Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance

I’ve watched Marcus for a while and was not surprised to see its founder is leaving. There are those who are great at building companies and those who are great at running companies. They are rarely the same person. In fact, some of the greatest …

Things we’re reading today include … ‘If Bitcoin Is Digital Gold, Then Ethereum Is Digital Silver’: Deutsche Bank Early Spotify investor Dragoneer in talks to back $10bn digital bank N26 Barclays app and online banking down as customers unable to make or send payments Tension …

Making a statement I was intrigued by a news headline that Lloyds Bank is turning bank statements into art. Sounds ridiculous? Who gets a bank statement anymore? We use an app. But then I read the piece and was more intrigued as yes, it’s been …

Things we’re reading today include … IMF chief denies trying to boost China in World Bank rankings Central Banks Turning Slowly in Ending Pandemic’s Easy Money Era Bank Australia suffers outage, leaves customers stranded for hours ‘India needs at least 4-5 more banks like SBI’ …

This week’s main blog discussions include … Branches, cash and cards? Get out of here! I’ve been presenting and writing about the end of branches, cash and cards for twenty years: 2007: Bank strategies are fundamentally flawed – design around IP, not branches To be …

I haven’t blogged much about my friends from Hangzhou (China) lately, as it is all in a state of flux, but what I can say is that the will of the people – President Xi – appears to be strong. If you haven’t seen the …

Things we’re reading today include … Goldman Sachs executive who led consumer banking launch set to depart Monzo becomes first major bank to launch buy now pay later scheme – here’s how it stacks up Inflation is poised to top 4%: is the Bank of …

For years, people have argued that you need branches to serve customers for more complex transactions: to serve people who are uncomfortable with digital access; to serve young people getting their first mortgage; to serve retailers and small businesses with their cash needs; and so …

Things we’re reading today include … Payments giant Nexi says it is working on digital euro with the European Central Bank Biden to Tap Crypto, Big-Bank Critic to Run Wall Street Watchdog Fed to release paper on central bank digital currency soon, Powell says Bank …

I’ve been presenting and writing about the end of branches, cash and cards for twenty years: 2007: Bank strategies are fundamentally flawed – design around IP, not branches To be clear, I’m not saying they’re dead. I’ve been saying their role is replaced by the …

Things we’re reading today include … Banks say draft capital rules make cryptoassets too costly to trade ‘We are not a bank – and you can take that to the bank’, says digital banking CEO Cash-strapped Evergrande missed interest payments due Monday The U.S. Is …

I watch too much online these days. Streaming from Amazon, Netflix, Apple TV and more, means you can spend the whole day just binge-watching rubbish. I’ve found myself reverting to watching some older movies, like those made in the 2000s. Fifteen years. 15 years. 15yrs. …

Things we’re reading today include … Investment Banking Is Cheap If You’re Rich First-time buyers securing mortgages online as bank branches close JPMorgan Chase’s digital bank launch has a good shot at UK success Recognise Bank given green light to become UK’s newest bank DWP …

Hmmm … the wonderful Anna Irrera posted an update on Reuters, stating that anyone can be a bank these days, along with her colleague Iain Withers. The article is about embedded finance, a term I dislike. I prefer invisible finance but hey, you win some, you …

Things we’re reading today include … Bank of Russia to ‘Slow Down’ Payments to Crypto Exchanges, Curb Russians’ Impulsive Investments Covid pandemic fuelling financial crime, says UAE Central Bank World Bank drops Doing Business report after pressure from IMF chief to favour China Banks strike …

This week’s main blog discussions include … The fine line between banker and jail Some years ago, I regularly talked about bankers being criminals. It’s not a popular theme with the banking community but, a bit like a genius, bankers walk that line between good …

Some years ago, I regularly talked about bankers being criminals. It’s not a popular theme with the banking community but, a bit like a genius, bankers walk that line between good and bad. Genius’s walk the line between amazing and mad. It’s a fine line. …

Things we’re reading today include: Starling Bank on what you should ‘take into account’ when opening accounts MPs urge Bank of England to regulate fossil finance towards green investment Slower growth, high inflation make awkward reading for Bank of England Anyone can be a banker …

I didn’t think I should share this, but I will. I ran over the dog. Like many other people during the pandemic, we were finally going to be stuck at home long enough to get a puppy. So, we got one. It made me realise …

Things we’re reading today include: Fintechs are giving the banks a run for their money Silicon Valley Bank partners Plaid on tokenised payments Running out of dollars, Afghan banks ask Taliban for more cash HSBC issues warning about banking scam that lets fraudsters go on …

One of the things over-looked by many is how banks invest in the Finverse. According to Toptal’s data, 63% of banks invest in startups or set up accelerators, and many are instrumental in FinTech companies’ operations, fund raising and IPOs. Bear in mind that start-ups …

Things we’re reading today include … The Power of FinTech Responding to the World’s Humanitarian Crises Bank of England urges banks to wait out EU pressure over euro clearing Bank loyalty costs savers £1.6bn a year in missed interest Which? calls for an end to …

I was talking with a friend in Asia and went back to my traditional discussions of how Asia, Africa and LatAm markets are shaking up finance more than Europe and America. They then asked me the difficult question: But what about President Xi? Urmmm, what …

Things we’re reading today include … How banks can lose $60 billion to cybercash highways U.S. banks are embracing blockchain payments – here’s why UK firms bank on London’s status as top financial centre 17 Banks Dubbed Hypocrites by Climate Lawyers UK banks could see …

What is time? Do you have any idea? What is the time right now? Does it exist? Einstein says ‘no’. “Time does not exist. We invented it.” Some guy called Albert pic.twitter.com/JS9JMfEyJk — Chris Skinner (@Chris_Skinner) August 28, 2021   Building on Einstein’s quote, I used …

Things we’re reading today include … Banking tech chief faces claims of bullying Bank of England warns banks over poor regulatory reporting Central banks must ‘act now’ on crypto boom, Benoît Coeuré says FCA warns bank traders over Brexit futures ‘spoofing’ Atom Bank looks to …

This week’s main blog discussions include … What if you had “f**k you money”? I was quite taken by South Park’s co-creator Matt Stone talking to Bloomberg, about a deal where he and his co-founder Trey Parker just got paid $900 million to make six …

Simon Taylor posted an interesting dialogue about BaaS the other day. He used a couple of charts to illustrate the banking stack. The easiest and most basic one is this: I quite like it but, as Simon himself notes, there’s lots of nuance missing here. So …