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ValueWeb: How FinTech firms are using bitcoin blockchain and mobile technologies to create the Internet of Value After months of writing and editing, I’m delighted to say that my new book ValueWeb is now available. “Chris Skinner – one of the most authoritative voices on Fintech anywhere – has provided us another timely and thoughtful…

Flying back from Oslo after the SWIFT Nordics Conference, I was reflecting on the blockchain discussion we had.  I chaired the discussion which was titled: “Blockchain: from hype to real world applications” and was joined by Vytautas Karalevicius from Spectro Finance, Lasse Meholm of Nordea and Colin Kwan from Magnr.  It is clear that there…

Just had a great discussion about data analytics and visualisation at the SWIFT Nordics Conference in Oslo.  During the discussion we talked a lot about data for risk management and how real-time tracking of payments could help identify suspicious activities from fraud and malware attacks to the possibility of AML and sanctions breach.  I couldn’t…

I am surprised how many new start-up banks there are in Britain.  My list so far includes physical distribution players such as: Santander (a challenger?) that moved to the UK in 2004 with the acquisition of Abbey Banco Sabadell’s acquisition of Lloyds spin-off TSB the soon-to-launch RBS spin off William & Glyn Vernon Hill’s Metro…

BBVA have made another bold move this week, acquiring Holvi. This follows hard on the heels of other significant moves, such as investing $60 million in digital first UK start-up bank Atom and the acquisition of Simple a couple of years ago.  From that acquisition, they now have re-hired Simple co-founder Shamir Karkal to build their…

The Cards & Payments Awards 2016 took place the other day, so I thought I’d pick out the three Awards that interest me the most: Best Technology Initiative; Best Initiative in Mobile Payments; and Best Industry Innovation. BEST TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE Winner: Bottomline Technologies Bottomline’s Agency Services is a relatively new solution, and the interest it…

Our main stories of this week includes … Why most banks fail at transformational change I had a few wake up calls in my years of working in financial services, and a couple of key ones gave me an insight into the mentality of major financial firms that have stayed pretty true ever since.  The first was…

I had a few wake up calls in my years of working in financial services, and a couple of key ones gave me an insight into the mentality of major financial firms that have stayed pretty true ever since.  The first was working with a major bank on a process re-engineering project.  We had narrowed…

I find it interesting when you look at the Fintech start-up scene and the hotbed of interest now in the blockchain.  There are 100s of companies attempting to do something in these areas, and it amuses me that my Beer and Bordeaux clash is even more notable in this emerging ecosystem. First, you have the…

We had a great debate at the Financial Services Club last night between digital money sage Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion, and all things bitcoin master Jon Matonis. The debate was about whether blockchain is faster and cheaper, and it was clear from the start that this was going to be difficult as the question…