Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

How digitalisation is changing lending

I was recently having a chat with my old friend Slava Solodkiy about the way in which digitalisation is changing lending. He then surprised me by summarising our discussion and allowing me to share it here! Here’s his write-up: How digitalisation is changing lending When thinking about this my brain thought linearly – taking current…

Focus on needs, not wants

I got this sign the other day, and it really resonated. I guess it resonated as, for nearly all of my life, I’ve had wants. It’s a terrible disease, as needs is far less serious. Wants is that there’s always something you want but cannot have. As a result, you work as hard as you…

Creating the world that is the best it can be

Attending a dinner with family the other night, we got into a kind of argument or debate that had me in one corner as the boomer and my friend, a young parent, as GenZ. It was a heated debate and I don’t think either of us won. What do you think? Summarising the discussion, I’ll…

We are all just prisoners here, of our own device …

I just found a fascinating report from data.ai about the state of mobile usage today. Apparently we spend a third of the day, on average, playing with our phones. The mobile economy is now worth more than half a trillion dollars; with most of it generated through spending on mobile adverts; and almost 500,000 apps…

Fintech Islands – a great experience for both business and pleasure!

Over the past few years, I’ve been to many fintech events around the world, from London to Las Vegas; Sydney to Singapore; Kigali to Karachi; but last week was a first, for me, Fintech Islands in Barbados. Well yes, someone had to go I guess and so, when asked, how could I resist? The conference…

The Finanser’s Week: 22nd January 2024 – 28th January 2024

This week’s main blog discussions include … Old bank fears of regulators is opening massive new markets to their challengers I’ve just been through a very strange process with my main personal bank account provider who, thanks to fear of FCA and crypto, noticed that I had regular payments in and out of my account…

Do you have scruples?

I got into a Scruples debate this week. You know Scruples? A feeling of doubt or hesitation with regard to the morality or propriety of a course of action. Well, that’s the dictionary definition. The real definition should be where you know something is wrong morally and ethically, and wonder what to do about it….

A $7 trillion opportunity for banks … or is it?

Banks are boring but necessary. Banks are stable, secure, reliant, resilient and shouldn’t innovate or do things that could increase risk to the system. As a result, banks have been here forever and, love or hate them, will never go away. According to a new report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), global banks could boost…

60 seconds to midnight

I grew up with lots of things, but one that struck me in the heart was a song Seven Minutes to Midnight that came out in the late 1970s (showing my age). What did the song mean? I discovered it related to the Doomsday Clock, the clock that measured the threats to our planet and…