Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Why new banks should also be worried

New banks have great opportunities. They can fix all the things old banks do badly, using a clean sheet of paper. But sometimes they get it wrong. For example, many are fans of Monzo, one of the fastest growing UK challenger banks. I’m a fan, but have noticed one issue that keeps getting social media…

Why old banks should be worried

I had an interesting comment the other day from a friend who said that he had worked with incumbents and start-ups. The big difference is that the incumbent views digital as a cost-cutting exercise, whilst the start-up sees it as a customer-enhancing opportunity. It rang a bell with me. Having spent so long dealing with…

The Finanser’s Week: 11th April 2022 – 17th April 2022

This week’s main blog discussions include … What if cancel culture leads to being financially cancelled? I saw an interesting letter in Metro the other day: A world where you can be financially cancelled A thought on what is described as ‘cancel culture’. Once all money is digital, the ability will exist to cancel people…

What if cancel culture leads to being financially cancelled?

I saw an interesting letter in Metro the other day: A world where you can be financially cancelled A thought on what is described as ‘cancel culture’. Once all money is digital, the ability will exist to cancel people from buying or selling anything, just as they can be cancelled from social media today. Will…

Is bitcoin’s energy usage the wrong question

I just spotted a spoof story on The Onion which, if you’re not aware, is a humour website of news stories. Their latest one: Study Finds Processing Power Wasted Mining Bitcoin Only Thing Preventing Sentient Computers From Wiping Out Humanity It made me laugh but, at the same time, made me think. Is bitcoin that…

You are the Apple of my wallet

I never used the Apple wallet until recently. Reason being that I didn’t need to. Then the pandemic hit, and I wanted to avoid using cash, so all of my cards that would work with Apple loaded into the phone. Interestingly some cards would not load but hey, contactless and cardless is the way. Then…

Curiousity killed the cat but made the human

I’ve noticed that my blogging has developed into regularly asking questions. Many of my blog entries end with a question mark. Why is that? It’s because I’m always asking questions. It’s because I cannot accept the way it is. It’s because I want to know more. It’s because I’m curious. Funnily enough I presented at…

The Finanser’s Week: 4th April 2022 – 10th April 2022

This week’s main blog discussions include … The metaverse will be worth trillions I stumbled across an interesting white paper from Citi the other day saying that the metaverse is an $8 to $13 TRILLION opportunity: “The total addressable market for the Metaverse could be between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030, with total…

Can Europe ever get its payment act together?

It seems to be a week of guest columns, but that’s what happens when you find interesting things online and in your network. Today’s guest is Piotr Jan Pietrzak, Director of International Development at BLIK, the innovative Polish payment system. For followers of my blog, you may remember that I wrote about PEPSI two years…

The metaverse will be worth trillions

I stumbled across an interesting white paper from Citi the other day saying that the metaverse is an $8 to $13 TRILLION opportunity: “The total addressable market for the Metaverse could be between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030, with total Metaverse users numbering around five billion. But getting to that market level is…