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I’ve a number of great friends in the industry, and enjoy their company and contribution. One of those friends is Gijs Boudewijn, Chair of the Payment Systems Committee at the European Banking Federation who kindly quoted me in his recent presentation on Open Banking. He has also kindly allowed me to share his presentation with y’all…

I’m acutely aware that so many people write and talk about how big banks are dumb and stupid and don’t get digital, that I try to avoid that mantra personally. People do accuse me of being a bank basher, but I’d rather say that I’m a bank challenger (not a challenger bank). I challenge the…

Last week I blogged about Chime’s issues with their third party partner Galileo going down, blocking payments and cards for their five million users for a short time. I made the comment: I would still claim that using cloud native third party partners in a technology ecosystem is far better than trying to do everything…

A few talking points last week, but two hit me in particular. The first is a McKinsey report that reckons half of the world’s banks are not viable. Their cost of equity is higher than their return on equity. Should another downturn hit … well, they’re gone. “Every bank is uniquely bound by both the…

The main blog headlines are … Why decentralised currencies are a PEST! Sometimes you debate stuff and a realisation comes. I had one of these today. When futurists talk about the future, they generally based their opinions on forces of change, known colloquially as PEST. Political, Economic, Social and Technological change. So I was having…

Following on from the discussion of payments in the cloud, I was recently asked by Volante Technologies to consider what being a digital bank means for a commercial bank’s payments and treasury services and identified three areas of focus: moving payments to the cloud; fast-tracking real-time / instant payments adoption; and embracing open banking and…

I’ve avoided any commentary on Brexit in recent times, as it seemed to be going nowhere. Finally, just ten days before deadline, the House of Commons voted that a deal could be done … just not in the deadline given. So, it now looks like 31st January, 2020. Maybe. The whole thing is a mess,…

Sometimes you debate stuff and a realisation comes. I had one of these today. When futurists talk about the future, they generally based their opinions on forces of change, known colloquially as PEST. Political, Economic, Social and Technological change. So I was having this debate with a friend about the future and that’s when the…

Banks are control freaks. I’ve blogged about that often. I’ve also blogged often about how they need to move to be open and partnering. That’s not easy. It’s obviously easier to launch a brand new bank, fresh with no legacy and open to everything, isn’t it? Not necessarily so. The issue with launching a new…

I’ve been noticing that there are more and more issues arising with the big internet giants. Unlike in China, where the companies are working with governments, the big Western giants work outside government control. That creates issues, particularly in Europe where government does not like to be out of control. Hence the reason why American…