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In my head, I often have an argument and, unsurprisingly, I had one today. Today’s argument is around how technology is used in finance and whether it’s a good or a bad thing. Therefore, in the spirit of a good Oxford debate, we have the proposer and opposer. The debate would go as follows (in…

Building on yesterday’s blog, I just stumbled across a podcast called Tech Trends by JPMorgan Chase – everything to do with tech, digital, data and fintech, broadcast by a bank. Fantastic. The first show I downloaded is all about organising data to fuel growth. Interestingly, their Chief Data Officer defines data as the fuel for…

I just delivered a two-day immersive course in digital transformation for a bank and found myself regularly saying digital is the core, data is the asset. It did trip off the tongue nicely, but it also summarised the essence of what digital transformation is all about. You start with digital as the core. You build…

I just had an interview with a journalist via email. It was quite interesting, and wanted to share it with you. The key point being made is that everything we have today – apps, online, cards and more – are going to disappear. Are they? Mobile payments, BNPL, open banking, artificial intelligence – these are…

Over the years, there have been many weird and wacky ideas for banking. There was the G&L Bank in the USA in 2000, targeting the LBGTQ+ community. It was a viable, niche, boutique bank, but twenty years ahead of its time. The was a David Bowie bank, surprisingly called Bowie Bank. Again, it did not…

This week’s main blog discussions include … How can AI minimise fraud? Someone came up with the idea of running a series of events called Dinner with Skinner … no idea who would have thought that up … and so I run and moderate many discussions with fintech firms and bankers around the topics chosen…

For some time, Jill Castilla has been on my radar. Winning numerous awards for innovation in US banking, she shines out as someone special, so I made contact and asked if she would have a chat with me. She said yes!, so here is that conversation. Chris Skinner: The main reason I reached out is you…

Someone came up with the idea of running a series of events called Dinner with Skinner … no idea who would have thought that up … and so I run and moderate many discussions with fintech firms and bankers around the topics chosen by sponsors. The latest one was looking at a key question: how…

I was reading stories over the weekend of hundreds of branch closures planned by banks. This has been forecast for years – back in the 1990s, it was clear that branch based distribution was unsustainable and costly – but it has finally hit. When I was a lad, for example, there were over 20,000 bank…

I’m always looking for innovations in new banks and spent some time with MYbank, the bank created by Ant Group in 2014. My first visit was in 2017, and the bank was doing well. Focusing upon SMEs, the bank shot to massive growth volumes, making a staggering $30 billion in loans in first quarter 2022…