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…
I just rang my pension fund. I realised that I’ve paid £1000’s into the fund, but hadn’t had a statement recently. I also realised I couldn’t login online, as I’d forgotten the details. Once someone picked up the phone, which took a while, they took me through the security sign-in. Name, age, address, etc. The…
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…
This week’s main blogs include … Another view: any start-up that challenges a bank will fail We talk a lot these days about neobanks, challenger banks, bank disrupters, bank disintermediation, banks will fail and such like. I have a contrarian view, for a change, and believe that any start-up that challenges a bank will fail….
I’ve not talked much about bitcoin on the blog lately*, but I have tweeted a lot about it. The key take-away? It’s not going away. People have said bitcoin is dead thousands of times. In fact, there’s a website dedicated to the subject, tracking and tracing the death of bitcoin: Most Recent Death: Cryptocurrencies –…
I read Jamie Dimon’s shareholder letter with interest this week. His message does not read like a shareholder letter from a banker … Banks “are facing extensive competition from Silicon Valley, both in the form of fintechs and Big Tech companies (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and now Walmart), that is here to stay. As…
We talk a lot these days about neobanks, challenger banks, bank disrupters, bank disintermediation, banks will fail and such like. I have a contrarian view, for a change, and believe that any start-up that challenges a bank will fail. As I say, it’s a contrarian view. Why would you start-up Monzo, Starling, Chime, NuBank or…
I blogged the other day about a $3 trillion spending spree, that I just didn’t see happening. The points I made were: it is the higher income families who have been most comfortable during this lockdown, along with essential workers who have seen no change in pay; but who has savings? most people have had…
