Welcome to The Finanser by Chris Skinner. The Finanser discusses all things fintech, finance, banking, technology and, most importantly, the future. Chris Skinner has been voted the most influential technologist in Britain and received a lifetime achievement award for his visionary approach to the future of money from the Payments Association. He has advised the…
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The BBC has run many reports about how people accidentally become money mules through their ignorance: It’s not easy money. This scam wrecks your credit I got quick cash in my account but it was too good to be true I became a money mule by mistake A key point here is that, in statistics…
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I got an interesting update on Monday from Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA) on the impact that an event has on local community. Their data shows the positive impact that the Winter Olympics is having in Italy: Overseas Visa cardholder visits rose by more than 60%, with the largest share of visitors coming from the…
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In the last day, I’ve been blown away by two developments coming out of China. One is an AI movie sequence that’s only 15 seconds long; the second was the Spring Festival celebration to welcome the New Year of the Fire Horse. If you haven’t seen them, you need to, because both show how technology…
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I’ve avoided talking about the Epstein files on this blog. The main reason is that it’s appalling how wealth, power and connections can get away with anything they want. The worst part of it, for me, was a report that alleges that Donald Trump watched a 13-year-old girl give birth to a baby girl who…
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When the Genius Act was signed off last year by President Trump, I said that it was positioned to keep the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. Now, a new debate arises after Jamie Dimon (Chair of JPMorgan) and Brian Armstrong (CEO, Coinbase) had a spat at Davos. Did you hear about it? Probably…
Read MoreI liked this article by Sergiy Fitsak on Finextra: We Asked 300 Finance Leaders What’s Next in Fintech. Here’s What They Said. His company, Softjourn, asked 300 fintech experts, CEOs and more on what’s hot in the fintech space these days. You can read the whole thing, but I’ll pick up some key headlines. AI…
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Someone said to me this week: what do we need to do to be an intelligent bank? It seems like a simple question, but the answer is incredibly complex. After all, the first step is to be a bank with digital at its core. This is something I’ve written about for decades, but the big…
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I often talk about quantum computing and how it could break the encryption keys of our current financial system, including bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In fact, the first time was seven years ago, when I referred to The Quantum Resistant Ledger. Even way back then, there was a company working on ideas to avoid encryption…
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I just had a great visit to Kuala Lumpur, a place I go to often as I have many friends there. This time I also witnessed the launch of EPOS360, an AI-driven growth platform of Ant International targeted at small businesses. What is EPOS360? Well, you can read the press release, but here is my…
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My friend Lory Kehoe spotted a white paper by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) that was released in December discussing Project Leap, a deep technical experiment showing that core payment systems can migrate to post-quantum cryptography without breaking how money moves today. It’s a fascinating paper and an important one for us fintech nerds,…
Read MoreI just got a summary of my new book from the publishers. It comes out in the summer but, for those interested, here are the key messages: Core Thesis The book argues that banking is entering its third great technological revolution: Mainframe era → automation and scale Digital era → connectivity, mobile, fintech, experience Intelligence…
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Every year I visit the analytics engine to see which blogs got the most visits. This list is this year’s although, interestingly, the blog entry with the most clicks generally is the one I wrote about who invented WiFi. Regardless, the list this year is interesting as it is mainly about fintech firms like Klarna,…
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I get regular emails with facts and stats, and one that I subscribe to regularly is from Fintech Global. Fintech Global provides research and, more importantly, connects senior decision-makers via industry-leading conferences. Enough of the advertising as what intrigues me more is facts and stats, and their research gives an interesting reflection of the world…
Read MoreWhen the Genius Act was signed off last year by President Trump, I said that it was positioned to keep the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. Now, a new debate arises after Jamie Dimon (Chair of JPMorgan) and Brian Armstrong (CEO, Coinbase) had a spat at Davos. Did you hear about it? Probably…
Read MoreSomeone said to me this week: what do we need to do to be an intelligent bank? It seems like a simple question, but the answer is incredibly complex. After all, the first step is to be a bank with digital at its core. This is something I’ve written about for decades, but the big…
Read MoreI just noticed that Lloyds Banking Group are enforcing AI training for all staff: Lloyds Banking Group is putting all 67,000 staff through compulsory AI training The move is part of a multi-million-pound push to modernise how the bank operates Every role, from branch staff to senior executives, will be expected to take part Lloyds…
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I’ve recently joined the advisory board of a startup focused upon opening financial branches called banxlocal. Why the hell would anyone open branches? Well, it’s all about human needs for human services as that creates trust. I’m a big believer in banking and finance for consumers still providing High Street access in a store or branch….
Read MoreI often talk about quantum computing and how it could break the encryption keys of our current financial system, including bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In fact, the first time was seven years ago, when I referred to The Quantum Resistant Ledger. Even way back then, there was a company working on ideas to avoid encryption…
Read MoreI just had a great visit to Kuala Lumpur, a place I go to often as I have many friends there. This time I also witnessed the launch of EPOS360, an AI-driven growth platform of Ant International targeted at small businesses. What is EPOS360? Well, you can read the press release, but here is my…
Read MoreI just got a summary of my new book from the publishers. It comes out in the summer but, for those interested, here are the key messages: Core Thesis The book argues that banking is entering its third great technological revolution: Mainframe era → automation and scale Digital era → connectivity, mobile, fintech, experience Intelligence…
Read MoreEvery year I visit the analytics engine to see which blogs got the most visits. This list is this year’s although, interestingly, the blog entry with the most clicks generally is the one I wrote about who invented WiFi. Regardless, the list this year is interesting as it is mainly about fintech firms like Klarna,…
Read More
Building on my post earlier regarding the arguments for and against digital identity, there is another argument around what they mean for privacy. Luckily, a friend of mine decided to send me a post they thought useful around those themes and I liked what they wrote so, here it is: How People Are Prioritizing Digital…
Read MoreWhen the Genius Act was signed off last year by President Trump, I said that it was positioned to keep the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. Now, a new debate arises after Jamie Dimon (Chair of JPMorgan) and Brian Armstrong (CEO, Coinbase) had a spat at Davos. Did you hear about it? Probably…
Read More
This is not a headline I am happy to share but, after being scammed, it is time to share it. After all, you would think that, working in finance, I would be savvy to all criminal scams. I’m not. Sure, the SMS that says a parcel couldn’t be delivered or the email saying that I’m…
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Things we’re reading today include … Bank of England admits inflation bungle European life insurers’ systemic risk ‘non-trivial’ European banks take a fresh crack at Wall Street Fintech Adviser Titan Hit With Second SEC Penalty Over “Misleading” 2,700% Crypto Return Claims Lloyds to train all 67,000 staff in AI as banks go digital Fintechs should…
Read MoreMy friend Lory Kehoe spotted a white paper by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) that was released in December discussing Project Leap, a deep technical experiment showing that core payment systems can migrate to post-quantum cryptography without breaking how money moves today. It’s a fascinating paper and an important one for us fintech nerds,…
Read MoreI just got a summary of my new book from the publishers. It comes out in the summer but, for those interested, here are the key messages: Core Thesis The book argues that banking is entering its third great technological revolution: Mainframe era → automation and scale Digital era → connectivity, mobile, fintech, experience Intelligence…
Read More
How could I write a series of 2026 predictions without a specific focus on fintech and cryptocurrencies? The headlines are that: Systems Become Proactive: Technology shifts from reacting to events to anticipating needs AI Becomes Invisible Infrastructure: Intelligence moves from tools to embedded decision-making Digital Layers Disappear into Daily Life: Identity, security, payments, and compliance…
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Everyone and their weird cousin is invested today. In crypto, of course. Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, even Dogecoin, or its low-rank pup Floki. Cryptocurrencies are constantly on the news, social media is buzzing, and one in about a gazillion investors wins big. We’re not even debating here if the notion of digital assets has merit as…
Read MoreEvery year I visit the analytics engine to see which blogs got the most visits. This list is this year’s although, interestingly, the blog entry with the most clicks generally is the one I wrote about who invented WiFi. Regardless, the list this year is interesting as it is mainly about fintech firms like Klarna,…
Read More
I spotted a quote this week: “All truth passes through three stages: first, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.” — Arthur Schopenhauer My mind immediately moved to bitcoin and cryptocurrency and, specifically, Jamie Dimon. For years, Dimon has said that bitcoin is a scam and yet, now,…
Read MoreIn the last day, I’ve been blown away by two developments coming out of China. One is an AI movie sequence that’s only 15 seconds long; the second was the Spring Festival celebration to welcome the New Year of the Fire Horse. If you haven’t seen them, you need to, because both show how technology…
Read MoreI liked this article by Sergiy Fitsak on Finextra: We Asked 300 Finance Leaders What’s Next in Fintech. Here’s What They Said. His company, Softjourn, asked 300 fintech experts, CEOs and more on what’s hot in the fintech space these days. You can read the whole thing, but I’ll pick up some key headlines. AI…
Read More
Many movies, media and headlines portray AI as frightening. It’s going to take out jobs, bring robocop to the streets and take over our lives. It’s going to be Ex Machina, The Terminator or worse. Very few give context of the positive future with AI, but a headline caught my eye today: Meet the ‘AI…
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As you do, I just stumbled upon another report that’s interesting. This one is Accenture’s view on six big trends that will change banking in 2026. You can download the whole report (81 pages) here but, if you don’t have time, here’s a brief summary: Accenture: Top Banking Trends for 2026 — Key Insights &…
Read MoreI’ve recently joined the advisory board of a startup focused upon opening financial branches called banxlocal. Why the hell would anyone open branches? Well, it’s all about human needs for human services as that creates trust. I’m a big believer in banking and finance for consumers still providing High Street access in a store or branch….
Read More
Many have argued for years that branches are dead. Many in the fintech world believe that people don’t need branches. Some think that the pandemic proved that customers can bank fine without them and that many now prefer digital. Wrong. A bit like cash, the pandemic forced a change of behaviour. Less cash was being…
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I just got a fascinating document sent over from the White House. Bearing in mind, the White House is the American civil service and not directly communicating Donald Trump’s opinions, thank goodness, their reports are often really insightful. This one really hooked me as it is all about AI and the Great Divergence. The Great…
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Many believe the big themes of Davos last week were around Donald Trump, his ambitions to take over Greenland and Canada, and Mark Carney’s speech. Stop “living within a lie”, Mark Carney #Davos They were the headline news but, underneath those headlines, the main theme of Davos was AI. AI featured in almost every session…
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I just watched The Life of Chuck based upon a story by Stephen King (strongly recommended). Throughout the film, it constantly references Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar. The Cosmic Calendar compresses the 13.8-billion-year history of the universe into a single calendar year, where January 1 is the Big Bang and December 31 is the present*. At…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … The 50 Hottest Fintech Startups In 2026 Sky News gains rare access to Bank of England’s gold vaults Santander looks to scale up global investment bank ECB sanctions J.P. Morgan for misreporting capital requirements eBay launches Pay by Bank in the UK Klarna CEO: AI set to Cut Workforce…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … How Fintech is Transforming the 2,000-Year Red Packet Tradition Can investors ignore the FTSE 100’s next big bank? France says 1.2 million bank accounts exposed in database breach World’s oldest bank to take over Mediobanca You can bank on it – the branch manager is back Oxford Researcher Warns…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Google’s Take on the Future of Fintech: Beyond Neobanks and BNPL JPMorgan Chase plans branch opening spree as peers bet on in-person banking ECB President Lagarde to leave bank before end of her eight-year term, FT reports Big Bank CEOs received serious pay bumps in 2025 Mastercard and Visa…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … European FinTech investments dropped by 11% YoY amid market uncertainties in 2025 UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative amid Trump fears ECB fines Crédit Agricole for failing to address climate risk Lloyds investigating after using staff’s bank account data in pay talks Owners of…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Q-day: bank quantum attack could cost US economy trillions, warns Citi Germany’s spectacular multimillion-euro heist nobody noticed Andrew facing claim he shared Treasury document with banking contact How chaos testing at Starling Bank pushed resilience into production Deutsche Bank warns AI risks in U.S. equities is undermining dollar’s safe…
Read MoreThis week’s main discussions include … The Fat Finger Syndrome I was intrigued to read that a major cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, Bithumb, had an internal error where an employee sent customers a prize that should have been 620,000 Korean won (around $423) to 695 qualifying customers, but instead credited accounts with 620,000 bitcoins…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Nancy Guthrie disappearance case puts spotlight on cryptocurrency tracking Attempt to modernise NS&I has been a ‘full-spectrum disaster’, MPs find The battle between crypto and banks is splitting Trump’s base UK fintech investment slumped in 2025 Tether Invests in Gold.com to Expand Tokenized Gold Access Coinbase posts surprise loss…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Traditional banks’ market share to slump to 65% by 2030, says Bain ‘Likes to have cash’: Inside Deutsche Bank’s slow split from Epstein UK Fintech Funding Sinks to Five-Year Low Despite Revolut As some tech stocks tumble, cryptocurrency goes over a cliff JPMorgan: Bullish on the cryptocurrency market, predicting…
Read MoreThis week’s main discussions include … The Fat Finger Syndrome I was intrigued to read that a major cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, Bithumb, had an internal error where an employee sent customers a prize that should have been 620,000 Korean won (around $423) to 695 qualifying customers, but instead credited accounts with 620,000 bitcoins…
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This week’s main discussions include … Cryptocurrencies are rife with scams and money laundering This is not a headline I am happy to share but, after being scammed, it is time to share it. After all, you would think that, working in finance, I would be savvy to all criminal scams. I’m not. Sure, the…
Read MoreThis week’s main discussions include … Why bank branches still matter Many have argued for years that branches are dead. Many in the fintech world believe that people don’t need branches. Wrong. A bit like cash, the pandemic forced a change of behaviour. Human needs for human service (why branches matter, part two) I’ve recently…
Read MoreThis week’s main discussions include … Stop “living within a lie”, Mark Carney #Davos Everyone has been hailing Mark Carney’s speech at Davos as one of the GOAT speeches of the 21st century. It forced me to take out 15 minutes to listen to it, and yes, it is a great speech. Well worth the…
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This week’s main blog discussions include … My next new book: “Intelligent Bank” I just got a summary of my new book from the publishers. It comes out in the summer but, for those interested, here are the key messages … The more wealth amongst the few, the more likely the revolution by the many…
Read MoreI just got a summary of my new book from the publishers. It comes out in the summer but, for those interested, here are the key messages: Core Thesis The book argues that banking is entering its third great technological revolution: Mainframe era → automation and scale Digital era → connectivity, mobile, fintech, experience Intelligence…
Read More
During the holidays, the main blog discussions included … What will happen in 2026? Welcome to 2026, the year of the Horse in the Chinese New Year, which arrives in February. A Year of the Horse symbolizes forward momentum, encouraging bold actions and the pursuit of dreams. That sounds pretty good, but what’s gonna happen?…
Read MoreEvery year I visit the analytics engine to see which blogs got the most visits. This list is this year’s although, interestingly, the blog entry with the most clicks generally is the one I wrote about who invented WiFi. Regardless, the list this year is interesting as it is mainly about fintech firms like Klarna,…
Read MoreThis week’s main discussions include … Did 2025 really happen? (the year of deep fake) 2025 has been the year of AI and AI hype from Agentic AI to AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) to Robots, chatbots and more but, for me, it has been the year of Deep Fake AI. It all started with the…
Read MoreThis week’s main discussions include … Little Britain: “A rainy island with a hostile tax system is a hard sell” Many years ago, I was presenting to a country suffering sanctions. No longer able to access the SWIFT network and pretty much excommunicated by most banks worldwide, they were suffering. Of course, they could do…
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