Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

The rise of the mobile wallet

I first started blogging about smart mobile wallets in earnest in 2014. Back then, the mobile network operators were starting to get active and to try and bring the M-PESA and other experiences to the modern world. But no one wanted them. Six years later, mobile wallets are still pretty dire in most of Europe…

Why are banks so easy to dislike?

I’ve realised over the last few weeks that my FinTech Karaoke is generally having a dig at bad bankers. It’s easy to have a go at bad bankers or, as the 99% call them, banksters. It’s because there’s a lot of bad practices historically in banking from ripping off customers with hidden fees (PPI); signing…

The FinTech Karaoke Challenge: Mr. Blue Sky

[A longer version of this blog appears here, explaining why so many songs are anti-bank] During lockdown, Spotify has found that the song Mr Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is the most popular song of the summer. It makes us feel good, even though the song is over forty years old (stop…

The Finanser’s Week: 14th September 2020 – 20th September 2020

The main blog discussions this week include …. True innovation comes from collaboration This week is a bit different on the blog as I’m going to introduce you to one of my other businesses: Nordic Future Innovation. Nordic Future Innovation (originally Nordic Finance Innovation) is a venture I  started almost ten years ago with Iren Tranvag. We…

Can we use finance to make Earth green? (Meniga interview)

This week’s blogs are inspired by our global connector Marisol Menendez The final interview with our Nordic Connection Festival companies is with the winner, Meniga (I was not a judge!). I spoke with Bragi Fjalldal, CMO & VP Business Development, about what the company is doing these days, particularly with sustainability. Tell me about Meniga….

Catching the launderers during onboarding (it’s Pliance)

This week’s blogs are inspired by our global connector Marisol Menendez In the second of this week’s interviews with firms who were winners of our Nordic Connection Festival, I spoke with Siam Choudhury, Co-founder and CEO of Pliance, an anti-money laundering solution. To begin with Siam, tell me a bit about what you guys get…

Financial advice augmented by AI (it’s called Responsive)

This week’s blogs are inspired by our global connector Marisol Menendez As mentioned, this week is a little different and, in the first of three interviews with entries in our Nordic Connection Festival during the summer, I interviewed Davyde Wachell, founder and CEO of Responsive AI … Tell me about Responsive and what you guys…

True innovation comes from collaboration

This week’s blogs are inspired by our global connector Marisol Menendez This week is a bit different on the blog as I’m going to introduce you to one of my other businesses: Nordic Future Innovation. Nordic Future Innovation (originally Nordic Finance Innovation) is a venture I  started almost ten years ago with Iren Tranvag. We began in…

Who needs management theories? Give me practicalities …

I remember someone made a comment at a conference a while ago, and it got a big laugh. An academic is someone who looks at something working in practice and wonders what it looks like in theory Hmmm. Does that mean: A practitioner is someone who looks at something working in theory and makes it…

The FinTech Karaoke Challenge: Umbrella

Now I’m no Jay-Z and definitely a million miles from a Rihanna, but there is an old saying attributed to Mark Twain that “a banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.” This persists generally as a view around the…

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Chris Skinner
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Kids creating the future bank | TEDxAthens

Captain Cake and the Candy Crew

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