the end of the office. You think about it, and it kind of makes sense. In a digital age, why do we have to go to a physical office? Why do we all cram ourselves into …

Things we’re reading today include … Starling Bank struggles to get Bounce Back Loans up to speed Why the UK fell behind European peers on emergency funding Kabbage rebounds after accessing US loan programme Long-lasting global recession likely due to COVID-19, says World Economic Forum …

There’s lots of talk about civil unrest, an unjust society, the need for a universal basic income, a change in attitude towards everything from capitalism to socialism to democracy to inclusion. Good discussions but hard to know how it plays out. In many countries, people …

Things we’re reading today include … Lloyds Bank’s isolation campaign gets frank about mental well-being Alibaba’s Jack Ma resigns from SoftBank board We will need banks to stay healthy and survive the crisis too UBS’s Iqbal Khan on shaking up world’s biggest wealth manager What …

The main blog headlines are … Dealing with a crisis: FinTech versus Bank The chasm between start-ups and incumbents is massively exposed by coronavirus. I realised this early on, when I saw that FinTech firms who were born on the internet were far more ready …

I just found three interesting management reports. One is a survey from Salt Edge on the lack of success of the use APIs and Open Banking, two years after the introduction of PSD2; the second is from the GSMA on the state of mobile financial …

Things we’re reading today include … Coronavirus: Lloyd’s of London says claims to be biggest since 9/11 How will Britain dig itself out of a £300bn coronavirus hole? How to fight an economic crisis in a monetary union Goldman Sachs to buy boutique wealth management …

When Digital Human came out, its subtitle was The Fourth Revolution of Humanity includes Everyone. The premise was based upon humanity entering a fourth phase where every human on Earth could connect with every other human on Earth by just having a mobile telephone. Not only …

Things we’re reading today include … Coronavirus crisis causing ‘very sharp move into recession’, Bank of England governor warns Open Banking Europe publishes draft signature standards for bank APIs UK property market could fall 13%, housing experts predict ABN Amro slumps to loss as impairment …

I spent some time recently chatting with Joanne Dewar, Chief Executive Officer, Global Processing Services (GPS). I spotted GPS a while ago, and blogged about how they worked with Monzo, Starling, Revolut and more last October. Anywho, Joanne wrote a brilliant piece on the Nasdaq …

Things we’re reading today include … Debt should not be the only tool to get companies through Covid-19 Resurgent Wall Street disconnected from reality on the ground Bank of England could increase economic stimulus, says senior official More than 300 lawmakers urge IMF, World Bank …

The chasm between start-ups and incumbents is massively exposed by coronavirus. I realised this early on, when I saw that FinTech firms who were born on the internet were far more ready for working from home than traditional banks who depend on branches, buildings, office …

Things we’re reading today include … Barclays still banking on climate breakdown UBS eyes digital bank licence in China Judo Bank achieves Unicorn status on $230 million fund raise Bitcoin goes through third ‘halving’, falls vs U.S. dollar Bitcoin ‘halving’: What does the much-hyped event …

The other day, I blogged about the failure of government in this crisis. Today, I’m blogging about the failure of banks. I am aware that in some countries – the Netherlands seems to be one – there has been great continuance of bank service. Unfortunately, …

Things we’re reading today include … Unemployment due to Covid-19 is surely worth more than a footnote | Larry Elliott EU could open legal case against Germany over ECB bond-purchases ruling: Commission Andrew Bailey needs to be more convincing about the path to recovery For …

The main blog headlines are … Where was the digital backup to our physical structure? The coronavirus crisis has hit everyone sudden and hard. We originally thought it was a Chinese crisis and now it’s a global one. It’s shut down economies worldwide and the …

The coronavirus crisis has hit everyone sudden and hard. We originally thought it was a Chinese crisis and now it’s a global one. It’s shut down economies worldwide and the banking system has been asked to step in fast and address the crisis. Governments worldwide …

Things we’re reading today include … Investors row back on ethical principles, research shows A perky stockmarket v a glum economy Credit-rating agencies are back under the spotlight Emerging markets launch QE, too Coronavirus bailouts: Which country has the most generous deal? Losses by central …

Last October I wrote a piece on Revolut, questioning its valuation which, at that time, was estimated to be anything up to $10 billion: They claim to have 8M customers. Let’s assume *all* of them are active. If they are “valued” at $10Bn that’s a …

Things we’re reading today include … Banking the rich and famous: the rise of private digital banks Bank of England expected to hold off on fresh stimulus for now Coronavirus threatens future of eurozone, Brussels warns Small firms secure £2bn in bounce-back loans in first …

I was recently watching an online poll that asked the best way for a traditional bank to compete with the new digital banks. Should they build a new bank, buy a digital bank competitor, or transform the old bank? The vote was split fairly equally …