Thirty years ago, I presented at a conference with the theme being the end of cash. Thirty years later we are all gradually going cashless. Twenty-five years ago, I presented at a conference, with the view that bank branches weren’t needed. Twenty-five years later, most bank branches are going, going, gone. Twenty years ago, I…
A long time ago, before most of you were born, I worked with Dr. An Wang, a visionary. Wang created Wang computers, a company that blossomed quickly into a global firm thanks to word processing. Word processing? Yes, word processing. What it allowed was the replacement of typewriters with computers, and companies loved it because…
It’s not just AI that’s hot, but there is still the metaverse, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and more. So, I’ve been friends-ish with Yoni Assia, the co-founder of eToro, for many years. The story of eToro is pretty amazing actually. If you’re not familiar with it, you can find a summary over here…
In the 1990s, I got very excited about a number of challenger banks. Sainsburys, Tesco and Virgin all launched new banks in the UK, and there were several others worldwide such as the (David) Bowie Bank and the G&L (Gay and Lesbian) Bank. Where are they now? Nowhere. Sainsbury bank is up for sale, Tesco…
There are perennial questions that come around all the time: Do banks need branches Why are banks so bad at stopping bad actors (AML and KYC) Will we end up cashless Can banking be run by machines Are banks needed (disintermediation) Can regulators keep up Can we create a system that has no government involved…
I have found that several of my major bank account providers have started to question me about various activities from cryptocurrency investments to general document identification and reidentifying who I am. Of course, these are all driven by regulatory requirements for compliance, KYC, AML and such like but, in the process, it has killed my…
For the past decade, Jamie Dimon has regularly been decrying bitcoin as a scam. Here’s a few of his quotes: Jamie Dimon tells Davos that Bitcoin is a ‘pet rock’ that does nothing—except help with fraud and money laundering Jamie Dimon lashes out against crypto: ‘If I was the government, I’d close it down’ JPMorgan…
You may or may not know Cornerstone Advisors. If you don’t, you are missing out on major news! They are my favourite bank consulting service in the USA ever since I subscribed to their newsletter Gonzo Banker, years ago. They also have two of my favourite people in the banking world on their staff: Ron Shevlin,…
I just received an interesting report released in January by ClearBank and Celent, looking at how electronic money and electronic payment institutions (EMIs and EPIs) work with banks and the financial ecosystem. The findings indicate that these start-up companies fill the gaps where incumbent banks feared to tread, such as offering crypto clearing services. John…
