Blog Index

This week’s main discussions include … CBDC? Computer says no … I find it so interesting the debate about CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies), stablecoins (a digital currency backed by real world assets) and cryptocurrencies (a digital currency backed by the decentralised network of everyone). This is the biggest battleground for the future of how…

This week’s main discussions include … UK Gov needs to bring back the Fintech mojo Giving away one of my trade secrets, I asked ChatGPT to give me suggestions about what to blog about and it came up with seven things: 🚀 1. The Rise of Embedded Finance 2.0 How non-financial platforms are evolving from…

This week’s main blog discussions include … OK boomer! Mortgage by machines When I was a lad, to get a mortgage was a complex process. You would go to the bank for a meeting with the branch manager. The branch manager would assess you, your job security, work status and salary and, if all boxes…

This week’s main discussions include … Is crypto the solution or the problem? Paying with crypto is traceable but favoured by fraudsters. Is it the solution or the problem? Fraudsters never know how their action impacts their victim, until confronted by the person they’ve defrauded. Is crypto the solution? After all, unlike fiat currencies, all…

This week’s main discussions include … Key take-away from #SIBOS 2025: it’s no longer banking and payments Watching Sibos from afar – I haven’t been invited for a while due to being too provocative – I was not surprised to see that Quantum computing, AI, CBDCs, stablecoins, tokenization and blockchain are all making the headlines,…

This week’s main blog discussions include … Revolut opens its new HQ and takes over the world? I asked my friend Max, an early investor in Revolut, to provide an insight into the new headquarters the company opened this week in Canary Wharf, London. Revolut bought the building that was previosly the HQ of Thomson…

This week’s main discussions include … It is time to level up We are in a third generation of change in finance. When I wrote Digital Bank over a decade ago, the focus was all about reinventing banking from being physical at the core to being digital at the core. Now we have to do it…

This week’s main discussions include … Everything is a scam and why principles matter I clicked the other morning on Nicoo, the robot puppy, after seeing an ad on YouTube. I was going to order it for my wife’s birthday but thought, just before clicking, is this real? So, I go and Google Is Nicoo…

This week’s main discussions include … Will the upstarts replace the incumbents? Is it just me or has the whole digital currency space become hot, hot, hot? Every five minutes, I see stuff about CBDCs – who needs them?; cryptocurrencies – who’s using them?; and stablecoins – what’s that all about? The last one is…

This week’s main discussions include … Last century processes in the digital age I’ve just had two requests for notarised ID documents: one from my accountant and another from a bank. So, I went to the notary to get notarised and they said no. It reminds me of an Amy Winehouse song: I tried to…