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 don’t have a trading background and am not a mathematician, but just went down a rabbit hole. Somehow, someway, someone sent me a Fibonacci T-shirt and I went WTF? Thanks to the t-shirt I stumbled across the Fibonacci principles, and my world changed. What’s that all about? Well, let’s start with asking: Who was…
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Some years ago an elderly gentleman entered the lobby of one of Britain’s biggest banks demanding to talk to someone about the £5 million he had been given by David Cameron. A senior manager at the bank took the gentleman to a consultation room, and it turned out that the man had been notified of…
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I hate criticising other people’s work, but I do read some complete claptrap about the future. For example, I just got a report about the future of payments in 2040, that starts with a term Order-to-Cash cycle and then paints a scenario of someone buying an automated car. That was the first few paragraphs and,…
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I just ran across an item from 1994 written by Carmen Hermosillo talking about cyberspace, the internet and the future. It is quite something but TL:DR, so here are a few highlights: Introducing Humdog: Pandora’s Vox Redux (1994) “When I went into cyberspace I went into it thinking that it was a place like any…
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Some years ago an elderly gentleman entered the lobby of one of Britain’s biggest banks demanding to talk to someone about the £5 million he had been given by David Cameron. A senior manager at the bank took the gentleman to a consultation room, and it turned out that the man had been notified of…
Read MoreI hate criticising other people’s work, but I do read some complete claptrap about the future. For example, I just got a report about the future of payments in 2040, that starts with a term Order-to-Cash cycle and then paints a scenario of someone buying an automated car. That was the first few paragraphs and,…
Read MoreI just ran across an item from 1994 written by Carmen Hermosillo talking about cyberspace, the internet and the future. It is quite something but TL:DR, so here are a few highlights: Introducing Humdog: Pandora’s Vox Redux (1994) “When I went into cyberspace I went into it thinking that it was a place like any…
Read MoreAfter lots of discussions about how AI is transforming financial services as a new, foundational technology that has massive granularity of use cases, it doesn’t always work. In a very major public about face, Klarna says it doesn’t work. This is the company that saved millions by getting rid of two of five staff. Now,…
Read MoreJust continuing the AI theme, it’s really interesting to see what Stripe – latest valuation over $90 billion – is doing with the technology. Effectively, it’s tried to create a GPT for payments. The reason they are pushing the envelope is after seeing great results in earlier developments using traditional machine learning models. These resulted…
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We talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI which stands for Artificial General Intelligence. The thing is that these terms…
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It is notable that a few challenger neobanks are expanding footprint into telecoms, namely Revolut and N26. N26 joins Revolut in disrupting the telecommunications market The interesting thing here is that there have been many telco’s trying to move into banking – think Orange – and vice versa, but it rarely works. Orange checks out…
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I just attended two events – one fintech and one regulatory. The contrast could not have been more different. The fintech event was buzzing with activity and youth; the regulatory event was very serious and full of suits. It reminded me of my old days dodging between Money2020 and Sibos. The thing about the regulatory…
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As with all stages of constant change, there comes a moment of crisis. Many say that crisis means threat and opportunity based upon a Chinese legend. That legend is that crisis in China is a proverb which states that “crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind”. It’s very true. Riding the dangerous wind (骑着危险的狂风)…
Read MoreSome years ago an elderly gentleman entered the lobby of one of Britain’s biggest banks demanding to talk to someone about the £5 million he had been given by David Cameron. A senior manager at the bank took the gentleman to a consultation room, and it turned out that the man had been notified of…
Read MoreI just ran across an item from 1994 written by Carmen Hermosillo talking about cyberspace, the internet and the future. It is quite something but TL:DR, so here are a few highlights: Introducing Humdog: Pandora’s Vox Redux (1994) “When I went into cyberspace I went into it thinking that it was a place like any…
Read MoreThere’s a very interesting analysis of the cyber attacks on Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods on the BBC this week. If you have access to their iPlayer, then it’s well worth a watch: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002d2lh/inside-the-high-street-cyberattacks If you don’t, then here’s the summary as it illustrates our fragile digital world today. In April, Marks &…
Read MoreAfter lots of discussions about how AI is transforming financial services as a new, foundational technology that has massive granularity of use cases, it doesn’t always work. In a very major public about face, Klarna says it doesn’t work. This is the company that saved millions by getting rid of two of five staff. Now,…
Read MoreJust continuing the AI theme, it’s really interesting to see what Stripe – latest valuation over $90 billion – is doing with the technology. Effectively, it’s tried to create a GPT for payments. The reason they are pushing the envelope is after seeing great results in earlier developments using traditional machine learning models. These resulted…
Read More
I’ve followed Clara Durodié’s Decoding AI for some time. Decoding AI is a digital publication dedicated to AI in financial services and, in her most recent update, she delves deep into Trust, Ethics and the Rise of AI in Financial Services, which is my specialist subject of the moment. I won’t repost the whole article…
Read MoreWe talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI which stands for Artificial General Intelligence. The thing is that these terms…
Read MoreIt is notable that a few challenger neobanks are expanding footprint into telecoms, namely Revolut and N26. N26 joins Revolut in disrupting the telecommunications market The interesting thing here is that there have been many telco’s trying to move into banking – think Orange – and vice versa, but it rarely works. Orange checks out…
Read MoreI just attended two events – one fintech and one regulatory. The contrast could not have been more different. The fintech event was buzzing with activity and youth; the regulatory event was very serious and full of suits. It reminded me of my old days dodging between Money2020 and Sibos. The thing about the regulatory…
Read MoreThere’s a very interesting analysis of the cyber attacks on Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods on the BBC this week. If you have access to their iPlayer, then it’s well worth a watch: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002d2lh/inside-the-high-street-cyberattacks If you don’t, then here’s the summary as it illustrates our fragile digital world today. In April, Marks &…
Read MoreWe talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI which stands for Artificial General Intelligence. The thing is that these terms…
Read More
Whilst walking the dog, I’ve been entertained by a fascinating series of podcasts on BBC Sounds called Fool’s Gold. It tells the story of two detectorists – folks who search everywhere using metal detectors – who found gold dating back to the 8th century. Very rare gold. 300 or more coins plus some jewellery. It’s…
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Surfing as usual, I stumbled across a new report by Citi talking about Digital Dollars, and how banks and public sector would drive blockchain adoption. So, what does the digital dollar mean? Citi’s view is that “2025 has the potential to be blockchain’s ‘ChatGPT moment’ for adoption in the financial and public sectors. A supportive…
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There’s a brand new book on the block, which I wish I had written: who is Satoshi Nakamoto? It’s actually not called that. It’s called: The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto: A Fifteen-Year Quest to Unmask the Secret Genius Behind Crypto by Benjamin Wallace, but you get the idea. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin…
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I just downloaded the Chainalysis annual cryptocrime report and, as usual, it is fascinating. Ask almost any politician or banker about cryptocurrencies and they’ll say they all encourage crime except Donald Trump, but that’s because he is supposedly a criminal. Here is a synopsis of the report taken from their introduction: According to our metrics…
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Cryptoassets, smart contracts, stablecoins, tokenisation and the two different types of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) – retail CBDCs and wholesale CBDCs. The world of finance and technology is quite confusing. Add onto this AI, APIs, BNPL, blockchain (Layer 1 and Layer 2), DLT [distributed-ledger technology], machine learning and more, and you get the idea….
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Not sure if you noticed, but this week the U.S. Congress House Committee on Financial Services had a day investigating stablecoins, led by Chairman French Hill. The hearing was entitled ‘Navigating the Digital Payments Ecosystem: Examining a Federal Framework for Payment Stablecoins and Consequences of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency’ , and invited various…
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As many of you will have gathered, the next new book is all about Digital Trust in a Deep Fake World, coming out summer 2026 (I’m working on it now), so I was interested to see two fraud reports from by veriff, the AI-driven identity verification company, this morning. Released today, the reports show fraud…
Read MoreI hate criticising other people’s work, but I do read some complete claptrap about the future. For example, I just got a report about the future of payments in 2040, that starts with a term Order-to-Cash cycle and then paints a scenario of someone buying an automated car. That was the first few paragraphs and,…
Read MoreI just ran across an item from 1994 written by Carmen Hermosillo talking about cyberspace, the internet and the future. It is quite something but TL:DR, so here are a few highlights: Introducing Humdog: Pandora’s Vox Redux (1994) “When I went into cyberspace I went into it thinking that it was a place like any…
Read MoreWe talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI which stands for Artificial General Intelligence. The thing is that these terms…
Read More
Like the United States, Europe is trying to create a united region of cross-border trade that works. In America, this is 50 member states who work in a federated structure. My impression after the recent meeting on CRD VI (Capital Requirements Directive) is that Europe’s long-term aim is to achieve the same and, today, there…
Read MoreAs with all stages of constant change, there comes a moment of crisis. Many say that crisis means threat and opportunity based upon a Chinese legend. That legend is that crisis in China is a proverb which states that “crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind”. It’s very true. Riding the dangerous wind (骑着危险的狂风)…
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Having blogged yesterday about China leapfrogging the world of finance through AI, there are alternative views, particularly in the Big Tech world. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says AI generates ‘fantastic’ Python code, and that it now creates ‘maybe 20 – 30% of the code … in some of our projects’ In a fireside chat with…
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In a regular theme, there is a big question in my mind: what is the future of main street? Sure, Brits call it the High Street, but the more we digitalise, the less we need physical structures. Whether it be stores and shops or offices and companies, we all need to recognise that the world…
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I’m listening to a fascinating podcast from the BBC about Whisky Bandits. The scam is that you buy a cask of whisky for thousands of dollars, but the cask you bought does not exist. In other words, you just got a piece of paper saying that you own a cask or, in simpler terms, you…
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Every day there are more and more headlines about artificial intelligence (AI) AI and its impact on life, the world and the future. The latest one is a good one, which is AI is creating more jobs than replacing them! This comes from the World Economic Forum, whose latest report forecasts that, over the next five…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include: ‘The ultimate liberty’: how Nigel Farage became a cryptocurrency convert Cryptocurrency Seems Futuristic. The Crimes Around It Are Not. Citigroup’s EU hub becomes largest bank in Ireland HSBC moves to attract rich customers with ‘VIP experience’ Starling Bank: The rise and fall of a fintech darling What is happening with…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include: The $1tn shadow bank lending boom If stablecoins are banks, what’s a bank? Worldpay Teams Up With BVNK to Offer USDC Stablecoin Payouts Starling Bank profits hit by regulator fine, despite rising customer numbers Tink and Adyen Partner to Bring Pay by Bank to Vodafone Customers in Germany US FinTech…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … EBAday 2025: Building the banking ecosystems of the future UK fintech Starling’s profit tumbles as regulatory failings linger How Fintech’s Recruitment Crisis Is Breaking Candidates UK Fintech Giant Revolut Surges Amid Regulatory Challenges More than a dozen arrests over French cryptocurrency kidnapping plots How Trump will make the US…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Open Banking Transactions Dwarfed by Card Payments in UK Why Britain’s fintech dream is faltering NatWest Eyes Acquisitions, Wealth Management Growth As UK Bank Enters New Era The fundamental flaw at the heart of the Bank of England Global central banks talk harsh new economic realities in Tokyo China…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … How crypto is going to cause the next great financial crisis ‘Roadmap for corruption’: Trump dive into cryptocurrency raises ethics alarm Keep some cash under your mattress, says Dutch central bank Taxpayers set for £10bn loss on NatWest as disgraced ex-boss takes £600k-a-year pension London vs New York: Who…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … What economy would machines create? We talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Babies to be given $1k ‘Trump bank accounts’ Will Jamie Dimon build the first trillion-dollar bank? Fintech group launches industry-first ‘programmable money’ Big Banks Explore Venturing Into Crypto World Together With Joint Stablecoin NYC Mayor Goes Full Crypto With Council Launch and Tax Plan HSBC UK to slash bonuses…
Read MoreThings we’re reading today include … Bitcoin tops $110,000 for first time as US optimism lifts cryptocurrencies HMRC crackdown on anyone who buys or sells cryptocurrency – YorkshireLive Santander’s US Digital Banking Platform Gains 100,000 Customers Could your new bank branch be a community banking hub? ‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Major bank sounds alarm…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … What economy would machines create? We talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … The regulation versus innovation debate continues I just attended two events – one fintech and one regulatory. The contrast could not have been more different. The fintech event was buzzing with activity and youth; the regulatory event was very serious and full of suits. It reminded me of…
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This week’s main blog discussions include … How China’s banks and fintechs are using AI to leapfrog the world For quite a while, I have been amazed by China’s innovations in fintech from Ant to WeBank. My first visit to a Chinese bank in the 1990s, they were using Abacuses to calculate transactions; now they…
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This week’s main blog discussions include … What would you do if you lost a billion dollars? Whilst walking the dog, I’ve been entertained by a fascinating series of podcasts on BBC Sounds called Fool’s Gold. It tells the story of two detectorists – folks who search everywhere using metal detectors – who found gold…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … How bad is deep fake fraud? I’m listening to a fascinating podcast from the BBC about Whisky Bandits. The scam is that you buy a cask of whisky for thousands of dollars, but the cask you bought does not exist. In other words, you just got a piece…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … The issue with digital In my presentations these days are five key themes: the fintech revolution; cryptocurrency creation; distributed ledger technology; the AI world; and quantum disruption. I could add to the list – the metaverse, 6G+, robots, etc – but these are the top five in the…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … AI will create 170 million jobs while replacing 92 million … the question is: what jobs? Every day there are more and more headlines about artificial intelligence (AI) AI and its impact on life, the world and the future. The latest one is a good one, which is…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … #Stripe’s policy: by raising risk, you become risk (#RDR) On my LinkedIn stream, I’ve been getting more and more alerts about malpractices at Stripe. That surprises me as they are the poster child of fintech, so I investigated and found that most of my feed was being filled…
Read MoreThis week’s main blog discussions include … Bank IT outages … let’s talk about the bank systems Jenga I’ve been talking a lot about bank IT outages lately, as you can hear here on the BBC! Tech Life – Surviving digital banking outages – BBC Sounds Why? Because they are becoming more and more common and…
Read MoreThe main blog discussions this week include … Is the use of cash a fundamental human right? We are moving rapidly to a world without cash. In fact, the phrase war on cash was coined (coins?) by the card companies years ago. The aim was to get everyone moving to cards, not cash. It’s now…
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