The Finanser’s Week: 24th November – 30th November 2014

Our biggest stories of the past week are ...

Card companies are more social than banks

I often talk about how our work-life balance has disappeared and that we now have just a tech-life balance.  Social and professional have merged.  What was personal is now shared, and things that would usually be private are now public.

Take the test: does your bank think like a traditional bank or a digital bank?

One of the things that is quite clear is that, as we move into a sharing economy, the role of banks is changing.  Banks historically focused upon profit and trade, but they now need to also focus upon community and dialogue.  It is no longer good enough to purely focus upon commerce at the expense of community.

It's a brave new world (not just for banks)

Following on from yesterday’s blog about traditional bank thinking versus digital bank views, there are three slides I use in my presentations that illustrate this big change.  This is the change in banks moving from being trade focused to community focused.

Dare to dream and be unashamed by failure ... in banking?

In Boston I was honoured to be invited to deliver the keynote to my law firm sponsors, Goodwin Procter, at their third annual banking symposium.  The audience comprised mainly community banks, and the discussions comprised panels debating the key issues we all deal with every day: regulation, innovation and demanding customers who needs are changing continually thanks to technology.  The day finished with an excellent keynote from Whitney Johnson. 

Do banks really need to change?

One of the comments that floated on the network in the last week was: banks can ignore digital.  That made me sit up and take notice and so I asked the person, a banker, what they meant.  Their explanation was interesting and went something like this:

 

The major general news stories of the past week include ...  

Technology makes thousands of front- and back-office bank jobs extinct - Computer Weekly
Bank employee numbers are falling by the thousand, as modern IT automates previously manual processes. This week Dutch bank ING announced almost 3,000 job cuts in its IT department, back office and callcentres.

'Britain's FBI' probes corrupt use of UK shell companies in £13bn laundering scam - The Independent
The National Crime Agency – dubbed Britain’s version of the FBI – has begun an inquiry into the UK end of a $20bn (£13bn) money-laundering scam revealed by The Independent involving some 19 British shell companies.

Bob Diamond: I have opportunities not seen for 30 years - The Telegraph
Former Barclays boss says he is looking at snapping up banking assets as large lenders shrink

Botin ousts Santander chief executive - BBC
Ana Botin has moved swiftly to reshape Santander, ousting its chief executive after less than two years in the role.

Britain's credit card addiction: in four scary charts - The Telegraph
As the Financial Conduct Authority opens a study into the credit card market, we look at how the UK has created a credit card debt mountain

Deloitte to probe Bank payment systems collapse - The Telegraph
Bank of England announces terms of independent review into CHAPS payment system going down for hours last month

RBS 'wanted critic's mortgage back' - BBC
A businessman who wrote a government report that criticised RBS has been told he can no longer remain a customer of the bank, Panorama learns.

Bank customer locked inside Metro Bank branch for FIVE hours - The Mirror
A bank customer was trapped in a branch for nearly five hours when he found himself locked in as he withdrew cash from a machine. The man entered Metrobank's Uxbridge branch in Middlesex at 6am but after taking out his money the door locked behind him and he was marooned.

RBS apologises for misleading Treasury Select Committee - The Independent
Royal Bank of Scotland has been forced to issue a grovelling apology for “incorrect” evidence given by two of its senior employees at a parliamentary committee hearing earlier this year.

New computer spying bug discovered - BBC
Computer security firm Symantec discovers what it says is one of the most sophisticated pieces of malicious software ever seen.

 

If you like the Finanser, buy Chris Skinner's latest book: Digital Bank

 

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