Fintech

I had a few wake up calls in my years of working in financial services, and a couple of key ones gave me an insight into the mentality of major financial firms that have stayed pretty true ever since.  The first was working with a major bank on a process …

I find it interesting when you look at the Fintech start-up scene and the hotbed of interest now in the blockchain.  There are 100s of companies attempting to do something in these areas, and it amuses me that my Beer and Bordeaux clash is even more notable in this emerging …

We had a great debate at the Financial Services Club last night between digital money sage Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion, and all things bitcoin master Jon Matonis. The debate was about whether blockchain is faster and cheaper, and it was clear from the start that this was going to …

So as I travel around these global conferences, startup challenges and Fintech daze, I often get asked: what does it take to be a Fintech centre?  This is because everyone wants to be one now that they’ve seen the buzz around the market.  London has vied to be that centre for …

Talking of start-ups, I’m often asked: how do you spot a successful start-up?   Not sure why they ask me, as I haven’t started a start-up, but I guess it’s because I’m seeing 100s of start-ups out there.  For example, there were 800 contenders on the shortlist for the Fintech50 this …

I seem to find myself travelling all over talking about innovation and meeting start-ups.  It’s the start-up economy, and there’s probably been no better time to be young, hopeful and visionary.  Thinking back to my younger days, leaving university, the idea of creating my own company was unheard of.  Everyone …

I had a realisation this week.  The realisation is that banks have always been hot on technology and innovation.  If you don’t think so, then just checkout this blog from April 2008 – eight years ago – where I talk about the rise of innovation in banking.  The context was talking about …

I just had an interesting discussion with a banking colleague who has been investing in start-ups.  He said that many of the firms begin with a belief that they will succeed because they are not a bank. A business strategy based upon attracting consumers by not being a bank, is …

There’s been a large number of white papers produced recently about Fintech and Blockchain, so I decided to collate the most notable ones here.  All links are to file downloads and if I’ve missed any, please let me know. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (9 pages, October 2008) The origins …

I don’t get to use the word Kaleidoscope often, so finding this excellent Infographic that includes me and a few friends, gives me the chance to throw it into the blog for a change.  After all, this Infographic provides a veritable Kaleidoscope of Fintech. As we all know, Fintech is …

I was going to write a long wordy reflection on this year’s Finovate, which took place over the last two days in London, but was beaten to it by Benjamin Ensor and Oliwia Berdak of Forrester so, rather than writing my own view, here’s theirs: Finovate 2016: Automation And Personalization …

I’ve been presenting the idea for a while now that banks are not being disrupted or unbundled, as so many claim. It’s a nice idea but completely misunderstood.  The disruption idea assumes that banks will let it happen, are not awake, will not respond, can’t respond, don’t care and couldn’t …

In part one, I talked about the views of the Fintech start-ups who begin with thinking: how can I transform this financial process using technology?  Banks think differently and begin with thinking: how can I apply technology to this financial process?  The core difference is that banks think Techfin rather …

In conversation with bankers and start-ups, it is clear that there is a differing view of the world.  It is not as clear-cut as nimble innovator versus dinosaur incumbent, which is how many portray this chasm of difference of thinking, but there is a difference in thinking.  It is a …

I blogged a short while ago about Roboadvisors, and with the recent stock market meltdown due to China’s economy slowdown, it’s interesting to see today’s Financial Times talking about the impact on these fledgling firms. According to the FT, the emergent roboadvisor market that includes Personal Capital, Betterment and Wealthfront, and …