Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
We had our second meeting of the Nordic Financial Services Club in Oslo last week. I’ll write up some of this later this week, but wanted to begin with some history. Not some history of the Financial Services Club, but some history of the Nordic region. This is because, by coincidence, I happened to pop into the Viking exhibition at the British Museum yesterday.
Nordea's use of Facebook and social media to engage their customer
I really enjoyed the presentations in Oslo, particularly the case studies. Nordea spoke about their experiences with social media usage. This, in itself, is fascinating as just a few years ago no bank spoke about social media in finance. Now, I am building case studies about how banks see this as both a customer service channel, and a platform for full deposit account usage (mBank and ICICI).
Digital wallets will process all the money on earth by 2025
Another presentation that surprised me in Oslo came from Tor Jacobsen, CEO of TSM Nordic. It surprised me as I had no idea about TSM, a mobile wallet provider owned by Telenor and DNB – Norway’s biggest mobile network operator (MNO) and biggest bank – and will launch in the Norwegian market later this year under the brand name ValYou.
The Ambassador, Embassy, Ferroro-Rocher and a Banker
As mentioned, we had our first meeting of the Financial Services Club in Oslo last week, and a fine affair it was. The most impressive aspect of the meeting being the palatial surroundings of the British Ambassador's Residence in Oslo, formerly owned by a banker!
Angry Birds – the future of banking
Every now and again we have a friend provide a guest post. Today's guest post is from Chris Dunne, Payment Services Director, VocaLink: Many of us have been enthusiastic participants in the destruction of well-known businesses over the past few years as we move from buying physical goods in physical stores (books from Waterstones) to digital goods in digital stores (e-books from Amazon), and it doesn’t take a genius to see that banking is heading the same way.
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
The whistleblowing banker: The Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank lifts the lid on his country's endemic corruption - The Independent
When $20bn (£12bn) goes missing, it is no minor matter.
How your mobile is about to replace your wallet - The Telegraph
Future finance: A sneak preview of how you will all be paying in 10 years' time
Silicon Valley wires a fortune to UK start-up - The Independent
A Silicon Valley investor in the likes of Facebook and Spotify has put $20m (£12m) into a UK start-up it thinks can fill the gap left by banks in the international money transfer market.
Bank of England's Paul Fisher: 'It's not our job to go hunting for market wrongdoing' - The Independent
Mark Carney has pledged a “root and branch” review of the Bank of England’s intelligence-gathering capabilities - including the creation of a new deputy governor position - after the central bank was sucked into the foreign exchange fixing scandal.
Mark Carney: RBS could leave independent Scotland - The Telegraph
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says it would be a "distinct possibility" that RBS would have to move its headquarters to England, if Scotland becomes independent but remains part of the EU
Bitcoin community donates £16,400 to model train enthusiast wrongly identified as reclusive creator - The Telegraph
The Bitcoin community has raised £16,400 in donations for the 64-year-old man who denies Newsweek's claim that he is the digital currency's mysterious founder, to help "say sorry for the mess"
UK Payments Council Details New Paym Mobile Payments Service - Glenbrook Payments News
The UK Payments Council has announced that its new secure way for consumers to pay using just a mobile number will be called Paym [pronounced “Pay Em”] and has released the brand's logo as well. According to the press release, "final testing for Paym is on track and the launch
Co-op Bank’s board was ‘like the UN’ - The Independent
The Co-operative Bank was run by a board so unwieldly that looked like corporate equivalent of the United Nations, at least according to the people who sat on it.
Bank's bad position justifies executive bonuses, Co-op - Channel 4 News
Co-op bank will fire 500,000 workers and lose an estimated £2bn this year, but the bank's bad position justifies giving its management team more cash than last year, says an internal document.
M&S 'threatens high street banks' with new free account - The Telegraph
M&S Bank is to launch its first fee-free current account, which comes with a £100 M&S gift card for those who switch.
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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...
