I’m going to shut up about challenger banks soon, but noted that even the regulator is getting worried about them. After Monzo’s admittance that it may not continue as a going concern if the pandemic continues through 2021, N26 admitting that profit is not their focus, Revolut’s tripling of losses, …
Read More »How to create a challenger bank …
I realise I come across sometimes as a bit whiny, crotchety and grumpy, so decided to upgrade the dialogue with what is positive and what can be done. After critiquing all last week, I do like the challenger banks’ ways of providing more analytics and real-time updates to my way …
Read More »The FinTech Poetry Challenge: I wandered lonely on the cloud
There are some iconic lines in films. Stop the world, I want to get off. I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore. Do you want to take the red or the blue pill? I’ll have what she’s having. And, right now, during these lockdown …
Read More »Challenging: Why BaaS, Open Banking, APIs is all a confusion
I saw an article the other day: Top 10 startups offering ‘banking as a service’ in Europe by Silicon Canals. It’s an interesting article that completely misunderstands what Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) is, as most of the firms listed are companies offering just an API or a few APIs. 11FS did a …
Read More »[Monzo + Starling + Revolut] – Pandemic = The End?
Over the past week or two, the neobank and challenger bank sector has been issuing financial reports. If you haven’t noticed: WHERE WERE YOU? Monzo got a particular hammering for warning that the coronavirus pandemic could impact the company as a going concern. Some argue this is just accounting and …
Read More »Exclusive research finds a silver lining for banking and FinTech in coronavirus crisis
During the summer we performed some extensive research, released today. Details below: Download the Survey Report and View the Video News Release The survey is available at no charge and can be downloaded by providing a few basic details about yourself. View the video news release as well. Bank …
Read More »What’s the problem with COBOL?
I’m always ready to see both sides of the fence. In fact, I would rather see both sides of the fence than just my side. My side is biased and tainted by my senses and inputs. I realised that recently when I blogged about Hong Kong. There are always two …
Read More »Banking is nothing to do with relationships, it’s all about trust
I blogged in April that banking is nothing to do with relationships, it’s about secrets. It’s more than this though, it’s about trust. Can I trust you with my secrets? This came home to me as, since then, a few people pulled me up over my whining about my bank. …
Read More »What’s the impact of coronavirus on FinTech?
Someone asked me what the coronavirus pandemic means for the future of FinTech. I guess they thought that not much is happening and many firms will shutter and close. However, some may think that times are dull and boring, locked in at home and nothing going on, but there’s loads …
Read More »When the banks closed, no-one cared
A great headline posted in The Financial Times the other day: When the banks closed in Wuhan, nobody cared The Financial Times article makes clear how advanced the Chinese economy is today. For several months this year, banks across Hubei province, an area home to 60 million people, shut their …
Read More »The new normal for conferences (#Money2020)
I’ve grown up in a period of strong political stability. I’ve been lucky. Many other people grew up in a period of strong political instability, with war and famine and economic starvation. I realise I’ve been lucky because I’m now looking at lockdown, China-US trade relations, British-EU trade relations, African …
Read More »FinTech challenger and neobanks in Brazil
I stumbled across a great article about Brazilian neobanks the other day. Bearing in mind that Nubank is the most successful neobank in the world, with 25 million users at the start of June. As a result, when I saw a great article about banks in Brazil by Contexto, who …
Read More »Pay-by-Nose, a new innovation
I blog regularly about what a fanboy I am of Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Tencent. It’s getting a bit ridiculous now however, when payments companies are designing payments for cats and dogs … or maybe it’s not … it’s just an extension of technologies that work for humans. My …
Read More »The FinTech Karaoke Challenge: My Way
OK, OK, OK. I know that some of my friends have been doing FinTech and Banking songs for a while, and I’ve avoided it. I’ve also avoided doing much video, as I don’t like seeing myself on camera. And I don’t sing, except in the shower. But … … oh …
Read More »AI will augment, not destroy humanity
I’ve spent years talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Source: Europa Bearing in mind that we always talk about AI in the context of the Turing Test – a test that Alan Turing created back in 1950 – it’s not surprising. That test is that we will have achieved the true …
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