Blog Index

This week’s main blog discussions include … Why did HSBC dump their biggest corporate client? Talking about HSBC often drags me into political controversy. For example, when I criticised the bank for not making a stand over the Hong Kong protests, I got a lot of pushback. Frankly, I don’t like …

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 …

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 …

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; …

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 …

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*? …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

This week’s main blogs include … Another view: any start-up that challenges a bank will fail We talk a lot these days about neobanks, challenger banks, bank disrupters, bank disintermediation, banks will fail and such like. I have a contrarian view, for a change, and believe that any start-up that …

This week’s main blogs include … Venezuela replaces national currency with bitcoin In a fascinating move Venezuela, which has been a basket-case economy ever since Hugo Chavez died in 2013, has dropped their national currency (the bolivar) and any ties to the US dollar, and decided to link their national …

This week’s main blogs include … How China’s FinTech is changing everything I joined a Clubhouse discussion the other day – Clubhouse? What? – and discussed Chinese FinTech and its impact on the rest of the world. I really enjoyed the conversation and it was nice that my friend Sophie …

The main blog headlines this week include … If you think the future is purely digital, are you nuts? Arriving at the venue, I spot a good friend. We shake hands and hug. Then I see another friend I’ve missed. We hug and kiss. 1999? 2019? 2022? The conference network …