Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance

I watch the world and comment. Maybe I shouldn’t. This blog began as a blog about finance and technology and I rarely want to leave that space. But lockdown, the pandemic and more has made it more of a commentary on life and the world …

Things we’re reading today include … Little market-wide agreement on DLT use in capital markets Sotheby’s introduces cryptocurrency sales with a famous Banksy work Dogecoin creator sold all his coins in 2015 to buy a Honda Civic, DOGE is now bigger than Honda Citi weighs …

I don’t know how your life has changed in the last year, but I realised how much mine had when I woke up this morning and thought must go and buy dog food. A year ago, I didn’t have a dog and my first thought …

Things we’re reading today include … Dogecoin is now worth more than the Ford motor company, BP or Tesco European Central Bank CBDC Survey Finds Privacy Is The Number One Concern For Digital Euro HSBC issues urgent warning as criminals try to get bank details …

The climate activists of Extinction Rebellion expanded recently into a Money Rebellion, as I blogged about last Friday. Targetting the banks that pollute the planet – specifically Barclays and HSBC in the UK – they will hold a range of protests today, gluing themselves with …

Things we’re reading today include … World’s Best Banks 2021 City urges the Bank of England to bring on the ‘Britcoin’ revolution An anonymous crypto advocate projected messages championing bitcoin on the walls of the Bank of England and the UK Parliament Blockchain technology could …

I wrote two years ago about the BS that Blackrock talk about the climate. I mentioned this issue again in my update on the Money Rebellion last week and what really makes me angry is that  financial firms like Blackrock sign up to global agreements …

Things we’re reading today include … Ethereum punches through $3,000 with market cap bigger than Bank of America Central Bank-Issued Digital Coins Seen Co-Existing With Bitcoin Digital Dollar Project to launch five U.S. central bank digital currency pilots UK banks’ support for coal industry has …

It’s a bank holiday weekend, and I would normally switch off. But no. Like so many of us, I’m still watching the news, keeping up-to-speed on twitter and facebook, scanning my emails and getting links. One link led me to a documentary on YouTube. It …

Things we’re reading today include … Why is a bank holiday called a bank holiday? Does the Monzo generation need private banking? Bank of England: Britain’s economy is recovering from Covid recession faster than expected Europe’s largest banks plan joint attack on US payments giants …

This week’s main blog discussions include … The tectonic movement from paper to data The Cryptowolf is here … or is it a cryptodog? April 20 was Dogecoin day. Did you notice? Retweet if you are ready for #DogeDay pic.twitter.com/z00Wm7pE96 — DogeCoinResearch (@dogeresearch) April 19, …

Money Rebellion I’m finding the world a bit surreal – is it just me? Locked down for a year; totalitarian states; governments attacking people; governments killing people; black lives matter; wars rising; tensions rising; demonstrations on the streets; no concerts, entertainment or hospitality … the …

Things we’re reading today include … Which banks are winning the current account switching war? Deutsche Bank’s work from home rule has a serious loophole All charges dropped against Danske Bank chiefs NatWest reports bumper profits – but money laundering scandal casts cloud over costs …

I found this article from The Asia Times interesting. It discusses the idea that China is trying to displace the US dollar as a reserve currency. Difficult. The US dollar represents over 60 percent of all currency reserves around the world. For more, check Wikipedia The …

Things we’re reading today include: European Investment Bank Issues $121M Digital Notes Using Ethereum Bank loans create 700 times more emissions than offices: Study High street bank starting 43 pop-up branches across the UK Covid-19 security challenges leave bank customers at risk Deutsche Bank outshines …

I find it interesting to watch behaviours online. For example, I sometimes get an email saying, “please take John Doe off your subscriber list”. I’m sitting there saying just unsubscribe. There’s a link on the distribution email clearly saying unsubscribe here. How come they don’t …

Things we’re reading today include … OakNorth Bank grows from AWS infrastructure-as-code Digital bank Current triples valuation in five months to $2.2 billion after Andreessen takes stake ‘This bank has changed people’s lives’ The likely impact of central bank digital currencies on quantitative easing HSBC …

Building on yesterday’s blog, it’s an interesting moment in time. The old world structures reject cryptocurrencies whilst the new world structures accept them en masse. This was typified for me by a couple of headlines the other day: UK Bank NatWest Bars Businesses That Accept …

Things we’re reading today include: Over 50% of UK customers find bank’s digital experience lacking, research reveals FICO Finds 41% Of North Americans Would Rather Open a Digital Bank Account Than Visit a Branch Atom Bank’s Mark Mullen: Startups are hard, but ‘a lot less …

The Cryptowolf is here … or is it a cryptodog? April 20 was Dogecoin day. Did you notice? Retweet if you are ready for #DogeDay pic.twitter.com/z00Wm7pE96 — DogeCoinResearch (@dogeresearch) April 19, 2021 Probably not and it’s why I’m feeling there is a seismic change taking …

Things we’re reading today include … How Has Open Banking Evolved And Do Customers Trust It? Spanish banking sector reels as thousands let go Commonwealth Bank plagued by Monday morning outage Challenging the Challenger Banks: New NA Challengers That Survived the Pandemic Credit Suisse’s $5.5 …

I’ve always watched the Oscars and heard that the celebs get a bag of high value goodies worth lots, and wondered: what’s in the bag of goodies? So I was interested when I received a press release detailing what’s in an Oscars’ bag. It came …

This week’s main blog stories include … Oh no! It’s Bankenstein … For years, we’ve talked about banks having a spaghetti systems structure aligned to a line of business product-centric organisation, that focuses upon the internal sales process rather than the customer. It’s true, but …

Building on my AML – or is that MAL? – blog, I was thinking about the cost of compliance and all of those 1000’s of people working in such functions. Then I was thinking that they are completely ineffective. I always remember presenting to a …

Things we’re reading today include … HSBC introduces recycled plastic cards for greener banking JPMorgan faces reputation ‘cleanup’ ahead of UK digital bank launch  JPMorgan analyst suggests Credit Suisse close investment bank Challenger Metro Bank targets $3 billion in consumer finance Forget the Piggy Bank, …

I was talking with an AML guy this morning. That’s anti-money laundering, for those unfamiliar. AML. Might as well call it MAL, as in the French word mal, as AML is bad. It’s really bad. It doesn’t work. So, why bother? Well, banks have to …

Things we’re reading today include … UK Bank NatWest Bars Businesses That Accept Crypto Signature Bank Goes Head-to-Head With Silvergate in Bitcoin-Backed Lending ING scraps interest on savings over €250,000 Bank of Canada Becomes First to Signal Exit From Stimulus Bank of England supports fintechs …

For years, we’ve talked about banks having a spaghetti systems structure aligned to a line of business product-centric organisation, that focuses upon the internal sales process rather than the customer. It’s true, but it’s due to the longevity of many banks. Some banks are over …