Digital Bank

Have you noticed how people talk about disruption more and more, and note the collapse of companies like Blockbuster, Kodak, Nokia and Thomas Cook? In fact, there are more companies entering and leaving the stock market lists than ever before, with the average tenancy now under two decades compared to six decades or more in…

I’m running a survey around how this crisis has impacted physical versus digital access to services – please take the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KCSBYMM … and you will get a free copy of the results – but, building on the physical versus digital debate,  it really hit me as I listened to a great debate on the…

Yet again, I’m returning to the story of branches. There are so many reports about the branch of the future and the end of branch banking out there that you would think the world of branches had no future. The debate is pretty pointless to be honest, as there will always be some who think…

I just stumbled across a report in Canada’s Globe and Mail, recognising the top 50 business executives who have helped see the country through this year’s crisis. It recognises quite a lot of banking people, and I wouldn’t normally share such content … except that many of those selected were chosen for trying to make…

It’s been interesting to see two major firms – admittedly FinTech firms – commit to crypto in the past month: PayPal and Square. The fact that such big processors are committing is a sign of the times and a move towards many organisations embracing the cryptocurrency world. If you didn’t see it: PayPal steps into…

Jack Ma had a rant about the financial system ahead of Ant Group’s IPO. As reported in The Financial Times, he thinks the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) who issue the Basel Accords is like “an old people’s club” … “The Basel Accords are like an old people’s club . . . we can’t use yesterday’s methods to regulate the…

I am having a debate on a regular basis about being cloud-native and digital at the core versus cloud-based and adding digital. The two are very different. Most big banks are moving to be cloud-based and adding digital, but that is not digital at the core and cloud-native. The latter has a business model born…

Everyone was talking about a V-shaped recovery in March 2020. Then it went onto a dialogue about whether it might be U-shaped or even W-shaped. Now, some economists are talking about a K-shaped economy. Some say this is all about the haves and have nots – the upper half are those with investments, equities and stocks…

I keep wondering about the future. Governments vs Libertarians? Centralised vs decentralised? DeFi vs CBDC? My conclusion is CBDCs will win, in the financial markets. Why? Because money is critical to our lives. It’s a key. You cannot ignore it. It’s what we created to make society orderly. I discussed this a lot and in…

In the UK, we talk a lot about The Nanny State. There’s this idea that government can be too controlling and demanding, and treats us like children and they are our nanny guardian. It reminds me of this sketch from Tracey Ullman … Jacob Rees-Mogg in #traceybreaksthenews and #traceyullmanshow @bbccomedy pic.twitter.com/C7sKOjlLGl — Tracey Ullman Fans (@TraceyFans)…