Case Studies

Not sure how many of you spotted the announcement last month that Goldman Sachs is launching a retail bank, but it’s been interesting to monitor such developments. First there was a raft of press reviews of the announcement: Goldman Sachs gets into retail banking Goldman Sachs Enters Retail Banking Market with GS Bank Here’s How Goldman Sachs Plans to Go After the…

I promise to shut up about African developments after this post, for a while anyway, but there’s a definite feeling that Africa may set the standards for a cheaper, easier financial system in the future, as blogged last week.  In fact, when I was asked about Africa as a continent in Kenya, I said that…

ValueWeb makes the contention that you cannot have an internet of things without a real-time and cheap internet of value.  A core part of this is focused upon building a cheap shared ledger structure for digital identity and digital currencies and guess what?  That cheap shared ledger is most likely going to be built in Africa. …

One of the gating factors to financial inclusion is the mobile network itself. It sounds simple to say that all of Africa can have access to mobile money, and they can, but if each telco has different wallet structures, charges and fees, then the ease of usage falls sharply. This is why interoperability is a…

I need a little time to think about my reimagined financial structure, but some of the basics are already in play such as the idea of thinking about value exchange rather than monetary exchange.  Value exchange is based upon the ability to reach the world with a thought.  I do that every day via social…

There are a number of hotbeds for innovation in finance – London, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley – may all spring to mind to begin with … but what about Berlin and Munich? Yes, Berlin is showing some interesting true colours with three standout start-ups: Fidor, NUMBER26 and solaris.  Two are full banks with banking…

I just attended the Global Banking Innovation Awards at the BAI Retail Delivery Show, an annual event that has gained traction and represents banks from all regions of the world.  Interestingly, Poland, Spain and Turkey regularly appear, which reflects my view that these are the most innovative Euorpean countries for finance, although France got a shout…

This week the Finanser talks with Gottfried Leibbrandt, CEO of SWIFT about cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, Ripple and all things blockchain.   How do you see value exchange on the internet changing the game for banks and for infrastructures like SWIFT? Let’s take a step back so that I can give you my overall perspective. I always like to…

Following our regular weekly interview, the Finanser talks this week with Guga Stocco, Head of Strategy and Innovation, Banco Original, Brazil, and Co-Founder of Koolen&Partners Venture Capital. A pure digital bank in Brazil, Banco Original is launched by the largest meat processing firm in the world, J&F.  Guga Stocco was brought into the business as an…

Following our regular weekly interview, the Finanser talks this week with Kosta Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. What is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation doing with mobile money and the objective of raising people out of poverty by 2030? Our vision is that every life has…