Future

Money Rebellion I’m finding the world a bit surreal – is it just me? Locked down for a year; totalitarian states; governments attacking people; governments killing people; black lives matter; wars rising; tensions rising; demonstrations on the streets; no concerts, entertainment or hospitality … the list goes on. Meantime, there are basic issues that still…

I found this article from The Asia Times interesting. It discusses the idea that China is trying to displace the US dollar as a reserve currency. Difficult. The US dollar represents over 60 percent of all currency reserves around the world. For more, check Wikipedia The euro is 20 percent and yuan/renminbi doesn’t even register. But…

Building on yesterday’s blog, it’s an interesting moment in time. The old world structures reject cryptocurrencies whilst the new world structures accept them en masse. This was typified for me by a couple of headlines the other day: UK Bank NatWest Bars Businesses That Accept Crypto Signature Bank Goes Head-to-Head With Silvergate in Bitcoin-Backed Lending…

Building on my AML – or is that MAL? – blog, I was thinking about the cost of compliance and all of those 1000’s of people working in such functions. Then I was thinking that they are completely ineffective. I always remember presenting to a big conference of risk managers at a major European bank…

I’ve recently contributed to an Oracle report, providing the foreword – the report can be downloaded here – and highlights how data is changing the financial services landscape, and how banks can: thrive in the face of ravenous competition from digital banks, fintechs and tech players build an open banking infrastructure to take the lead…

I was reflecting, which is dangerous. I was reflecting on my antipathy towards bitcoin as, like most bankers, it appeared to be a bit of a scam with no asset behind it. Then I woke up to what the libertarians have been saying to me all along: any currency is a scam. The US dollar…

OK, I’m a Victor Meldrew and have several pet hates. In particular, people who use corporate-speak … Source: Forbes In banking, there are two terms I hate: channel (and all of its derivatives like omnichannel and mulitchannel) and, more recently, embedded. Folks who regularly read the blog know that I hate anyone and any article that…

Following on from why startups will fail if they compete head-to-head with a bank, I got this headline the other day saying that smaller banks have the happiest customers. The latest analysis of feedback and complaints data conducted by consumer website Fairer Finance shows that big brands such as Halifax, Nationwide, HSBC and NatWest have struggled…

WARNING: THIS IS WOKE (whatever that is) We talk a lot about diversity and LBTG+ and equality, but it’s still a long way off. In fact, I get annoyed when I see online forms with gender and title choices designed for the last century. Why is this irritating? Specifically, why is it irritating to an…