When did you last write a check (cheque)? When did you last receive one? Although a valid payment mechanism in some countries, it has been phased out in many. Finland stopped using checks in 1993 and Poland in 2006. The Netherlands have taken it a step further. Having banned domestic checks back in 2002, the…
I often say that blockchain is one of the most complex areas, combining all we don’t know about technology with all we don’t understand about finance. It’s a big hole of acronyms, confusion and debate. Some things that claim to be blockchain don’t use blockchains, and some blockchains claim not to be blockchains but blockchain…
I often talk about the business model of a bank (or any business) being made up of three major parts: A back office that manufactures the product and administers the service; A middle office where the infrastructure is built to connect the back and front office; and A front office where the relationship exists between…
The main blog headlines are … Are humans really needed for banking? I enjoy being around bankers who have been immersed in the industry nearly all of their lives and hearing their war stories. I heard two stories recently from a retiring banker, and thought it worth sharing to show just how far we’ve come….
I enjoy being around bankers who have been immersed in the industry nearly all of their lives and hearing their war stories. I heard two stories recently from a retiring banker, and thought it worth sharing to show just how far we’ve come. This friend started life in international banking in the wilds of the…
The term The Internet of Things (IoT) was first used twenty years ago. Twenty years later, IoT is emerging rapidly. We have our cars and homes networked but, more than this, we have gadgets like Google Home, Siri and Alexa. Amazon has taken this even further with services like Key for Garage, a smart door…
I saw a write-up in The Financial Times the other day on how Silicon Valley is eating the banker’s lunch. The article was written by Tom Braithwaite. Tom Braithwaite is the companies editor, managing the FT’s business coverage. Based in London, he was previously a Lex columnist in San Francisco. Prior roles include US banking…
As I walk around The City, I’m often finding new buildings, new developments and major erections rising around the Square Mile. On that latter note, I don’t mean Boris Johnston, but major new office blocks. Obviously, with Brexit, a lot of people would think that this would not be the case because Dublin, Frankfurt and…
I just picked up a Financial Times article talking about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will change the way you deal with money. It’s actually more about the Chinese internet giant Ping An, and how they’re changing finance using AI. If you are a customer of Chinese financial services group Ping An, you can use a new…
