The main blog headlines are …
A regular discussion of mine has resurfaced in recent days: is the branch dead? Why it has returned is due to the announcement of Santander closing a fifth of its UK branch network: The Spanish-owned bank, which has one of the largest high street networks in Britain, …
Why banks should stop closing branches
I wrote my blog about the bank branch being dead the other day, just as a new report called for banks to stop trying to be cashless and branchless because it harms society. This is from the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, …
The next global financial meltdown is just around the corner
Yep, there’s a clickbaiting title if ever I saw one. But it seems to be true. Ten years ago, we had a global financial crisis. Now, ten years later, the banks are heavily regulated, their risk-capital ratios stabilised, their leverage reduced and the regulators breathing …
Oliver Wyman recommend banks don’t try to be digital? What rubbish!
There was quite a bit of coverage of an analyst report last week, putting forward the notion that big banks should forget converting the existing organisation, systems and structures, and start over. This one is from Oliver Wyman and, for me, it goes straight into the …
EQ Bank, Canada: a customer-obsessed bank
A few years ago, I was invited to talk with Equitable Bank in Canada about digital banking. Since then, they’ve launched their digital bank called EQ Bank. So I was pleased when Simon Wahl, who heads up marketing at Flinks, sent me a podcast interview …
And the top news headlines this week are …
Wirecard: inside an accounting scandal - Financial Times
A preliminary report by a top law firm has unveiled a pattern of suspected book-padding across the group’s Asian operations
How much Australia’s banking and finance CEOs earn - News Australia
NAB boss Andrew Thorburn made headlines for saying it was “unfair” he couldn’t take two months off. Is his enormous pay packet fair?
Don’t bank on Google Bank, bank on banks becoming Google-like - Computer Weekly
After three years working at Google in what he described as being “in the kitchen of a master chef” for a software engineer, former Google tech lead Paul Taylor is now serving up the fruits of his learnings to the banking secto
An Amazon Checking Account Could Displace $100 Billion In Bank Deposits (But It Won't) - Forbes
There's a lot of talk these days about the possibility and probability of Amazon getting into banking: “Amazon is under pressure to keep increasing revenue, and financial services is a large pool they can go after.” — Asheet Mehta, McKinsey
Programmer finds ridiculous ATM loophole that let him withdraw $1 million in cash - The Verge
The South China Morning Post and China’s Daily Economic News report that 43-year-old Qin Qisheng managed to withdraw over 7 million yuan (upwards of $1 million USD) from ATMs operated by his employer, Huaxia Bank — all by exploiting a crazy loophole.
Tedious Service Bulletin: No prizes for guessing which UK bank's services are DOWN for business users - The Register
Totally Shocked Businesses have faced a morning without access to their online accounts following yet another IT meltdown at embattled TSB. It follows a terrible 2018 for the bank that started in April with a week-long outage
Millions in cryptocurrencies frozen after Canadian founder's death - Reuters
About C$180 million ($137.21 million) in cryptocurrencies have been frozen in the user accounts of Canadian digital platform Quadriga after the founder, the only person with the password to gain access, died suddenly in December.
Barclays bosses pressured by Qatar to mask Gulf state PM’s holding, court told - Guardian
Prosecutors for Serious Fraud Office present internal emails and phone calls to jury Barclays bosses were put under pressure by Qatari officials to mask the Gulf state prime minister’s holding in the UK bank as it rushed to close a multibillion-pound rescue package that would help the bank avoid a
Banks discriminating against older savers who rely on branches - The Telegraph
Goldman Sachs invests in HSBC-backed fintech app Bud - Reuters
Goldman Sachs is among the investors in a $20 million fundraising for financial technology firm Bud, the two companies said on Monday, the latest in a series of investments by big global banks seeking to partner with fintechs.
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...
