Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

How AI will change banking

The World Economic Forum has been conducting research over the last year around how AI (Artificial Intelligence) will change banking that was published last week. Here’s the lowdown: Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing the physics of financial services. It is weakening the bonds that have held together the component parts of incumbent financial institutions, opening…

The Finanser’s Week: 13th August 2018 – 19th August 2018

The main blog headlines this week are … Do we need a blockchain? I haven’t written about blockchain for a while. I guess it’s because I got bored of it. I’m not bored of the promise of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. Just bored of how much hype there has been and of so many…

Forcing banks to tell customers their ranks

On Wednesday, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority published the first survey of whether retail or small business customers would recommend their bank to family and friends. The information must be published by the bank in their branches, website and apps, and is pretty embarrassing for some and good for others. For example, Metro Bank comes…

Technology is improving the world, not destroying it

For all the negative views of technology, the positive is that it is enabling and inclusive. This is what Digital Human explores in depth. The main critique of my book is that it is too optimistic about the future of technology, and should be more balanced. Nevertheless, after yesterday’s post about the evils of the…

Zuckerberg, Gates, Bezos, Ma & Co are destroying the world

I was listening to Andrew Keen, digital sceptic, giving a keynote at a conference. He was lambasting the way in which the internet had developed, and the fact that it had gifted power to a small, select few companies, who own the world. Apple, with its trillion-dollar valuation, could buy four Chile’s or two Poland’s….

Do we need a blockchain?

I haven’t written about blockchain for a while. I guess it’s because I got bored of it. I’m not bored of the promise of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. Just bored of how much hype there has been and of so many companies claiming to have the latest blockchain breakthrough. However, when I saw this…

Decentralisation demands data safes

I keep thinking about the future internet and the ideal of creating a network where no one controls anything. It may sound silly, but it is developing already. In fact, in HBO’s excellent series Silicon Valley, the guys at Pied Piper recently did a pivot to try to create exactly this. The start-up gang are…

The Finanser’s Week: 6th August 2018 – 12th August 2018

The main blog headlines are … Millennials: STOP EATING AVOCADOS!!! I’ve spotted a couple of interesting discussions about millennials and money in the last week, both of which say that the views on them are wrong. Stereotyped as avocado-crunching, cappuccino drinking, needies, the general media view is that this is a generation spoilt by helicopter…

According to one banker, banks are just like sewage

Now I didn’t make this statement, to be clear. A banker did. He was talking about the four quadrants of service, and said that banking needed to become like the sewage system: invisible, but incredibly important that it works especially when it’s urgent. I liked his ideas, and he presented it like this. Banking today…

Venmo’s growing pains and the rise of Zelle

I know I’ve written a lot about China and the Chinese internet giants for the past couple of years, whilst leaving out much of what’s happening in the USA. It’s not to say the USA is boring, but it’s not innovating at the speed, rate or scale of the Chinese internet companies. By way of…

Chris Skinner Keynote, April 2025, Europe

Intelligent Money: Our Future Is Where We Do Not Think About Money, As Our Money Thinks For Us

What is the future?

Learn more

Learn more about Chris

About Chris Skinner

The Past, Present And Future Of Banking, Finance And Technology

Fintech expert Chris Skinner: countries need digital transformation to remain competitive

Join me on Linkedin

Follow Me on X!

Hire Chris Skinner for dinners, workshops and more

Learn directly from from one of the most influential people in technology, gain insights from the world's most innovative companies, and build a global network.

Chris’s latest book

Order now

Chris Skinner’s ‘Intelligent Money’ Book Launch Event

Lifetime Achievement Award

Kids creating the future bank | TEDxAthens

Alex at the Financial Services

Gaping Void's Hugh MacLeod worked with the Finanser