Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance

I saw a list on Facebook the other day about being old. It was a note that said: “How to tell when you’re an adult: you gain 30lbs overnight you’d rather sleep in than go out everything hurts comfort comes before style everything feels like …

Things we’re reading today include … Big banks score win as U.S. regulator proposes easing post-crisis derivatives rules ‘Banker to the stars’ Frédéric Levesque goes on trial in France Alexa, don’t tell me my bank balance Climate change could put insurance firms out of business …

I was recently asked by Volante Technologies to consider what being a digital bank means, specifically for a commercial bank and, even more specifically, the bank’s payments and treasury services. After all most of the focus on digital banking and digital payments has been in …

Things we’re reading today include … How long will Jamie Dimon’s magic touch last? Deutsche Bank is first to settle bond-rigging lawsuit, amid federal probe Hong Kong’s bourse seeks to snap up the London Stock Exchange Steven Mnuchin begins reforming America’s giant mortgage-guarantee firms Google …

For all the talk about how well FinTech start-ups are doing, I hear two regular laments from bank CEOs. First, why aren’t we valued like FinTechs? and second, why aren’t FinTechs regulated like us. On the first point, it’s quite clear that FinTech start-ups are …

The main blog headlines are … Elvis seen opening a bank account in Hawaii As it’s Friday, a slightly more whimsical post. I was amused to see a story floating around the internet yesterday that read like this: ‘Missing’ woman mystery solved A group of …

As it’s Friday, a slightly more whimsical post. I was amused to see a story floating around the internet yesterday that read like this: ‘Missing’ woman mystery solved A group of tourists spent hours Saturday night looking for a missing woman near Iceland’s Eldgja canyon, …

Things we’re reading today include … Deutsche Bank is first to settle bond-rigging lawsuit, amid federal probe Hong Kong’s bourse seeks to snap up the London Stock Exchange Steven Mnuchin begins reforming America’s giant mortgage-guarantee firms Google to pay €1bn to end French tax probe …

I hear this a lot, and don’t like it. Many banks say it these days, and they say it to be cool. To be like a start-up. To be like a Silicon Valley angel investment firm. To be like a young, FinTech unicorn. However, there …

One of the key attributes of many of the firms I’ve talked to about doing digital transformation is that there are lay-offs but, whenever possible, these banks support people to change careers. Sure, there may be significant lay-offs if it is a heavily branch oriented …

Things we’re reading today include … Big banking profits should invite questions Banks hold £1.2 trillion of our savings Sunsetting Python 2 is a bit of an issue for banks like JPMorgan Banks allow customers to bank cheques made out to their middle names Banking …

I was talking with a senior banker, who told me that he was in charge of the Artificial Intelligence program in the bank. I was impressed as he is part of the executive leadership team of the bank and not the CIO. We have invested …

Things we’re reading today include … Why are people shopping online late at night? Eurofi: inside the think-tank at the heart of the EU Former PM’s Brexit negotiator joins Goldman Sachs Deutsche Börse’s Eurex makes fresh euro clearing push ahead of Brexit Bank of America’s …

I finally hit the nail on the head about why you can’t have money without government. It’s because you can create as open a system, complex a platform, distributed an idea, decentralised a currency as you want but, unlike most industries, without some form of …

Things we’re reading today include …. What’s Driving The Digital Banking Boom In Latin America Eurofi: inside the ‘think-tank’ at the heart of the EU KPMG predicts no-deal Brexit recession in 2020 Dorian industry insured losses seen in several billions of dollars: Munich Re Not …

The main blog headlines are … We just haven’t got a clue what to do! I was talking with a CXO of a bank. They are actively engaged in ‘going digital’, but she was sharing with me that the bank’s executive team had no idea …

I just spoke at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum, a Davos for the Russian world and beyond. Hosted by Vladimir Putin there were stellar guests attending including Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, as well as other world leaders …

Things we’re reading today include … A new digital bank is scooping up teenage customers before big banks get to them Smile-to-pay: Chinese shoppers turn to facial payment technology Names and phone numbers of 18m British Facebook users found online, prompting privacy watchdog probe UK …

Almost every day, there is an announcement of a new payments innovation. From the success of the likes of Klarna, Stripe and Square in retail payments to the growth of new payment mechanisms like Ripple and JPMorgan’s internal settlement engine, the JPM Coin and the …

Talking of diversity of views and strange conversations, I was in discussion with an American bank the other day and they asked me if Europe would survive this crisis. I thought they meant Brexit, and started waffling on about whiff-whaff and Boris Johnston but no, …

I was listening to questions at a meeting this week where one of the audience asked if I needed to adjust what I say on my travels, to suit the culture of different countries. I thought about it for a second, and realised that I …

I was talking with a CXO of a bank. They are actively engaged in ‘going digital’, but she was sharing with me that the bank’s executive team had no idea what going digital means. Being brutally honest, she told me she had no idea what …