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The Finanser’s Week: 20th July – 26th July 2015

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by
Invest Northern Ireland

This week's main stories are ...

Have banks made a fatal mistake with Apple Pay?

In the good old days, if something was big and challenging, banks would get together and create a co-operative to solve the problem. SWIFT, Visa and MasterCard were all bank created co-operatives.  Admittedly, times have changed, but how come they haven’t created a mobile wallet?  Why did they let Apple take over?

When everything is free, how do we make money?

I have this mantra in my presentations about payments.  Payments is being attacked by Fintech startups like Klarna, Square, Stripe, Alipay, PayPal (Venmo, Braintree) and more.  In fact, according to VentureScanner, it’s the second most active area for investors after lending (P2P and crowdfunding) ...

The History of the Credit Card [Infographic]

Bearing in mind that credit cards are about to disappear as mobile wallets take over, I thought it would be nice to share this infographic of the history of the credit card.

The Origins of Money is part of the DNA of Humankind

In most science fiction movies, there is no money.  The Hollywood visions of the future have wiped out the need for cash, and I’ve blogged before about Gene Roddenberry’s views on money in Star Trek:  “Money is a terrible thing”. 

The Finanser Interviews: Brock Pierce, Chairman, The Bitcoin Foundation

Following our regular weekly interview, the Finanser talks this week with recently elected Chairman of The Bitcoin Foundation, Brock Pierce.

 

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

The biggest companies in the world in 2015 - The Telegraph
The Fortune Global 500 has been released - the annual ranking of the largest companies in the world by revenues. Here is a list of the 20 biggest corporate money-makers

The big name banks losing the most customers - The Express
BANK giant Barclays is losing customers in their droves as more people vote with their feet and switch provider, according to figures released today.

Challenger banks Handelsbanken and Secure Trust report surge in profits as consumer confidence grows - The Telegraph
Banking bosses say the Conservative victory has helped to drive business in the growing sector

Barclays' next chief will have to work with a very hands-on chairman - The Independent
Were Barclays shareholders sighing “if only …” when they saw Bill Winters’ first big announcement as the chief executive of Standard Chartered? You could hardly blame them if they were. Officially the management shake-up he unveiled at the emerging markets-focused bank was about “simplification”. Aren’t they all? In reality it’s

Barclays was visited by City watchdog nearly 200 times last year - The Telegraph
Financial Conduct Authority figures show Barclays was visited more than twice as often as any other bank

Barclays insiders question scope for job cuts - The Telegraph
The bank is already in the middle of a 19,000 cull, with sources sceptical this could be expanded to 30,000

Greece debt crisis: The euro is a disaster even for the countries that do everything right - The Independent
The euro might be worse for you than bankruptcy.

Banks face 'uphill battle' to ringfence high street operations, expert warns - The Guardian
Ringfencing is to be implemented by 2019 but Bill Michael of KPMG says the complexities involved mean banks could struggle to meet deadline

Greece debt crisis: Hollande calls for a 'eurozone government' to further integrate member states – but what will it mean for Britain? - The Independent
The French President has lobbed a large boulder into negotiations on the future of Europe by calling for a full “eurozone government” with its own ministers, parliament and budget.

Barclays plans to cut more than 30,000 jobs: The Times - Reuters
(Reuters) - Barclays Plc plans to cut more than 30,000 jobs within two years after firing Chief Executive Antony Jenkins this month, The Times reported on Sunday.

 

If you like the Finanser, check out our latest book: Digital Bank

 

The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:

Invest Northern Ireland 

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Chris Skinner Author Avatar

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...

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