Grid

We are in a third generation of change in finance. When I wrote Digital Bank over a decade ago, the focus was all about reinventing banking from being physical at the core to being digital at the core. Now we have to do it all again and reach the next level where the bank is intelligent…

A few years ago I was running a book launch in a basement. On this occasion, people had to buy the books and so the promoter gave me a Square terminal to take card payments. So far, so good … except there was no signal in the basement. No Wi-Fi, no 5G, no nothing, no…

It’s been really interesting watching the moves of Donald Trump to Make America Great Again by doubling down on the dollar being the reserve currency of the world forever more through the GENIUS Act. Well, that’s my take anyway. Add on to this that the Trump family made billions by launching World Liberty Financial, their very…

This week’s main discussions include … Everything is a scam and why principles matter I clicked the other morning on Nicoo, the robot puppy, after seeing an ad on YouTube. I was going to order it for my wife’s birthday but thought, just before clicking, is this real? So, I go and Google Is Nicoo…

I clicked the other morning on Nicoo, the robot puppy, after seeing an ad on YouTube. I was going to order it for my wife’s birthday but thought, just before clicking, is this real? So, I go and Google Is Nicoo legit? and immediately realised it’s not. Later that morning, an email arrived saying that…

Everyone has become excited about A2A in the past year or so. A2A are Account-to-Account payments. These are direct transfers of funds from one payment account (bank or e-money service) to another, bypassing intermediaries like card networks and reducing transaction costs and complexity. A2A payments leverage Open Banking technologies and APIs to deliver fast, seamless, and…

I am always fascinated about the way in which people see what is of value and why. The exchange of beads, crystals, diamonds and gold; the use of barter to exchange sheep for goats for weddings; the emergence of digital exchange for tokens; and, of course, the issuance of cash backed by governments that are…

I’ve just spent a frustrating hour trying to access my bank account. It started with trying to login online. Here’s how it went. Enter your card number and password. OK, we now need a OTP code from your app. OK, now enter a code from the SMS or email we just sent you. But then…

I’ve been talking a lot about stablecoins of late and, in a timely fashion, Jas Shah at Fintech: Under the Hood has just landed a great primer all about such things. A Stablecoin Primer: Money for the Digital Age TL;DR Quick Take Stablecoins have evolved from early crypto-pegged concepts to fiat-backed instruments like USDC and…

This week’s main discussions include … Will the upstarts replace the incumbents? Is it just me or has the whole digital currency space become hot, hot, hot? Every five minutes, I see stuff about CBDCs – who needs them?; cryptocurrencies – who’s using them?; and stablecoins – what’s that all about? The last one is…