Welcome to The Finanser by Chris Skinner. The Finanser discusses all things fintech, finance, banking, technology and, most importantly, the future. Chris Skinner has been voted the most influential technologist in Britain and received a lifetime achievement award for his visionary approach to the future of money from the Payments Association. He has advised the…
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I heard a story the other day that Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank, purposefully raises the heat or lowers it in a room before a meeting. If she knows it’s hot, she dresses lightly; if she knows it’s cold, she wraps up. The thing is that the person she’s meeting doesn’t know…
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For years, one of fintech’s favourite hobbies has been complaining about regulation. Every new rule is another obstacle. Another compliance cost. Another reason why innovation was supposedly impossible. Startups would proudly describe themselves as moving fast and breaking things, while regulators were portrayed as the people standing in the way of progress. Then something interesting…
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I see a story about Revolut every day, several times a day. As one of the most remarkable success stories in modern banking, it’s not surprising. In just a decade, it has grown from a prepaid travel card into a financial super app serving tens of millions of customers across dozens of countries and a…
Read More
I find it fascinating that one of the most interesting debates about the future of money in Britain is no longer being driven by the Bank of England, the Treasury or economists. Instead, it has become a political issue, largely thanks to Nigel Farage (the man who received £5 million from a crypto donor). What…
Read More
For years, one of fintech’s favourite hobbies has been complaining about regulation. Every new rule is another obstacle. Another compliance cost. Another reason why innovation was supposedly impossible. Startups would proudly describe themselves as moving fast and breaking things, while regulators were portrayed as the people standing in the way of progress. Then something interesting…
Read MoreI see a story about Revolut every day, several times a day. As one of the most remarkable success stories in modern banking, it’s not surprising. In just a decade, it has grown from a prepaid travel card into a financial super app serving tens of millions of customers across dozens of countries and a…
Read MoreI’ve been meaning to write this for a while. I’ve finally got there, although my friend Dave Birch will probably roll his eyes at the density of buzzwords. Still, both ideas – AI-native banking and quantum computing – are no longer fringe. They sit squarely at the centre of fintech’s next wave of disruption. The…
Read More
Almost every innovation is met by people who believe it will destroy our ability to earn a living. The Luddites feared mechanisation. Clerks feared computers. Bank managers feared the internet. Taxi drivers feared ride-sharing apps. Retailers feared ecommerce. And now everyone fears AI. The latest prediction is that artificial intelligence will eliminate millions of jobs,…
Read More
Thirty years ago, a journalist laughed when I predicted that someone would one day make a payment from the top of Mount Everest. In 2013, it came true. Why am I thinking about this today? Because I am going somewhere that has a hidden secret. Going where? Uzbekistan. The hidden secret? Payme. Payme is one…
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For years, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) has sold itself as the future of finance: transparent, decentralised, unstoppable. Now one of the most respected security figures in crypto is saying: get out whilst you still can. Manuel Aráoz, co-founder of OpenZeppelin, believes AI has fundamentally changed the security equation in decentralised finance but his latest warning is…
Read More
For years, banks have been criticised for fraud. Today, a growing number of bankers are asking a different question: why are banks paying for fraud that originates elsewhere? Across the world, consumer groups, regulators, banks and campaigners are increasingly pointing to the same source of online scams: Meta’s platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. This is…
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The latest McKinsey Global Banking Annual Review paints a fascinating picture of modern banking and shows that the industry is both richer than ever and more threatened than ever. On the surface, everything looks fantastic. Global banking generated around $1.3 trillion in net income in 2025, making it one of the most profitable industries on…
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For years, the conversation around digital banks focused on whether they could survive. Today, the question is very different: what are they becoming? The latest results from Monzo, Revolut and Starling reveal something remarkable. These institutions are no longer niche challengers. They are profitable, growing rapidly, attracting millions of customers and, perhaps most importantly, becoming…
Read MoreFor years, one of fintech’s favourite hobbies has been complaining about regulation. Every new rule is another obstacle. Another compliance cost. Another reason why innovation was supposedly impossible. Startups would proudly describe themselves as moving fast and breaking things, while regulators were portrayed as the people standing in the way of progress. Then something interesting…
Read MoreI see a story about Revolut every day, several times a day. As one of the most remarkable success stories in modern banking, it’s not surprising. In just a decade, it has grown from a prepaid travel card into a financial super app serving tens of millions of customers across dozens of countries and a…
Read MoreI’ve been meaning to write this for a while. I’ve finally got there, although my friend Dave Birch will probably roll his eyes at the density of buzzwords. Still, both ideas – AI-native banking and quantum computing – are no longer fringe. They sit squarely at the centre of fintech’s next wave of disruption. The…
Read MoreAlmost every innovation is met by people who believe it will destroy our ability to earn a living. The Luddites feared mechanisation. Clerks feared computers. Bank managers feared the internet. Taxi drivers feared ride-sharing apps. Retailers feared ecommerce. And now everyone fears AI. The latest prediction is that artificial intelligence will eliminate millions of jobs,…
Read MoreThirty years ago, a journalist laughed when I predicted that someone would one day make a payment from the top of Mount Everest. In 2013, it came true. Why am I thinking about this today? Because I am going somewhere that has a hidden secret. Going where? Uzbekistan. The hidden secret? Payme. Payme is one…
Read MoreFor years, banks have been criticised for fraud. Today, a growing number of bankers are asking a different question: why are banks paying for fraud that originates elsewhere? Across the world, consumer groups, regulators, banks and campaigners are increasingly pointing to the same source of online scams: Meta’s platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. This is…
Read More
Barclays Bank wrote an article with the core message that tokenisation is moving finance from a world of messaging and reconciliation to a world of programmable, instantly settled value, which will be the most significant change to money since the arrival of electronic banking. They argue that tokenisation is the next major stage in the…
Read More
I’ve just launched another new book! After the successful launch of Intelligent Bank with Huawei a few weeks ago I had, in the meantime, developed another book: Diary of a Ponzi Scheme. The scheme is all about Clint who creates a “Token Fund”. Investing in digital currencies and real world asset tokens, he suckers friends, contacts and his network…
Read MoreThe latest McKinsey Global Banking Annual Review paints a fascinating picture of modern banking and shows that the industry is both richer than ever and more threatened than ever. On the surface, everything looks fantastic. Global banking generated around $1.3 trillion in net income in 2025, making it one of the most profitable industries on…
Read MoreI find it fascinating that one of the most interesting debates about the future of money in Britain is no longer being driven by the Bank of England, the Treasury or economists. Instead, it has become a political issue, largely thanks to Nigel Farage (the man who received £5 million from a crypto donor). What…
Read MoreFor years, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) has sold itself as the future of finance: transparent, decentralised, unstoppable. Now one of the most respected security figures in crypto is saying: get out whilst you still can. Manuel Aráoz, co-founder of OpenZeppelin, believes AI has fundamentally changed the security equation in decentralised finance but his latest warning is…
Read MoreBarclays Bank wrote an article with the core message that tokenisation is moving finance from a world of messaging and reconciliation to a world of programmable, instantly settled value, which will be the most significant change to money since the arrival of electronic banking. They argue that tokenisation is the next major stage in the…
Read MoreI’ve just launched another new book! After the successful launch of Intelligent Bank with Huawei a few weeks ago I had, in the meantime, developed another book: Diary of a Ponzi Scheme. The scheme is all about Clint who creates a “Token Fund”. Investing in digital currencies and real world asset tokens, he suckers friends, contacts and his network…
Read More
For the last twenty years, I have had many arguments with crypto advocates about Liberterian versus State governance. Now, the crypto guys are the government. During those years, people worried that politics would be captured by Wall Street, Big Oil or Big Tech, but the emerging power bloc is crypto money and artificial intelligence. These…
Read More
The European Central Bank just published a speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and, underneath all the central banker language, is a pretty simple message: stablecoins are starting to look less like a crypto experiment and more like a new form of private money. More importantly, because stablecoins are…
Read More
I spent the morning thinking about the bank of the future. It’s something I do every day. You could be simple and say that it’s embedded, invisible, everywhere, all the time. And that is true. But that is today’s bank, not tomorrows. I then have this debate about currencies. What currency do we believe in?…
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I just discovered that Ben McKenzie is taking the cryptocurrency industry head-on. Many of you will remember Ben from The O.C. but he’s now a little bit more serious. In fact, he wrote a book: Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud. Oh! That sounds a bit challenging, but why would an actor become an anti-crypto…
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The Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute (BISI) produced a document yesterday about the risk of cryptocurrency to democracy . Seriously? Cryptocurrency is a libertarian dream that gives all of us a democratic vote. What risk is there? Well, let’s dig into the detail as this is not about “innovation in payments” or “the future of…
Read MoreI see a story about Revolut every day, several times a day. As one of the most remarkable success stories in modern banking, it’s not surprising. In just a decade, it has grown from a prepaid travel card into a financial super app serving tens of millions of customers across dozens of countries and a…
Read MoreI was fascinated to pick up on an article in The Financial Times last week about LIBOR, the London Interbank Offered Rate. It got a bad vibe because the world discovered bankers were rigging the system but, ever since, we have been looking for a replacement. What is it? LIBOR is about a number. A single number…
Read MoreEvery conference I attend these days seems obsessed with the same question: how many jobs will AI destroy? It’s understandable. The headlines are dramatic and every week brings another announcement of a company replacing people with algorithms, yet I increasingly think we’re asking the wrong question as the bigger issue is not what happens when…
Read MoreBarclays Bank wrote an article with the core message that tokenisation is moving finance from a world of messaging and reconciliation to a world of programmable, instantly settled value, which will be the most significant change to money since the arrival of electronic banking. They argue that tokenisation is the next major stage in the…
Read MoreI’ve just launched another new book! After the successful launch of Intelligent Bank with Huawei a few weeks ago I had, in the meantime, developed another book: Diary of a Ponzi Scheme. The scheme is all about Clint who creates a “Token Fund”. Investing in digital currencies and real world asset tokens, he suckers friends, contacts and his network…
Read More
Deloitte just released a report of how an investment bank will look in 2030. Here is a quick summary: Deloitte’s vision of the “Bank of 2030” argues that investment banking is moving away from the traditional model where one giant institution does everything internally. Instead, the future bank becomes a far more connected, data-driven and…
Read MoreFor the last twenty years, I have had many arguments with crypto advocates about Liberterian versus State governance. Now, the crypto guys are the government. During those years, people worried that politics would be captured by Wall Street, Big Oil or Big Tech, but the emerging power bloc is crypto money and artificial intelligence. These…
Read MoreThe European Central Bank just published a speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and, underneath all the central banker language, is a pretty simple message: stablecoins are starting to look less like a crypto experiment and more like a new form of private money. More importantly, because stablecoins are…
Read More
I was thinking more about this third revolution of financial technologies. The first was very much focused upon automation administration using mainframe computing; the second moved from pure cost reduction to the changing dynamics of how to leverage productivity and cost using the network effects of connectivity, and driven by cloud and mobile; the third…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … European FinTech funding projections for 2026 took a hit after a 55% YoY drop in large deals Bank of England loosens crypto rules after Nigel Farage leads backlash Sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins, a report from the Bank of England Banking Modernization at Scale: A Conversation with Patrick Wright, National Australia…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Elon Musk predicts mass and energy will replace dollar: ‘Conventional money will no longer be relevant’ Meta weighs investing in Indian fintech Cred UK needs crypto special forces to stop Russia funding sabotage on British streets, expert warns UK banks asked to stress-test their systems against ‘plausible’ global recession…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … Why are people scared of AI? Almost every innovation is met by people who believe it will destroy our ability to earn a living. The Luddites feared mechanisation. Clerks feared computers. Bank managers feared the internet. Taxi drivers feared ride-sharing apps. Retailers feared ecommerce. And now everyone fears…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Farage trying to block ‘Britcoin’ plans that could be costly for billionaire donor Farage is still shilling for his crypto-billionaire benefator Brexit cost 6% of UK economy, Bank of England company data suggests Coinbase’s UK CEO on Crypto’s Next Growth Wave Microsoft discovers new lightweight backdoor that steals cryptocurrency…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … a16z crypto: The cryptocurrency industry has entered an era of ‘seeing is believing.’ EBA proposes simplification of EU bank capital stack How Swift is adapting to the changing payment ecosystem Biometric Authentication Challenges in Fintech and Banking What Zilch’s Fjord Bank Acquisition and Dame Clare Barclay’s Appointment Signal for…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … ‘We are not ready’: AI could trigger bank runs in seconds, lawmaker says Deep Pockets, Dirty Profits: How Banks and Investors Are Financing the Global Petrochemical Industry Ex-Citi executive says bank sacked her after raising Trump concerns Wero approaches British banks about UK expansion UK payment firms increase compliance…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … How the Iran war is impacting the cryptocurrency space Brexit’s True Toll on UK’s Fintech Sector and Why Labour’s ‘EU Reset’ Won’t Move the Needle Global crackdown exposes €336m crypto laundering linked to ransomware gangs EU instant payment rules: banks risk being left behind FinTechs should make regulation their…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Lloyds Bank speaks out over ‘completely incomprehensible’ change to customer accounts Lessons from Ireland’s Revolut revolution Britain’s banks see fraud cases spike after refund rules take effect Barclays to buy children’s debit card and money app GoHenry Bitcoin jumps to two-week high as US-Iran Hormuz deal boosts risk appetite…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … Why are people scared of AI? Almost every innovation is met by people who believe it will destroy our ability to earn a living. The Luddites feared mechanisation. Clerks feared computers. Bank managers feared the internet. Taxi drivers feared ride-sharing apps. Retailers feared ecommerce. And now everyone fears…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … Diary of a Ponzi Scheme and it’s all about tokenisation I’ve just launched another new book! After the successful launch of Intelligent Bank with Huawei a few weeks ago I had, in the meantime, developed another book: Diary of a Ponzi Scheme. The scheme is all about Clint who creates a “Token…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … Monzo, Revolut and Starling: the quiet emergence of Britain’s Banking Champions For years, the conversation around digital banks focused on whether they could survive. Today, the question is very different: what are they becoming? The latest results from Monzo, Revolut and Starling reveal something remarkable. These institutions are…
Read More
This week’s main blog discussions include … “Intelligent Bank” is officially launched I spent last week in China with Huawei. It was fantastic and, finally, it gave me the chance to announce and release my new book Intelligent Bank. Regular blog readers will know that I’ve been talking about this as the third fintech revolution but I…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … What banks are doing with AI The funny thing about AI in banking is that the headlines are completely wrong. Every week there’s another breathless prediction claiming that AI will “replace banks”, “eliminate core systems” or “create autonomous financial institutions”. Reading these articles, you would think that we…
Read MoreThis week’s blog discussions included … Everyone is lying to you about money I just discovered that Ben McKenzie is taking the cryptocurrency industry head-on. Many of you will remember Ben from The O.C. but he’s now a little bit more serious. In fact, he wrote a book: Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud. Oh!…
Read MoreThis week’s blog discussions included … Let’s be honest: retail banking is broken Over the past decade, the industry has aggressively optimised for cost and digital efficiency and, in doing so, it has quietly dismantled the human infrastructure that made banking work for millions of people. Start with the facts. In the UK alone, more…
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This week’s main discussions include … If people do not trust the system, they will not use it I just got the LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) Risk Intelligence report which makes clear that we have crossed a line. Fraud is no longer something that happens at the edges of the financial system. It has…
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This week’s main discussions include … Will global fintech banks destroy traditional banking? I was recently interviewed by the International Finance Magazine about Revolut getting their UK banking licence and what this means to banks in general. Here’s the discussion: With Revolut securing a UK banking licence after years of scrutiny, do you see this as part…
Read MoreThis week’s main discussions include … Did the regulator just admit that banking is a mess? I’ve just read the regulatory roadmap that the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority released this week and realised that it is less a neat plan and more a recognition that the current system is broken and we’ve run out of…
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