Digital Bank

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)…

Some time ago, I mentioned that code is art and, if code is art, how do you attract great artists? Banks are not really seen as a place for an artist. It is like bringing maths and art together. The two don’t mix. Like science and religion, certain academic disciplines should always be kept apart. Yet…

I recently saw the announcement from Santander of a foreign exchange service called PagoFX. It’s a service that goes head-to-head with TransferWise and is an interesting example of fighting back. As a result, I asked Victoria Yasinetskaya, CMO at PagoFX to tell me a bit more about what’s happening and she kindly wrote this piece for…

After writing quite a lot challenging the challenger banks, one reached out to me asking for a slight correction of view. OakNorth. Now, this is a bank I like, as they’ve been doing so much under the radar, so I said that if they wanted to raise their head above the parapet, why not write…

I just presented to the Merchant Payments Ecosystem conference. I’ve presented there before, and this year was virtual … as are all 2020 conferences. 2020 is the virtual year. I sat and thought about what to present. I have 1,000 slides or more, but I don’t do slides on lockdown. Too boring. I talk. So,…

I’ve spent a long time writing about how bad banks are with technology and digital transformation … but I’ve never said banks will be eaten by technology. So many other companies and industries are destroyed by technology, but banking is not one of them. I laugh when I read about The End of Banking, Banking…

When I was growing up with learning management skills, one of those I focused upon was marketing and Kotler’s 4 P’s. If you’re not familiar it’s all about product, price, promotion and place. It’s something easy to remember, but then most folks are hard pushed to remember more than three things. That’s a shame as…