Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Fintech

FinTech Schadenfreude?

People took great delight in telling me how some of the big FinTech trade shows this year appeared to be lots of struggling FinTech firms holding out begging bowls to banks. Many start-ups are struggling, with their cash runway running out, and they desperately need funding and investment. The banks are smiling and feeling that…

Dealing with a recession

FinTech began in the 2000’s and was fuelled by new technologies – cloud computing and the smartphone in particular – alongside the failing of traditional finance when the financial crisis hit in 2008. Now that we enter a global recession, FinTech has a new challenge: dealing with no investors in a time when they need…

When a start-up shuts down before it has started

I was intrigued by the news of Glorifi, an anti-woke FinTech start-up that closed before it had really opened. The company, which missed multiple launch deadlines and had its CEO step down due to misconduct, is citing “reputational attacks” and “the failing economy” Rolling Stone, November 2022 The firm was pro-Republican, pro-America, pro-freedom and pro-capitalism,…

Is FinTech really disruptive?

It’s interesting how often I see the word disruption, or things like incumbent and old. And yet, after almost twenty years of such discussion, has the old incumbent been disrupted? It doesn’t seem that way, as borne out by two articles I picked up on this week: JP Morgan remains world’s biggest systemically important bank;…

The constantly evolving Ant

As those who have picked up my recent books, you will know that I’m an avid observer of Ant Group and Alipay’s activities. After all, the company did become a 30,000 word case study in my book Digital Human. I haven’t written about Alipay for a while, but did note the release of Alipay Plus or,…

FinTech is not dying … it’s fighting

After this year’s Money 2020 in Las Vegas, there’s lots of doom and gloom. FinTechs struggling for investment, rats leaving sinking ships, companies desperate for bank buyouts and bank support, and so on. Specifically, this commentary on Medium stood out for me: Fintech is Slowly Dying and That’s Good News Fintech was going to eat…

If a FinTech start-up cannot talk numbers, will they survive?

After my FinTech Bloodbath post, there was a really interesting conversation on LinkedIn about the post. Some positive: Thanks Chris – another excellent article about the fintech landscape. Interesting the article cites 3 type of firms with a positive outlook: companies that reduce inefficiencies – solving problems create new revenue lines for their clients –…

FinTech London’s double bloodbath

I mentioned FinTech London has seen a major bloodbath as companies lost value and growth. Since the start of the pandemic layoffs.fyi estimates that 4,300 people have left the sector in London. How many more will be leaving now that Britain is seen as a basket case after Liz Truss actions. First there was the…

The FinTech Bloodbath

Back in January, I called 2022 the Big Regression for FinTech. Ten months later, sure enough, it is. Daily headlines about losses and layoffs are gathering non-stop, and storm clouds are gathering fast to demand market change through consolidation and merger. German online bank N26’s losses widen in 2021 as customer growth slows With new cuts, Klarna…

Skandal! starts tonight on Netflix: the story of Wirecard

Skandal! starts tonight on Netflix What’s all that about? It’s all about Wirecard and the investigative journalism of one Dan McCrum, a friend who reported on the affair with The Financial Times. Over time, Dan’s work resulted in proving that Wirecard was  a scam. Having said that, he was attacked by the company and its…