Fintech

As bitcoin’s pricing goes up and down as usual – almost $18,000 today (who bought a few for a $1?) – it seems like the world is moving towards cryptocurrencies, as they are now respectable. They’re not respectable in the eyes of governments and banks … Bitcoin has no role in institutional or retail investors…

I don’t usually cover press releases as they bore me, but this one caught my attention: Customer Online Conversations Reveal ‘All to Play for’ in Battle between Challengers and Incumbent Banks, Finds Economist Intelligence Unit Report   Groundbreaking report by The Economist Intelligence Unit uses machine-learning to analyse over 10 million online conversations about personal…

No politics from my side here, but just reflecting on the politics of America. The US election – whatever your view of its process and outcome – leaves us with a different perspective on financial markets and, specifically, on FinTech start-ups and funding. Looking at US dollar rates, they’ve been driving down during the build-up…

I reported last week Jack Ma’s rant at the banking industry as having Basel Accords created by “an old people’s club” and that banks have a “pawnshop” mentality. I said that I agree with his sentiment – which I do – but it ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it and…

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…

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…

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’ve talked about Global Processing Services, GPS, a few times now. They’re the power behind payments processing at several major start-ups like Curve, Revolut and Starling Bank. Anyway, during this crisis, I decided to have a chat with them in more depth and interviewed Shaun Puckrin, Chief Product Officer. You may find it enlightening. An…