Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance
The main blog headlines are …
I was having a breakfast meeting with a banking friend who had recently been through a tortuous experience. His start-up had been acquired by a major traditional bank, and it ended with blood on the floor. The start-up got squeezed into the Empire, and it …
SMEs are the FinTech’s bees knees
I write a lot about FinTech payments, lending, roboadvice and such like. But there’s been a strong bubbling trend underneath all this that has not gone unnoticed. I’ve just not blogged about it enough. SMALL BUSINESS FINANCE People talk a lot about finance for SMEs …
I’ve been finding it increasingly frustrating on my travels, thanks to one of my credit card companies. My travelling depends on two credit cards: a bank issued corporate MasterCard and American Express. The reason I carry these two is that the MasterCard works across Europe, …
The war for (banking tech) talent
I had an interesting discussion about hiring technology people into banks the other day. The challenge of finding top coders is a big one, as there’s an awful lot of other firms to join out there. You could join a hot FinTech unicorn like Monzo, …
When did FinTech become FinTech? When did technology in finance become cool? I guess the first thing is to define FinTech, which I did badly four years ago. I say badly because my definition back then was: FinTech [is] a new market that integrates finance
And the top news headlines this week are …
Next Bank of England governor must serve the whole of society – The Guardian
Applicants to be the next governor of the Bank of England are asked to commit to an eight-year term lasting until 2028. By then the world will be a very different place. Three key trends will shape their time in post.
‘Bad bank’ repays £50bn bailout loan – BBC
The ‘bad bank’ which runs loans granted by Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley before their financial crisis bailouts has repaid its £48.7bn taxpayer loan.
TV duo Ant and Dec ‘open their own bank’ – The Sun
TV duo Ant and Dec have opened their own bank after revealing it has been a “life-long dream” to work in the financial sector in a tongue-in-cheek ad.
Nigerian dictator’s £211 million seized from bank account in Channel Islands – Metro
Money to the value of £211,000,000 has been seized from a Jersey bank account that belonged to a former dictator.
Biggest banks brace for trillion pound losses triggered by climate breakdown – The Independent
Analysis of 215 of 500 largest corporations shows how business leaders expect global warming to hit every corner of world’s economy
UK financial regulator clamps down on peer-to-peer investment – Financial Times
Financial Conduct Authority to set limits for retail investors
A crypto Buffett lunch is on the cards. Poor Warren Buffett. – Financial Times
TFW you feel sorry for the third-richest person in the world.
Top banks push ahead with digital coins for 2020 – Financial Times
Move draws on four years of research into uses of crypto technology
Who needs coins? Now six-year-olds can spend pocket money on a card – The Guardian
Parents can use smartphone apps to load money on to prepaid cards which children can spend in shops with a tap It is not that long since pocket money was a handful of loose change handed over on a Saturday morning before being spent at great speed in the corner
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
