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Digital Bank

I sold my soul for a token

Some years ago, as an April Fool, a firm offered a free download of a game as long as, in the terms and conditions, you agreed that they could now own your soul. It was silly, but most people agreed to the download with that condition, because they don’t read the terms and conditions. Luckily…

Is Apple finance going to change the world?

There’s a regular debate about whether BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) is a good or bad thing. There’s a big call for it to be regulated and comparisons with payday loans are made often. Nevertheless, it makes sense as many companies are now grabbing a slice of this space. The latest one is Apple. It amused…

And what happens when digital fails?

I have another concern about digitalisation, which is what happens if you’re knocked off the grid? What happens if you lose your password? What happens if the company does not recognise you? What happens when someone takes over your persona? What happens when your balance of six figures is suddenly zero? OK, sure. These things…

Is digital all it’s cracked up to be?

I just sent a payment to a new company. They sent the details and it involved quite a lot of set-up. I then hit the button and bang! There goes $1,000. Thing is that, when you hit that button, you worry whether it will get there. Are you paying the person you think you are…

Mobile money: is Europe lagging? Is America ahead? Is China the leader?

There are lies, darned lies and statistics. This came to my mind when I saw a headline that 70% of the $1 trillion transacted by mobile telephones globally were taking place in Africa, according to the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association). I know that this is not true as trillions are being transacted…

Are FinTechs being valued as a financial or a tech?

I was struck by a comment made by Chris Brendler, an analyst at D A Davidson, about FinTech Affirm (a US BNPL start-up): “These hybrid financial technology stocks trade like tech stocks, when they’re growing really fast and the financial side of their business doesn’t cause any problems but, if you start having higher losses…

JPMorgan’s billion dollar bet on banking Britain

JPMorgan had their investors briefing on Monday. It was interesting, with lots of content (you can download all of the presentations here). I took a look at their briefing, and it is pretty mind-blowing tbh. A bank with 60 million active digital customers, processing USD$10 trillion a day with 40 billion security events a day….

Digital transformation or purpose-driven banking?

I was reflecting on the fact that I’ve been talking about digital banking for a decade and a half. That’s a long time. I’d claim to have fathered the phrase Banking-as-a-Service back in the 2000’s, and yet only a third of banks understand the concept of BaaS today. "Only a third of banks understand the concept"…

The state of neobanking 2022

I just received an interesting report from Simon Kucher & Partners, a marketing strategy consulting firm, about Neobanks. It starts with some basic stats: There are 400 neobanks around the world with over a billion clients Over 50 neobanks launched in 2021 The main focus of Neobanking is UK, Sweden, USA, Brazil and South Korea The…

We need same-day financial firms

I’ve been writing about banks needing to refresh core systems for years. and I’m fed up with it. I’ve also been writing about the new business model of digital banking based upon apps, APIs and analytics for years, and I’m fed up with it. We need to move on.ANY bank that is still running on…

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