A lot of discussion at the United Nations, where I’ve been all week (blogging about that next week), has raised the question of Libra, the Facebook digital currency. I’m avoiding calling it a cryptocurrency, as it’s more a stablecoin that is focused upon transactions, which is why it has Visa, …

It’s been interesting to watch the development of Facebook’s Libra project. As I expected, regulators hate it and are asking lots of questions about it. Most seem to want to ban it. And now PayPal has dropped out of the original founding team, with Visa and MasterCard rumoured to follow. …

I’ve blogged a few times about Facebook planning to launch a currency … Will Facebook become the world’s central bank? If Facebook launch a cryptocurrency, will US government shut it down? … and the fact that most regulators won’t like it. In fact, there are already questions being asked in …

I’m writing more and more about Facebook launching its own cryptocurrency lately: Will Facebook become the world’s central bank? (March 2019) Will a global platform connect all of our money? (April 2019) This is because they are getting serious about payments and blockchain, after a variety of reports that they …

The main blog headlines are … What does “innovation” mean in finance? I recently was invited to be the keynote at some innovation awards in Ireland. It got me thinking about what innovation means in finance, so here are the notes from my speech. I trust it’s useful …   …

The term The Internet of Things (IoT) was first used twenty years ago. Twenty years later, IoT is emerging rapidly. We have our cars and homes networked but, more than this, we have gadgets like Google Home, Siri and Alexa. Amazon has taken this even further with services like Key …

Things we’re reading today include … ‘I’m being jailed for four emails from 12 years ago’ HSBC to cut up to 10,000 jobs in drive to slash costs: FT Ex-Barclays executives face fraud trial over Qatar rescue Online wealth manager Nutmeg reveals widening losses Libra: PayPal first to drop out …

The main blog headlines are … Banks are product not customer focused I walked into a grocer’s store the other day. The store was resplendent with fruits of all colours and continents. There were red, yellow and green peppers; carrots, courgettes and cauliflowers; oranges, apples and bananas of both large …

Things we’re reading today include … Small banks must step up if they want to keep their small-business customers PayPal on the verge of quitting Facebook’s Libra project It has been a torrid week for Indian banks Wealth taxes have moved up the political agenda ‘I was scammed by a …

Things we’re reading today include … Visa, Mastercard reconsider backing Facebook’s Libra: WSJ Too big to lend? JPMorgan cash hit Fed limits, roiling U.S. repos ‘Depressing’ gender pay gap widens in fund management firms UBS economist reinstated after China ‘pig’ comments Credit Suisse rocked by suicide as spy scandal deepens  …

Things we’re reading today include … A new digital bank is scooping up teenage customers before big banks get to them Smile-to-pay: Chinese shoppers turn to facial payment technology Names and phone numbers of 18m British Facebook users found online, prompting privacy watchdog probe UK slips closer to recession as …

Almost every day, there is an announcement of a new payments innovation. From the success of the likes of Klarna, Stripe and Square in retail payments to the growth of new payment mechanisms like Ripple and JPMorgan’s internal settlement engine, the JPM Coin and the launch of digital currencies from …

I was listening to questions at a meeting this week where one of the audience asked if I needed to adjust what I say on my travels, to suit the culture of different countries. I thought about it for a second, and realised that I don’t. I do adjust the …

Things we’re reading today include … PIN the blame on us, says Monzo in mondo security blunder: Bank card codes stored in log files as plain text The new IMF chief should not be chosen by Europe alone | Amanda Khozi Mukwashi HSBC CEO Flint leaves abruptly after only 18 …

I have this debate often: Why governments will fail to block the emergence of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Can you have decentralised exchange without centralised control? Is the world being democratised through technology? How do governments regulate a networked world? A world without money A world without government? … and …