Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

The FinTech Karaoke Challenge: My Way

OK, OK, OK.  I know that some of my friends have been doing FinTech and Banking songs for a while, and I’ve avoided it. I’ve also avoided doing much video, as I don’t like seeing myself on camera. And I don’t sing, except in the shower. But … … oh dear … … my FinTech…

The Finanser’s Week: 13th July 2020 – 19th July 2020

The main blog headlines are … What you really, really want is money (that’s what I want) I’ve written quite a few times about how economies work and the role of money as power. In particular, money is not just power but status, and leads to attractiveness, and the ability to get someone above your…

What you really, really want is money (that’s what I want)

I’ve written quite a few times about how economies work and the role of money as power. In particular, money is not just power but status, and leads to attractiveness, and the ability to get someone above your league in looks. I’ve likened it to experiments with monkeys where, when fruit becomes a currency, many…

Apple Card #fail?

Years and years ago, I did a business process analysis for an insurance company. One of the people I met there and interviewed said: “We’ve bred a group of box tickers and button pushers” This was, in context, about their underwriters. They ticked boxes and pushed buttons. Their process was black and white: you’re either…

AI will augment, not destroy humanity

I’ve spent years talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Source: Europa Bearing in mind that we always talk about AI in the context of the Turing Test – a test that Alan Turing created back in 1950 – it’s not surprising. That test is that we will have achieved the true opportunities for technological  development when…

Digital Banking for the Poor

I have a few friends around the world that I pick up on, and The World Bank and CGAP are amongst that crew. Therefore, when I saw that Peter Zetterli, senior financial sector specialist with CGAP, was blogging about financial inclusion I couldn’t but help reach out to him and ask him to write a…

Chris Skinner’s FinTech Rap

This could be a serious mistake, as I’m an old guy who wasn’t born for rapping, but I can’t help myself. I woke up today and thought: you should make a rap video. Stupid, I know, but can’t help myself. My wife actually wandered into the office as I recorded this and said: are you ok?…

The Finanser’s Week: 6th July 2020 – 12th July 2020

The main blog headlines are … HSBC and Standard Chartered are wrong to kowtow to China over Hong Kong I keep saying that I don’t want to be political on this blog – I’m not qualified and it’s not why you read it – but, as a human being, I cannot ignore things like Black…

Neobanks: are they really challenging?

In surfing this week, I found a great article on my friend Amit Goel‘s website GoMedici.com. The company has just completed a deep dive into the world of challenger banks or, as they term them, neobanks. The time for neobanks is now. Here’s their summary of thinking: Neobanking 2.0: Global Deep Dive 2020 Just like…

Should we gamify banking?

OK, no more politics … unless it’s important to banking, technology and fintech … and back to my usual boring diatribes. There’s been a discussion a while ago about making banking fun, gamifying finance and giving rewards for smart spending and saving. I was an advocate of such ideas, but now I’m not so sure. I’m…