Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

A challenger challenges back

After writing quite a lot challenging the challenger banks, one reached out to me asking for a slight correction of view. OakNorth. Now, this is a bank I like, as they’ve been doing so much under the radar, so I said that if they wanted to raise their head above the parapet, why not write…

Does anyone know what a Merchant Payments Ecosystem is?

I just presented to the Merchant Payments Ecosystem conference. I’ve presented there before, and this year was virtual … as are all 2020 conferences. 2020 is the virtual year. I sat and thought about what to present. I have 1,000 slides or more, but I don’t do slides on lockdown. Too boring. I talk. So,…

The FinTech Karaoke Challenge: Googbusters

Everyone keeps talking about Big Tech opening banks. Rather than opening or buying banks, most of the Big Tech firms are partnering with them. Apple and Goldman Sachs make a nice pair as does Google, who partner with a variety of banks to offer financial capabilities. Several of the Big Tech firms have danced around…

The Finanser’s Week: 31st August 2020 – 6th September 2020

The main blog discussions this week include …. Why big banks get bigger (it’s all about Pac-Man) I’ve spent a long time writing about how bad banks are with technology and digital transformation … but I’ve never said banks will be eaten by technology. So many other companies and industries are destroyed by technology, but…

Why big banks get bigger (it’s all about Pac-Man)

I’ve spent a long time writing about how bad banks are with technology and digital transformation … but I’ve never said banks will be eaten by technology. So many other companies and industries are destroyed by technology, but banking is not one of them. I laugh when I read about The End of Banking, Banking…

New Research Finds Banking Industry Positive on Effects of Covid-Crisis

During the summer I teamed up with a colleague, George Ravich, to research views on the crisis amongst the financial community. We published the results in August, and here’s an update guest blog from George on the process.   New Research Finds Banking Industry Positive on Effects of Covid-Crisis Chris Skinner and I set out…

The 11 P’s of Banking and 4 P’s of the Banking Mix

When I was growing up with learning management skills, one of those I focused upon was marketing and Kotler’s 4 P’s. If you’re not familiar it’s all about product, price, promotion and place. It’s something easy to remember, but then most folks are hard pushed to remember more than three things. That’s a shame as…

Neobanks battle on the path to profitability

Regular commentator and contributor Ajit Tripathi wrote a brilliant piece the other day, discussing the path to profitability for neobanks. He’s kindly allowed to share his insights here, so enjoy! Neobanks have Jobs to Be Done Abstract: Covid19 has changed the capital and market environment for neobanks and challenged the strategic assumptions underlying a #blitzscaling approach. In this article…

The Karaoke Challenge: Despacito

During my karaoke lockdown challenge, I’ve been surprised how engaged my audience is, from those who encouraged me to do JaJa Ding Dong to a trans-Atlantic duet with Barb MacLean of Islands in the Stream. However, I’ve never been as challenged as I was this week. I got an email from Oriol Ros of Latinia…

The Finanser’s Week: 24th August 2020 – 30th August 2020

This week continued the focus upon the challenges for challengers: [Monzo + Starling + Revolut] – Pandemic = The End? Over the past week or two, the neobank and challenger bank sector has been issuing financial reports. If you haven’t noticed: WHERE WERE YOU? Monzo got a particular hammering for warning that the coronavirus pandemic…