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The Finanser’s Week: 18th February – 24th February 2019

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The main blog headlines are …

Technology is business

Another interesting nuance of the FinTech Bank is the integration of business and technology. I’ve referenced this a few times, but wanted to be explicit that these banks think technology is business and business is technology. This is clearly demonstrated in their microservices team structures …

When will Amazon launch its bank?

Name the company that strikes fear into everyone’s hearts in business? In the 1980s, it was IBM. You never get fired if you buy IBM, even though It’s a Bloody Mess. In the 1990s, it was Microsoft. Sure, Most Intelligent Creatures Realise Our Software Only …

AI wars

I’m just reading a new book recommended by a banking friend AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee, and the opening got me thinking. Kai-Fu refers to the Google AI machine AlphaGo that beat Ke Jie, the world’s best …

Are you in banking or technology?

I’ve had a lot of conversations with bankers and technologists, and realised something recently. That realisation is a simple but important one, and it is this: dealing with technology is very different to dealing with money; furthermore, dealing with money through technology is very different …

Is JPMCoin a cryptocurrency and what should SWIFT do about it?

It’s not often that the Twittersphere I watch lights up in deep conversation, but a long one started last week thanks to JP Morgan’s announcement of the JPM Coin. Here’s a decent piece of coverage on CNBC: (JPM Coin) will be one of the first …

 

And the top news headlines this week are …

HSBC banking head to quit months after scathing memo - Financial News

Robin Phillips, HSBC's co-head of global banking, is to step down less than five months after a group claiming to be made up of senior members of the company's investment bank launched a blistering attack on the City veteran.

Politicians must stand up for City after Brexit - Financial Times

One of the UK’s only competitive sectors is being thrown under a bus

The Biggest Threat To Banks Isn't Fintech Or Big Tech--It's The Government - Forbes

It wasn't that long ago that the banking pundits were predicting that fintech startups would put existing banks out of business. The Wall Street Journal headline Biggest Three Banks Gobble Up $2.4 Trillion in New Deposits Since Crisis squashed that delusion.

Metro Bank tops latest official bank service league table - Money Savings Expert

Metro Bank has topped the second official bank service league table – beating previous winner First Direct.

Move over neon Monzo, now there's a bank card that miaows - Wired

Over the past few years, challenger banks and fintech comapanies such as Monzo and Starling have been attracting attention with their innovative card design, but one UK startup has taken the trend for bank card innovation to its illogical conclusion with a debit card that miaows like a cat when you pay for something using contactless.

Do we need a global technology regulator for financial services? - Financial Times

Why fintech doesn't work without a set of global regulatory standards.

Mark Carney strikes note for  diversity with new £50 bill - The Telegraph

Banks could easily stumble over Brexit and buybacks - Guardian

Many lenders may report decent results this week. But this is no time for long-suffering shareholders to relax There is an old Lloyds Bank television commercial featuring those darlings of the 1980s sitcom, Jan Francis and Nigel Havers. Francis’s character has just bought a house from Havers and the ad

Tiger Global dumps Barclays stake in blow to Staley - Financial Times

New York hedge fund offloads $1bn stake as Barclays chief battles activist investor

Shareholders received record dividends of almost £100bn in 2018 - Guardian

But Brexit could take a bite out of future returns from UK-listed companies, says report UK-listed firms paid record dividends last year, thanks to rising profits, but a report warns that shareholder payouts could take a big hit if Brexit goes badly. Companies listed on the UK’s main market shelled

 

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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