Fintech

I was chairing a panel with a number of different players, one of which was Monzo. Simon Vans-Colina, Monzo’s lead engineer for Open APIs, was talking about their approach to partnering with others in an API ecosystem, including TransferWise and Investec Bank. What was not surprising is that the lion’s share of audience questions ended…

As I travel around, I find different cultures fascinating Some are open, some are closed; some are welcoming, some are distrusting; some feel comfortable, some feel weird; some feel nice, some feel strict; and so on. A lot of the feeling you have about a country is a mixture of media headlines and language challenges….

I recently had a chat with Monica Murthy of Empire Startups. Here’s the low-down. Starting From Scratch – The Path for Western FinTech It would be incorrect to call Chris Skinner an industry old hat, since despite his 10+ years in the FinTech industry, he’s known for being on the cutting edge, and doling out…

I was talking with some friends at the most innovative bank in Europe. A bank that has stopped getting on my radar for the past few years. I first blogged about them back in 2012, when I met the founder at an event. That bank is called Fidor. Following that first meeting, we became friends, and I…

I got this headline today: Most banks will be made irrelevant by 2030 – Gartner Within 12 years time, 80% of financial firms will either go out of business or be rendered irrelevant by new competition, changing customer behaviour and advancements in technology, according to forecasts by Gartner. And it really made me mad because…

It is interesting how the FinTech world has developed over the past decade. My first memory of any company that would fit the FinTech world stems way back to March 30, 2005. On that memorable evening, one of the funders of a technology start-up talked about a vision where platforms could connect people who have…

I enjoyed chairing a half day stream at #Money2020 in Las Vegas focused upon breaking news and views. It actually turned out to be more around how banks are partnering with start-ups, with several sessions discussing how the partnership started and how it worked. The first session had Amazon discussing their cloud services. I remember…

Like many of us, I have several pet hates about banks. My main one is when they sting you with charges you don’t expect. I always remember getting a £50 charge for an unauthorised overdraft a few years ago. I’d been with the bank for over twenty years and never been overdrawn before. This instance…

Someone told me I should start a travel blog, as I fly more than most pigeons do. True. But I’m not sure my travel blog would be read so much. However, it does make me reflect on travel and money. Some countries are still reliant on cash whilst others are cashless. I go to the…

I don’t normally share press releases or advertorial, because this is my blog and it’s meant to be neutral and independent, but I have a stake in 11:FS and so this is different. 11:FS, for those who are unaware, are a challenger consulting firm, focused on FinTech (click links on my blog’s banner above). I’m…