Digital Bank

One of the things over-looked by many is how banks invest in the Finverse. According to Toptal’s data, 63% of banks invest in startups or set up accelerators, and many are instrumental in FinTech companies’ operations, fund raising and IPOs. Bear in mind that start-ups need bank accounts too, which creates a multi-dependency in the…

Simon Taylor posted an interesting dialogue about BaaS the other day. He used a couple of charts to illustrate the banking stack. The easiest and most basic one is this: I quite like it but, as Simon himself notes, there’s lots of nuance missing here. So let me add my layer of nuance, and it’s the…

I recently spotted this post from Panagiotis Kriaris, who leads business development at Unzer: In the era of #APIs, #openbanking and #openfinance, banking has become a totally different game vs what it used to be calling for equally adapted business models. Let’s take a look at #businessbanking and at 4 potential #digital models for banks….

I just picked up Deloitte’s report on blockchain where 76% of finance executives have voted that digital currencies may overtake fiat currencies in the next decade*. Most of us would just read that statement and go meh. Not me. That’s a phantasmagorical statement. People in finance think fiat currencies are dead? What? If true, we…

I’ve been close to Peter Vander Auwera for many years, thanks to Innotribe. He retired a few years ago on bitcoin – I wonder how many times I will use that line? – and became an artist. Great guy. But he’s still tracking me and others in the Finverse and posted this yesterday. It’s so…

Thing is, when it comes to inclusion, what financial products would you create for people who are blind, deaf, have lost limbs and more? I’ve seen people debating this point over the years, but I haven’t seen much done. Talking ATMs with brail numbers is about it. Thing is, as mentioned yesterday, this is a huge market…

15% of the world’s population has a disability. According to the Return on Disability Group, this consumer population is bigger than China and accounts for $1.9 trillion in disposable income. That makes me wonder why banks and companies don’t focus upon them more. Interestingly, seeing the Paralympics coming up, disabilities like losing a leg are…

I was thinking about things that are not being dealt with by banks or fintechs. Surprisingly, there are many things that come to mind: real-time proof of identity to avoid freezing of accounts multiple verifications of a payment to ensure you send to the right person’s account better use of FaceID and similar biometrics to…

This is a guest post by Matthias Kroener, a Bavarian who created Fidor Bank and then disappeared into the depths of gaming. Banking on the game The difference between gaming and gamification in banking Back in 1994, when I founded Direkt Anlage Bank (the first European discount broker) with a number of colleagues, it was…

The core of money is risk. When someone pays you, can you trust that payment is true? If you let them take away your car or computer, can you be certain that the money they offered is real? More than this, in banking, most of what takes place is the bank providing credit. Can they…