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
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...