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Finally, just over a week ago, Open Banking came into the UK and Open APIs into the European Union. I am sure you all know what this is all about by now but, just in case, it is the regulations that force banks to share data through APIs – plug and play software – with…

The main blog headlines are … #Brexit, Banking and Equivalence As usual, the Financial Services Club was delighted to host David Doyle as our starting speaker for 2018, and he presented a fine overview of all the things bubbling as top  of the agenda in the European Union’s regulatory plans for 2018. Led by the…

As usual, the Financial Services Club was delighted to host David Doyle as our starting speaker for 2018, and he presented a fine overview of all the things bubbling as top  of the agenda in the European Union’s regulatory plans for 2018. Led by the Bulgarian presidency, the agenda focuses primarily on pushing forward the…

I’ve been in touch with Colin Iles in South Africa for a while now. Formerly the head of client strategy at Barclays Africa (ABSA), he’s now been working on a new bank called Capitec. I say new, it’s actually been around for 17 years, but it is interesting that for a bank launched in 2001…

I am tempted to predict the price of bitcoin for the end of 2018 but know I’d be wrong, so I’m not. It could be $1 or $1 million. I’m not going to forecast it, as there are over 1,000 digital currencies out there and who knows which will be the winner long-term. However, one…

I visited Tallinn towards the end of last year. If you’re not familiar it’s the capital of Estonia, a country that is the most advanced digital economy in Europe. This all began due to a hack ten years ago, when intrepid Russians were commissioned to destabilise the country’s economy. This hack led to Estonia rapidly…

I’ve been at a few conferences this week, and was amused by an audience poll at one event. The moderator first of all asked: Do you believe that the regulators are in the incumbent’s pockets and protect the industry from new competition? You may find it gratifying that most of the audience disagreed with the…

This week’s main blog headlines are … Banking as usual is NOT an option I’ve blogged quite a bit about adapting to change lately, and will continue to do so as banking-as-usual (BAU) is not an option. It’s similar to standing in the middle of the road. If you stand there for long enough, you’ll…

Just before Christmas, I was interviewed by a Turkish magazine about the future, Turkey and fintech. I thought it might interest folks to share it here … When you wrote your first book about fintech – little was known about it. How much has that changed and have your predictions so far come true? Things…

I’m often talking about digital identity and struggle with the subject. This is because the meeting of ID2020 I attended at the United Nations 18 months ago, talked about the issues of digital identity and poverty, and how the poorest are the most susceptible to human trafficking and slavery: How the system crushes the poor Most…