Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Blog Index

The Finanser’s Week: 14th June 2021- 20th June 2021

This week’s main blog discussions include … If you think Open Banking is where it’s at, think again As someone who has set up a number of small businesses, there are three major tasks that I hate: Doing the accounts Tax returns Invoices As the business owner, all I want to do is my job,…

The Finanser’s Week: 7th June 2021- 13th June 2021

This week’s main blogs include: Should banks have more technologists than Microsoft? I saw an interesting article about the Head of Technology at a major bank, let’s call it ABC Bank for the purposes of my column, and the article began by saying that this guy “commands a budget of $10 billion and a team of 40,000…

The Finanser’s Week: 31st May 2021- 6th June 2021

This week’s main blog updates include … What currency will you be using in 2121? Having watched the emergence of cryptocurrencies, digital currencies, blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) for a decade, I have made a firm view. Most of the people involved in this space are deluded and naïve; most of the people involved…

The Finanser’s Week: 24th May 2021- 30th May 2021

The main blog discussions this week include … We are the Robots I’ve claimed for some time that machines cannot do what humans do, because they have no heart. They purely do what we program them to do. True. Yet if you watch movies from Ex Machina to Terminator, machines can turn to do what…

The Finanser’s Week: 17th May 2021- 23rd May 2021

This week’s main blog discussions include … Who is BIG NUTS ASS? I woke up and, as usual, checked the banking app for any updates or changes. There was a payment received.  Quite a major payment. It came from BIG NUTS ASS*. BIG NUTS ASS*? Who is BIG NUTS ASS*? I have no idea. I…

The Finanser’s Week: 10th May 2021- 16th May 2021

This week’s main blog headlines include: Is new banking ten times (10x) better? Investment banking, Corporate banking, Commercial banking, Private banking and Retail banking are all very different. Too often, commentators just talk about ‘banking’. It’s not all the same. In fact, an awful lot of retail banking is propped up by investment and commercial…

The Finanser’s Week: 3rd May 2021- 9th May 2021

This week’s main blog discussions include … You are ALL no better than the cleaner I watch the world and comment. Maybe I shouldn’t. This blog began as a blog about finance and technology and I rarely want to leave that space. But lockdown, the pandemic and more has made it more of a commentary…

The Finanser’s Week: 26th April 2021- 2nd May 2021

This week’s main blog discussions include … The tectonic movement from paper to data The Cryptowolf is here … or is it a cryptodog? April 20 was Dogecoin day. Did you notice? Retweet if you are ready for #DogeDay pic.twitter.com/z00Wm7pE96 — DogeCoinResearch (@dogeresearch) April 19, 2021 Probably not and it’s why I’m feeling there is…

The Finanser’s Week: 19th April 2021- 25th April 2021

This week’s main blog stories include … Oh no! It’s Bankenstein … For years, we’ve talked about banks having a spaghetti systems structure aligned to a line of business product-centric organisation, that focuses upon the internal sales process rather than the customer. It’s true, but it’s due to the longevity of many banks. Some banks…

The Finanser’s Week: 12th April 2021- 18th April 2021

This week’s main blog stories include … Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google … Coinbase? I was reflecting, which is dangerous. I was reflecting on my antipathy towards bitcoin as, like most bankers, it appeared to be a bit of a scam with no asset behind it. Then I woke up to what the libertarians have been…