Grid

The first week of January each year I make a range of predictions about what’s to come.  The last week of December each year, I look back at my predictions and call myself out as to whether I was right or wrong.   So here were the predictions made back in January: PayPal will be a…

I blogged a while ago about Anthony Browne, the Chief Executive of the British Bankers Association (BBA), talking at the Financial Services Club about the challenges facing banks.  He covered it in five big areas of change: Regulation Competition between banks Competition between countries and regions Governance and ethics Digitalisation There are a few other…

Earlier this year, I summarised some of the best research papers that had been released on FinTech and Blockchain in three parts: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.  Thanks to Oliver Bussmann’s blog, I can now provide you with a list of the best research released on Fintech this year.  Enjoy! 2016-12 Digital Asset Holding Non Technical…

A summary of the main blogs of the week … Open Banking consultation (deadline December 23 2016) I’ve been talking a lot about open sourcing financial services this year and, more recently, tracking Open Banking.   The Open Banking Working Group was launched just over a year by HM Treasury to create an Open Banking Standard.  The…

I’ve been talking a lot about open sourcing financial services this year and, more recently, tracking Open Banking.   The Open Banking Working Group was launched just over a year by HM Treasury to create an Open Banking Standard.  The standard is meant to guide how open banking data should be created, shared and used by its owners and those…

So we finished the Financial Services Club season with a discussion of the implications of Brexit on the City of London and Fintech London, with a panel debate amongst four stellar people: Sharon Bowles, former MEP and now Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted; Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO, Innovate Finance; Jeremy Light, Managing Director, Accenture Payment Services; and…

Building on yesterday’s news, the consumer research organisation Which? just released a report with a whole bunch of stats on UK bank branch closures.  Over 1,000 branches have closed in the last two years, with HSBC being most aggressive, shutting over 27% of their network. Source: BBC A total of 1,046 branches – equivalent to…

I was pointed to this article in the weekend’s Daily Wail by the one and only Duena Blomstrom, and it makes for great reading.  It’s all about the death squeals of consumers and journalists as they see the last bank in the village leave.  Here’s the list of HSBC bank branch closures this year alone: What…

I’ve written a bit about space this year, because it’s getting really interesting.  It’s also because I’m a frequent flyer and can see how our world of transport has changed so, so much. When I was little, my grandparents lived in a small village in North Devon.  They had lived there their whole lives, except…

This week’s main blog items are … The unbankable banked Reflecting on the last year, it’s been crazy.  I feel like I’ve spent most of the year jumping on and off airplanes.  Most visited cities are London, for obvious reasons, and Singapore.  I must have been there five or six times this year, and that…