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I was in the middle of a conversation about how to change the bank, when we started talking about the boardroom issue. As many of you will know, I often reference the fact that, according to research, over nine out of ten bank boardroom members have never had a job in technology. How can you…

Something happened to me this week that made me think of big bank friends. It’s a different industry and one that, last month, I said we could learn from:the airlines. So, here’s a sobering, learning lesson. I’m a gold member of most airline networks, having flown Star Alliance and One World for years. I’m a British Airways…

I’m regularly asked why I don’t think banks are doing digital yet, and my answer consists of a series of steps. First, does the banks’ leadership team talk about digital, digital banking, digital investment and digital transformation? Invariably, all bank people tell me yes. OK, second, has the bank actually made any visible changes to…

Emmanuel Macron faced protesters across France during the weekend, in a country where he has been dubbed The President of the Rich. What interests me is that title. The President of the Rich. Are not all governments, the governments of the rich? Isn’t that why we have the 99% for, as the rich get richer,…

The 11th of November. 11 November. 11/11. Not 9/11 or 5/11. 11/11. For Europeans and Americans, 11/11 means the end of the First World War. The Allies sat down and signed the Armistice Agreement with the Germans at 11:00 (Paris time) on 11th November, 1918, in Compiègne and ended the War. Poland reappeared as a…

The main blog headlines are … Will Ripple replace SWIFT? It’s a big week of FinTech in Asia with Money 2020 China and the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) all taking place in the same week. One of the headlines emerging from SFF was an interview with Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple. The headline is from…

It’s a big week of FinTech in Asia with Money 2020 China and the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) all taking place in the same week. One of the headlines emerging from SFF was an interview with Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple. The headline is from a Bloomberg interview and reads: Ripple Is Aiming to Overtake…

Twenty years ago, I worked on a strategy for the future of banking. My conclusion was that banks would merge with telecommunications firms and become hybrid institutions. Twenty years later, it hasn’t happened. But will it? It was interesting because way back then I worked for NCR which was owned by AT&T. AT&T, a telecommunications…

There’s nothing like a true story to bring a point home, so here’s my latest one. I’m starting a new venture. It’s a philanthropic thing, nothing to do with banking, but because we are seeking sponsorship, we need to open a bank account. I choose to open an account with ABC Bank, where I already…

I often find myself in weird or frustrating situations that I don’t know how to break. For example, dealing with clients who require a Government Tax Residency Letter and multiple hurdles to be cleared before they can make payment; or dealing with American clients who want to pay me by cheque; or, worst of all, American clients who require…