The Finanser’s Week: 2nd May – 8th May 2016

Our main stories of this week includes …

20% of Europeans would bank with Google, Facebook or Amazon

I got an interesting research report this week about consumer attitudes towards banks in Europe: More than a third of European consumers would move bank if they didn’t offer up-to-date technology to aid interaction Nearly a third are already embracing mobile payments, while a fifth …

Principles of The Reimagined Bank

So there are some clear lessons we can learn as base foundation principles when reimagining banking for the 21st century: Everything is peer-to-peer networked It’s all in real-time globally Commerce is not just person-to-person but more machine-to-machine We are looking at the exchange of value …

How peer-to-peer changes the financial world

Another factor of reimagining finance for the internet age is the very nature of person-to-person connectivity and peer-to-peer networking.  These two factors are very different and also different in the nature of how people are connecting.  In the developed world, we have the viral connectivity …

 

This week’s major headlines include …

Zimbabwe to print US dollar equivalent - BBC
Zimbabwe is set to print its own version of the US dollar in order to ease severe cash shortages in the country.

Financial services braced for automation - Financial Times
Silicon Valley innovation set to replace antiquated practices, from loan applications to collecting customer data

Bangladesh Bank officials say to meet NY Fed, SWIFT; seek to recover stolen money - Reuters
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's central bank chief will meet the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a senior executive from global financial messaging service SWIFT next week to seek the recovery of about $81 million stolen by hackers, officials in Dhaka said.

The battle over the future of bitcoin - Guardian
Billed as the future of democratized, digital money, the currency is now at the center of a conflict over how to develop technologies behind the system The bitcoin world this week learned its absentee father might be Craig Wright , an Australian entrepreneur with nice suits and well-combed hair who

Barclays offers 0% deposit mortgage to home buyers - Guardian
British high street bank increases the multiple of earnings against which people can borrow on its ‘family springboard’ mortgage The no-deposit mortgage has returned, with Barclays removing the need for buyers to put down any deposit when buying a home using its “family springboard” mortgage. The deal had previously allowed

Wonga's losses expected to double to £70m for 2015 - Guardian
Payday lender suffers slump in revenues as City watchdog imposes tougher regulations Wonga’s losses are expected to almost double after a slump in revenues at the payday lender following price caps imposed by the City regulator. The results, due to be announced on Wednesday, appear to raise questions about the

Feud between families started violent brawl at Barclays bank in Ipswich town centre - Ipswich Star
Customers at an Ipswich town centre bank locked themselves in offices during a violent brawl between two groups of men from rival Romanian families, a court has heard.

Driverless cars to dent insurance industry, warns Volvo chief - Guardian
Håkan Samuelsson says research suggests an 80% fall in crashes by 2035 which could put motor insurers and premiums at risk It is predicted that driverless cars will prevent the vast majority of crashes and dramatically reduce the cost of insuring a car, according to industry experts. Volvo’s chief executive

HSBC reports 14% fall in profits - BBC
Banking giant HSBC posts a 14% drop in profits for the first quarter, citing "challenging market conditions".

Australian Craig Wright claims he is bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto - Guardian
The 45-year-old IT and security consultant has reportedly provided evidence to the BBC supporting his claim that he is the inventor of the cryptocurrency Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has identified himself as Satoshi Nakamato, the pseudonymous creator of the digital currency bitcoin. Wright, who was named as the cryptocurrency’s founder