I’ve noticed that Wal*Mart has recently been hiring bankers. Goldman Sachs’ bankers to be exact. Goldman Sachs Marcus’s bankers to be more specific. Bloomberg Omer Ismail, the head of Goldman’s consumer bank [Marcus], is making a surprise exit to the fintech, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The world’s largest retailer made a…
Salesforce released their research report, Trends in Financial Services, near the end of last year. I had the chance to sit down with Rohit Mahna, Senior Vice President of Industries Advisors for Salesforce, to discuss the report and the shifts happening right now in the industry. Hi Rohit. Can you give me the background on…
Twenty years ago, I remember being impressed when the late, great David Bowie launched a bank. Admittedly it was backed by USA Bankshares, a proper bank, but the idea of celebrity-branded banks was expected to become a thing. Funnily enough, it hasn’t (unless you count Will.i.am and Atom) yet, nevertheless, what has become a thing…
… “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” Arthur C. Clarke This quote has stayed with me throughout my life. Every time there is a new technology, we start with seeing it with awe and wonder then, within a few months, we view it as part of the fabric of our lives. We take…
I recently joined The Digital Growth podcast … powered by Sounder … and they kindly transcribed the conversation, so I thought I would share it here. Chris Skinner: Traditional banks tend to push products through channels to get greater share of wallet and cross sell. Whereas, digital banks start with the customer journey and…
I’ve had several debates about the closure of shopping malls, the end of offices and the deserted high streets and main streets of the world. Add Covid lockdown to retail meltdown and the shops are disappearing faster than Donald Trump’s tweets. Thing is, the real question is: what is the future of retail and the…
I’m very aware that central banks are investigating the use of digital currencies, particularly as they can now see bitcoin gaining more and more traction (Tesla, Square and more committed – next is Apple?), but had not realised how extensive are those investigations. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest paper, 86% of the…
I wrote a blog a few days ago about money not being about jars and pots. The gist of the blog is that it annoys me when banks offer different sections for different objectives: savings, education, wedding, holiday and so on. The blog got some pushback, saying that people on limited budgets find this allocation…
