Digital Bank

I can understand why bankers can be sceptical about what technologists say. For years, technologists have been telling them that their business is threatened by technological change. They’ve been shouting that they will be disintermediated; they say that the bank must change and change fast to keep up; they argue that the bank is not…

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 in three phases. The first phase is to sort out the basics. If there are known issues in…

There are five camps out there. The first is the FinTech camp. This camp sit around the campfire and go “down with banks, down with banks”. They believe banks are out-dated legacy firms who have no idea about the modern age of technology. They believe banks are money-grabbing Shylocks, purely trying to steal the cash…

There’s a lot of talk about trust when you meet with people in finance. Customers trust us with their money … there is trust in banks … we are trusted when it comes to advice … our brand is a trusted brand. I usually keep quiet as most of that conversation is pure BS. Sure,…

I’ve talked a little about TechFin in the past but, in my presentations, I talk more and more about TechFin versus FinTech. FinTech is doing what we’ve always done, cheaper and faster and better with technology. TechFin is reimagining everything with no idea of what’s been before with technology. It’s a very different approach. A good…

We were having a debate about brand loyalty in a mobile world. The discussion began with talking about how it used to be complex with dealing via branch and call centre; then it was branch, call centre and online; now, it’s branch, call centre, online and mobile. How do you provide a consistent, omnichannel (vomiting…

I just had a week down-under in the land of the roo, and discovered that the RBA – Reserve Bank of Australia – has done an about turn in the last couple of years and encouraged some innovation in banking (at last!). As a result, I was pleasantly surprised to find FOUR neobanks lurking around,…

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 their microservices team structures and agile thinking. Auditors, compliance, financial and marketing people sit…

Name the company that strikes fear into everyone’s hearts in business? In the 1980s, it was IBM. You never get fired if you buy IBM, even though It’s a Bloody Mess. In the 1990s, it was Microsoft. Sure, Most Intelligent Creatures Realise Our Software Only Fools Teenagers, but yes, they were taking over the planet….

I’ve had a lot of conversations with bankers and technologists, and realised something recently. That realisation is a simple but important one, and it is this: dealing with technology is very different to dealing with money; furthermore, dealing with money through technology is very different to dealing with technology through money. It may sound like…