Case Studies
What has MiFID done for democracy?
Fascinating meetings with the Russian exchanges RTS and SPIMEX. After my reference to military intelligence yesterday, you may wonder whether SPIMEX is something to do with finding out who started the swine flu pandemic but no, it’s the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange. The two exchanges have very different start points and focal points, with…
Escape with Phones4U
Just got a really interesting note about a new MasterCard from Phones4U. It’s called the ‘Escape‘ Card and focuses upon migrant worker remittances. What’s interesting is that it has been launched by the mobile phone shop Phones4U, a completely non-bank non-carrier operation that is just a pure retailer of mobile telephony. Here’s the shortened write-up:…
Escape with Phones4U
Just got a really interesting note about a new MasterCard from Phones4U. It’s called the ‘Escape‘ Card and focuses upon migrant worker remittances. What’s interesting is that it has been launched by the mobile phone shop Phones4U, a completely non-bank non-carrier operation that is just a pure retailer of mobile telephony. Here’s the shortened write-up:…
Escape with Phones4U
Just got a really interesting note about a new MasterCard from Phones4U. It’s called the ‘Escape‘ Card and focuses upon migrant worker remittances. What’s interesting is that it has been launched by the mobile phone shop Phones4U, a completely non-bank non-carrier operation that is just a pure retailer of mobile telephony. Here’s the shortened write-up:…
Why First Direct wins
Director magazine has a fantastic case study all about First Direct this month. First Direct is regularly voted the UK's #1 bank and many people have no idea why. Here's why: “Consumers don't like call centres—it's an indisputable fact. The anecdotal evidence is everywhere, but more scientifically, an ICM poll found that four out of…
Guy Kawasaki: don’t believe the bozos
The final keynote here in Hong Kong was from Guy Kawasaki, founding partner of garage technology ventures, co-founder alltop.com, original visionary partner of Steve Jobs at Apple and all round good Guy. Here’s a summary of his speech: When I was first at Apple, we had two divisions – Apple II and the new, yet…
Why social finance, and particularly Zopa, matters
In the fourth of a series about innovation in banking, it’s worth looking at the business models of the new entrants who are trying to disrupt this space and pose the question: are they sustainable? Zopa, Prosper, SmartyPig, Wonga, Mint, Wesabe and the many other new entrants into finance hoping to leverage the promise of…
Why social finance, and particularly Zopa, matters
In the fourth of a series about innovation in banking, it’s worth looking at the business models of the new entrants who are trying to disrupt this space and pose the question: are they sustainable? Zopa, Prosper, SmartyPig, Wonga, Mint, Wesabe and the many other new entrants into finance hoping to leverage the promise of…
Tesco, Virgin, O2 and all … we don’t want your banks
Marketing week ran a fascinating survey of British citizens last month and their views about banking. The results find that most people don’t trust trusted brands with their money, and would rather stick with the banks. The survey sampled 1,716 UK adults and asked a series of questions, including… Which, if any, of the following…
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