Blog Index

This week’s main blog headlines are … Build or Buy or Build and Die? I was having a chat with a banking buddy who was expressing his frustration with the fact that their PSD2 developments were not going the way he wanted.  He had found a nice little FinTech start-up with a really neat Open…

This week’s main blog headlines are … The crazy world of crypto currencies and ICOs I’m boarding a flight yesterday and murfing (mobile surfing).  Flicking between Facebook apps, twitter, bank account, BBC news and more.  Suddenly I spot a new ICO – Initial Coin Offering – for a new bank.  From Wikipedia: “An initial coin offering (ICO)…

This week’s main blog headlines are … Digital banks are Copernicus banks (incumbents are with the Flat Earth society) Twenty years ago, I was working on re-engineering projects.  Most of the time I was getting exasperated because the banks wouldn’t take on the big projects, like the mortgage process, as it went across too many…

This week I’ve been mainly blogging about developments in Africa and China.  Thoughts on Dot Finance Africa … We need some education (but no thought control) I often think we need a reality check when it comes to digital finance.  Many of the pundit analysts and influencers out there believe no one needs a branch…

This week’s main blog headlines are … Should I buy some bitcoin now? I’m being asked this a lot as the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have increased ten-fold in the past few weeks.  Good for those who have some.  Bemusing for those who don’t.  There are a range of factors driving the rise…

This week’s major updates on the Finanser … What banks can learn from Wal-Mart I picked up Bloomberg Business Week at the airport this week, attracted by the cover. Wal-Mart have issues with the digital revolution.  Amazon is stealing their lunch, literally, and they’ve been struggling for years to work out what to do about it. …

This week’s main blog headlines are … The legacy clock is ticking Further to my recent trip to Pakistan Business Recorder (their version of The Financial Times) interviewed me in depth about what is happening in FinTech.  Here’s what they published: ‘The clock is ticking for Pakistan’s legacy banks,’ Chris Skinner, global fintech expert An independent commentator on financial…

A summary of the main blogs of the week … Frictionless Finance with FinTech Larry Summers, former director of the National Economic Council for President Barack Obama, writes a regular column in The Financial Times.  His latest piece is his take on FinTech, which has the main headline that FinTech is taking away frictions in finance. …

This week’s main blog headlines are … Why organisations resist innovation One of my good friends at 11FS referenced Conway’s Law the other day.  I wondered what it was, as I know Moore’s Law and the Law of Diminishing Returns in economics, but Conway’s Law?  What’s that? It’s a thesis created by Melvin E. Conway,…

A summary of the main blogs of the week … Arguing with a banker … A banker and I were talking about the function of a bank.  He gave me the classic view: “A bank is there to take people’s money and lend it out at a profit, whilst ensuring the risk of non-payment is…