Blog Index

The main blog headlines are … Five phases of FinTech (2005-2027) Three years ago, I blogged about three phases of FinTech. Three years later, I can expand on that theme and talk about five phases of FinTech. The five phases of FinTech are (dates are rough guide): Disruption (2005-2014) Discussion …

The main blog headlines are … Bitcoin, Stablecoin, Blockchain, Enterprise Ledger … WTF? I used to blog about blockchain and cryptocurrency almost every day. I stopped as it got too hyped, scammed and boring. In fact, my last blog was about the blockchain hype being dead, but the blockchain dream …

The main blog headlines are … Banking in the Cloud One of the surprises I have had in my discussions with banks that are doing digital well, is how all of them seem profoundly committed to cloud-computing. Some more than others, as one of the banks I spoke to wants …

The main blog headlines are … Doing good for society and the planet (an Earth Day FinTech update) It was Earth Day on Monday, and a national holiday in many nations as they observed what Christians call Easter. Whilst Sri Lankans mourned the fatal losses on the Easter Sunday church gatherings, …

The main blog headlines are … Will a global platform connect all of our money? When I talk about FinTech, I often reflect on the first time I encountered what I would, today, call a truly FinTech firm. It was on March 30, 2005, and a newly formed firm presented …

The main blog headlines are … Leaving customers digitally high and dry … big mistake I’ve recently seen two blogs about issues with challenger banks N26 and Tandem. They both relate to the ways in which these new banks communicate, or not in these cases. Judith Bogner, a well-known and …

The main blog headlines are … Alipay and Visa announce global QR code venture We all got hugely excited about Apple launching a credit card with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard last week. Whoopy-doo! This was a major lift for Mastercard in particular. As Wedbush’s Moshe Katri noted payments on the …

The main blog headlines are … Blockchain is dead I used to blog about blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) almost once a week … four years ago. Today, I hardly blog about it at all. I guess it just shows what’s top of mind and what’s not at any …

The main blog headlines are … Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank: the sick dogs of Europe #Brexit Watching the debacle of the #Brexit debate in Britain, you might think that the UK is in a national meltdown. According to a survey on the front of Metro this week, 9 out of …

The main blog headlines are … Transforming the bank: three phases of change I’ve mentioned quite often that you cannot sort out all of the banks systems and structures overnight. It has to be a slow burn and often takes more than five years. It also appears to take place …

The main blog headlines are … It’s only words … why values and missions are questionable I go around a lot of banks and am always struck by their similarities and differences. To be honest, there are more similarities than differences. Most have big corporate offices, with great views over …

The main blog headlines are … How to be a Unicorn (Part One) Marko Wenthin, co-founder of solarisBank, recently contributed to my blog and, as a mate, has sent some great insights about starting up a FinTech firm which I thought I would share of FinTech banks last week. How to be …

The main blog headlines are … Technology is business Another interesting nuance of the FinTech Bank is the integration of business and technology. I’ve referenced this a few times, but wanted to be explicit that these banks think technology is business and business is technology. This is clearly demonstrated in …

The main blog headlines are … 39 FinTech Unicorns Valued at $147.37 billion I spotted an article by Linus Beliunas on LinkedIn this week, and liked it so much that wanted to share. Enjoy! 39 FinTech Unicorns Valued at $147.37 billion 2018 was a phenomenal year for FinTech. Over a …

The main blog headlines are … Is the branch dead? A regular discussion of mine has resurfaced in recent days: is the branch dead? Why it has returned is due to the announcement of Santander closing a fifth of its UK branch network: The Spanish-owned bank, which has one of the largest …