I wrote this the other day for Channel News Asia: FinTech firms may look like banks soon The gist of my thread is that, due to Ant Group offloading all of their risk to banks, the authorities are now stepping in to say that any innovator, even one as big …
Read More »Is bitcoin becoming respectable?
As bitcoin’s pricing goes up and down as usual – almost $18,000 today (who bought a few for a $1?) – it seems like the world is moving towards cryptocurrencies, as they are now respectable. They’re not respectable in the eyes of governments and banks … Bitcoin has no role …
Read More »Is Google going head-to-head with banks?
We talk a lot about Big Tech moving into big banking … but then we have talked about that for years. Now, with the revamped strategy for Google towards payments and finance, is Big Tech finally making its move into big banking? If you didn’t catch the announcements, here’s the …
Read More »The ABC of CBDCs
I’ve been talking quite a bit about CBDCs lately. CBDCs? Central Bank Digital Currencies. Central banks worldwide are looking at digital currencies as a great new future. Instead of letting citizens move to bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, have ours. Well, that’s the idea anyway. China was leading the way here, …
Read More »It’s all about the money, money, money
The lockdown pandemic has been interesting from a financial markets’ perspective. First, people withdrew as much cash as they could, worrying that things would be bad, and cash was king. It wasn’t. They didn’t need the cash. They didn’t spend it. In fact, I was particularly struck by this chart …
Read More »Could machines be human?
It’s 2020 and, since I was born in 19-whenever it was, I cannot think of a more challenging year. We are being forced to isolate, stay indoors, go nowhere and stay well. As I’ve blogged a few times, that’s good news for digital but bad news for humanity. I think …
Read More »Embedded or autonomous finance?
I’m doing a bit of research work with various companies, one of whom is Salesforce. It’s interesting, as so many people talk today about embedded finance but Salesforce talk about autonomous finance. What is autonomous finance? Namer Aljazrawi, global head of Strategy & Operations for Financial Services at Salesforce, explains. What …
Read More »“Necessity is the mother of invention”
I’ve never thought about it much but the saying: “Necessity is the mother of invention” … came back to me today. This came back to me because I was reading an interesting description of what happened in 1815. Do you remember that year? Of course not, probably, but that was …
Read More »And when the Great Unlock happens, what happens to challengers?
As I ponder the world and everything, this article by Jemima Kelly in The Financial Times keeps coming back to me: The virus has crushed the challenger bank dream In it she says things like: There comes a time in your life that you realise that some of the friends …
Read More »Brace yourself for the Great Unlock
Way back in March 2020 – what month is it now? – I said that lockdown would be a challenge for all. Obviously. Now, so many months later – what year is it now? – it is clear that has challenged all. Personally, I see two massive rifts: the physical …
Read More »So what would kill a bank?
Stumbling over an interesting article about bank consolidation in Europe, reminded me of Francisco Gonzalez’s (former Chair of BBVA) prediction that there’s only enough room for a maximum of fifty banks globally. I don’t believe either. As written about yesterday, banks don’t disappear. They don’t die. For over a quarter …
Read More »Why banks don’t die
Have you noticed how people talk about disruption more and more, and note the collapse of companies like Blockbuster, Kodak, Nokia and Thomas Cook? In fact, there are more companies entering and leaving the stock market lists than ever before, with the average tenancy now under two decades compared to …
Read More »The impact of the US election on finance and FinTech
No politics from my side here, but just reflecting on the politics of America. The US election – whatever your view of its process and outcome – leaves us with a different perspective on financial markets and, specifically, on FinTech start-ups and funding. Looking at US dollar rates, they’ve been …
Read More »Q: Why did China block Ant Group’s IPO? A: Jack messed up
I reported last week Jack Ma’s rant at the banking industry as having Basel Accords created by “an old people’s club” and that banks have a “pawnshop” mentality. I said that I agree with his sentiment – which I do – but it ain’t what you say, it’s the way …
Read More »The future of branches is not what you think
Yet again, I’m returning to the story of branches. There are so many reports about the branch of the future and the end of branch banking out there that you would think the world of branches had no future. The debate is pretty pointless to be honest, as there will …
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