Our biggest stories of the week are ...
PayPal, Forrester, Deloitte & First Data research on mobile payments
A summary of research on mobile banking and payments conducted in the USA by Deloitte; the UK by PayPal and Forrester; and globally by First Data.
The Pope, EU and USA want a Tobin Tax ... surely it'll happen?
There’s been this thing called a Tobin Tax mooted for a while now. Before we get into the whole thing, what is the Tobin Tax? “A Tobin tax, suggested by Nobel Laureate economist James Tobin, was originally defined as a...
Life at the speed of a snail ...
Another lengthy chat about the speed, or lack of speed, in banking innovations. Right now we’re seeing this massive change in the end user devices for payments and access, with every mobile telephone on the planet becoming a contactless point...
I felt vaguely irritated today when an analyst from a major research firm was asked to position why NFC contactless payments haven’t taken off. He said they had analysed the worldwide global market for mobile payments, the demographics of takeup,...
Something far more frightening than Zombie Bankers
It’s 31st October and you know what that means? Halloween. Ghouls, ghosts and ghoulies abound. And yes, you find plenty of them in the financial system. First, there’s those fiendish Zombie Bankers: These are so popular, there’s even a movie…
The major general news stories of the week include ...
Greeks' worst fear is run on banks - Financial Times
Concern about Greek lenders are spreading beyond the country, say Greeks whose credit cards, issued in Athens, are being rejected abroad
Dr Rowan Williams backs it, but what exactly is a Tobin tax?
Lloyds chief executive António Horta-Osório takes break to recover from fatigue - The Telegraph
The turnaround of Lloyds bank has been thrown into turmoil after António Horta-Osório, the state-backed lender's chief executive, was forced to take a leave of absence due to 'extreme fatigue' after only months in the job.
Who is that on my banknote? - BBC
The historical portraits that appear on our banknotes
Stephen Hester, the chief executive of state-backed lender Royal Bank of Scotland, has reignited the row over bankers' bonuses, saying they were 'not the font of all evils'.
Banks' focus on measuring their performance in terms of return on equity has wrought the financial system, according to a senior former banker now sitting on the Bank of England's new Financial Policy Committee.
Barclays chief Bob Diamond is banking on a quick return to huge profits - The Telegraph
Pink Floyd can be a bit of a yawn. But they did come up with a little ditty about the chief executive of Barclays Bank - Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
Barclays' profits blasted as 'tricks' by City analysts - The Telegraph
City analysts turned on Barclays, accusing it of attempting to present an overly positive picture of its third-quarter performance.
Sarkozy says...Banks must end big payouts - The Independent
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has told French banks they must stop paying big bonuses and dividends.
Technology is key to keeping to new rules - Financial Times
Managing data well is central to the ability to comply with new regulations.
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Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
