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It has been a while since I sat back to think about the future bank. I talk about the future bank all the time, but the overall view of a bank in its totality. What will it look like in 2030 and beyond? I think it will still have branches. Not many, but there is…

In the UK, we talk a lot about The Nanny State. There’s this idea that government can be too controlling and demanding, and treats us like children and they are our nanny guardian. It reminds me of this sketch from Tracey Ullman … Jacob Rees-Mogg in #traceybreaksthenews and #traceyullmanshow @bbccomedy pic.twitter.com/C7sKOjlLGl — Tracey Ullman Fans (@TraceyFans)…

Some time ago, I mentioned that code is art and, if code is art, how do you attract great artists? Banks are not really seen as a place for an artist. It is like bringing maths and art together. The two don’t mix. Like science and religion, certain academic disciplines should always be kept apart. Yet…

The main blog discussions this week include … Talking to the elephant in the room Yes, we’re all doing stuff from our home offices. I don’t know what your office is like, but mine’s quite nice. I like it. Until I noticed a strange smell yesterday. Didn’t know what it was, so I had to…

Yes, we’re all doing stuff from our home offices. I don’t know what your office is like, but mine’s quite nice. I like it. Until I noticed a strange smell yesterday. Didn’t know what it was, so I had to look around the room a lot, then suddenly realised … … there was an elephant…

I’ve talked about Global Processing Services, GPS, a few times now. They’re the power behind payments processing at several major start-ups like Curve, Revolut and Starling Bank. Anyway, during this crisis, I decided to have a chat with them in more depth and interviewed Shaun Puckrin, Chief Product Officer. You may find it enlightening. An…

I’m winding people up with blockchain this week. As I was doing that, a song came back to me on regular occasion. A song about Blockheads. I went back to the song and re-read the lyrics. It’s about Essex Boys back in the 1970s. Not quite the world of today, is it? But there is…

There have been two major announcements of women as leaders of banks in the USA in the past month. First, Citibank announced that Jane Fraser would be the new CEO and then Goldman Sachs announced that Stephanie Cohen would head up their consumer and wealth management operations. I noted that a few friends – Theo…

It shows what a complex world we live in within our financial markets. We debate whether companies should get involved in politics, but banks cannot avoid politics. Banks are integral to governments and economies and, as such, are a political tool. Equally, banks choose to operate in markets that could be positive or negative to their…

The main blog discussions this week include …. Change the System (#FinCEN) I got this endorsement from the one and only Alice Cooper the other day … … it was sent by a friend to cheer me up and it surely did. A lot. Love Alice Cooper. But it made me reflect too on the…