If you didn’t read my blog last week asking whether the pandemic had transformed banking to be digital forever (answer: no), what is obvious is that the pandemic has changed consumer behaviours forever. This was brought home to me when reading the Forbes-Ipsos survey of American consumers views of digital banking. …
Read More »How Facebook failed at finance
I haven’t written much about Facebook’s digital currency Diem, as there’s not much to write about. A dead duck from day one, it would never succeed. I said so back when it launched in 2019: The bottom-line is that Facebook may have developed a stablecoin using blockchain to enable global …
Read More »Start with the way people behave, not how you design
Thinking about process redesign, I remember when the ATM was invented. I wasn’t there – I’m not that old – but I remember reading about the great debate they had as banks didn’t believe people would be able to remember a PIN. The BBC reports that “Mr. Shepherd-Barron came up with …
Read More »Has the pandemic transformed banking to be digital forever?
Question: Has retail banking transformed to be digital forever? Answer: No. I’ve always said that banking can never be purely digital as it needs a human touch. It needs the ability to talk to someone as money is the second most important thing in our lives. In fact, for some, …
Read More »When digital is down
I watch the world through the lens of the network, and have noticed that China is leading the world with digital currencies. The digital yuan is ready for release in time for the winter Olympics and a CBDC is likely to be launched in China before anywhere else. So why …
Read More »The role of an infomediary
Years ago, I was writing about the role of an infomediary. The idea was that there should be a broker between customer’s data and their service providers. Unfortunately, that role has become four companies for those in the Americas and two for those in Asia: Amazon, Facebook (Meta), Google (Alphabet), …
Read More »We need to pressure regulations on climate finance
We seem to be at an intersection. The intersection is the moment that we realise our futures are threatened by many things, particularly the climate emergency. The intersection is that the solution to the climate emergency is a mixture of government, finance and technology. The three areas are critical to …
Read More »The last thing we need is for banks to innovate
I stumbled across an interesting report by Clarivate who, using a statistical analysis, have identified the 100 most innovative companies in the world. Technology advancement is a complex composition of talent, of competition and of need. New ideas emanate from everywhere scientists, engineers and developers reside. What is the methodology? …
Read More »But money can’t buy me love?
I was thinking about the balance between money, wealth and power, versus health, happiness and love. Is it versus or is it inclusive? Is happiness related to wealth, or is it true that money can’t buy you love? Obviously it’s an existential question and, tbh, I’ve met many happy people …
Read More »Should you have ‘bank’ in your brand?
The Financial Brand published an interesting piece challenging the use of the word bank in a brand. It got me thinking, and agreeing with their summation, which is yes. Sure, you can have Chime, Chase, Citizens and Truist, but is that the right thing. In fact, on the last point, …
Read More »What do banks need to do to deal with FinTech?
I picked up an article talking about 16 Ways Banks Will Need To Change To Survive Advances In Fintech in Forbes. It’s a survey of an expert panel that cites that banks must do the following action points: Become Nimble And Decentralized Incentivize Culture Change Combine Security With Blockchain Technology Lean …
Read More »Banking: am I bothered?
I am sometimes a Luddite. Today is that day. I woke up and found that a payment was made via a direct debit for a service I no longer use. It’s an annual payment, and I’d forgotten to cancel it. It was for $500. I was irritated, to say the …
Read More »The K-curve economy, where upside is digital and downside is physical
I’ve talked a little bit about a K-shaped economy. The upside of the K is digital; the downside is physical. This really struck home with me when I saw the latest retail sales developments in the UK. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), Brits now order a third …
Read More »What are Stablecoins?
The Federal Reserve issued a paper about stablecoins at the end of January. There’s lots of good content there, but I particularly liked the way in which they opened the discussion which I have copied here (for full report click here). The basics of stablecoins Stablecoins are digital currencies recorded …
Read More »Does the regulator think that banks are clouding the issues?
During the lockdown, banks moved rapidly to sign cloud contracts. Thing is they were signing with the likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft, but these are all American firms. Where are the European ones? I raised this issue two years ago, but it is now coming to a head as …
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