This week’s main blog notes include … Do we have a work-life balance anymore? What is work-life balance these days?  I accidentally on purpose started an interesting debate on LinkedIn. It began because someone posted on LinkedIn how proud they were of celebrating their sixteenth wedding anniversary, with photos of their wedding …

What is work-life balance these days?  I accidentally on purpose started an interesting debate on LinkedIn. It began because someone posted on LinkedIn how proud they were of celebrating their sixteenth wedding anniversary, with photos of their wedding from 1995, and tagging a load of people.   I found it annoying. I …

Things we’re reading today include … Jack Ma’s Ant forced into arms of banks he once dubbed ‘pawnshops’ What central bank digital currencies mean for crypto Ripple Pilots Private Ledger for Central Bank Digital Currencies The Future of Money Is Digital, But Is It Bitcoin? Modular Banking: Building The Future …

Yesterday I asked Is there Life on Mars as a tribute to my hero David Bowie. I originally titled that blog entry: Is there Life on Mars? No but there will be a bank there soon … as that blog made me realise that we are rapidly moving to being …

Things we’re reading today include … ‘I was conned out of £230,000 and my bank could only recover 5p’ First ever UK infrastructure investment bank to open in Leeds with £12bn, Rishi Sunak announces in Budget 2021 UK announces £40bn of green investment from new ‘infrastructure bank’ Bank of England …

Twenty years ago, I remember being impressed when the late, great David Bowie launched a bank. Admittedly it was backed by USA Bankshares, a proper bank, but the idea of celebrity-branded banks was expected to become a thing. Funnily enough, it hasn’t (unless you count Will.i.am and Atom) yet, nevertheless, …

Things we’re reading today include … What would Google do to reboot banking? Square closes up nearly 5% after Jack Dorsey’s company launches its own bank Citi marks a quiet transition as Fraser takes the reins Central banks don’t have to pick winners and losers to fight climate change What …

… “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” Arthur C. Clarke This quote has stayed with me throughout my life. Every time there is a new technology, we start with seeing it with awe and wonder then, within a few months, we view it as part of the fabric …

Things we’re reading today include … What would Google do to reboot banking? Pandemic pressures push US banks towards consolidation Square’s in-house bank kicks off operations India’s Central Bank Sees Pros and Cons With National Digital Currency Why central banks love printing money Coutts, the bank to rely on in …

I spotted two updates recently. The first is the half a billion dollar mistake at Citigroup. The second is how Amazon created Amazon Web Services (AWS). The two pieces go hand-in-hand. First, how could Citigroup make a billion dollar mistake? User Interface. The mistake was made by a worker in …

Things we’re reading today include: Walmart Lures Goldman Bankers in Bid to Fight Wall Street Japan’s Mizuho Bank continues to face ATM system glitch Why Nigeria is a global leader in Bitcoin trade Nigeria central bank governor defends digital currency ban Bitcoin hopes are based on a misunderstanding of how …

This week’s main blog notes include … Banks waste billions on digital How much money is wasted by banks on digital? I wonder whether, one day, anyone will work out how much money has been wasted by banks on digital technologies. Various reports reckon that banks spend anything from half …

I blogged the other day about Singapore-on-the-Thames in anticipation of the Kalifa Review of UK FinTech. Today, the review is released so, here it is:  Executive Summary Over the past decade, the UK has been quietly undergoing a fintech revolution – in jobs, innovation, improvements to people’s lives and …

This is the tenth in a series of blogs about the elephant, which represents the economy, and the bird, which represents the future.   Spring is in the air. The clocks are jumping forward, and vaccines are being given everywhere. We feel we are coming through the end of this dark tunnel …

Things we’re reading today include … Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the ‘new normal’ U.S. bank regulators say pandemic drove up risk in leveraged lending Bank of America reduces staff in investment banking and trading UK’s Atom Bank Raises £40 Million In Plan For Initial Public …