Grid

The main blog headlines are … What will the world be like when #coronavirus ends? (Part One) Most of the people around the world have savings that can last them less than a month. In the USA, 29% of households have less than $1,000 in savings; in the UK, 15% …

I hesitate to write that headline – after all, none of knows when or even if this pandemic will end – but what I do know is that, in this time of crisis, there are lots of things changing: our beliefs, our priorities, our views, our relationships. I sat down …

Most of the people around the world have savings that can last them less than a month. In the USA, 29% of households have less than $1,000 in savings; in the UK, 15% of Brits have no savings at all; and in most economies worldwide, a large tranche of society have …

What if we make money truly global, stable and secure? That’s Libra’s ambition and I’ve got to hand it to the guys at Libra. Having announced their idea to create a global currency last summer, and then see it ripped to pieces by regulators, they’re back. Yes, it’s Libra 2.0. What’s …

I grew up in a time that was not politically correct. We used to have names for people who did not fit with our thinking, that were often derogatory and rude. Then, as I grew up, the world globalised and inclusion became more the norm. We became connected by easy …

Britain’s Got Talent is running right now in the UK and I really enjoyed this comedic sketch by Baptist Minister Allan Finnegan. You may not be able to watch it in your country, so here’s the script: I’ve been married for thirty years, which means my love life is a …

The main blog headlines are … The failure of government (#coronavirus) I’m really frustrated between what the government is saying, the media is reporting, the behaviour of banks, the thrust of business and the reality of life. Governments worldwide are locking down and, at the same time, saying they’re going …

Looking back, the world should have locked down when China did in January. The reason we didn’t? Economics, business, commerce and the financial metrics. If we had? Well, we wouldn’t be suffering nearly as much now. But hey, hindsight is a great thing, isn’t it? One of the things that …

I’m really frustrated between what the government is saying, the media is reporting, the behaviour of banks, the thrust of business and the reality of life. Governments worldwide are locking down and, at the same time, saying they’re going to help citizens and business; media is telling everyone there’s help, …

Someone asked me what the coronavirus pandemic means for the future of FinTech. I’ve blogged a bit about that already, referring specifically to this great presentation by Finch Capital: But equally, you may think that times are dull and boring, locked in at home and nothing going on, but there’s …

For most of my adult life, we’ve been part of the European Union. The Brexit vote came as a shock, and the unravelling of Britain from Europe for the past four years has been a major stalemate in British life and politics. Now, the whole euro project might come tumbling …

A lot of things seem irrelevant right now, as we sit in the dark of a crisis, but life will go on and things do go on. It therefore intrigued me to see that Accenture has just performed a survey around purpose-driven banking. Purpose-driven banking is something I started writing …

The main blog headlines are … Will you avoid companies that put profit before people? I’ve been writing a lot about purpose-driven banking, a theme that resonates around the idea that business focus should be more than just making money. It should also focus upon doing good for society and …

I remember some years ago that Nikolas Sarkozy wanted to bring in a law that would force call centre operators to tell French citizens where they were located, due to the backlash over offshore call centres. I wonder what he would make of today’s world, where most French and European …

There’s a great write-up by one of my guest contributors Alex Johnson, about the bad sales culture of most banks. Admittedly, he says it’s partly inspired by my blog of last year about challenger banks, but his write-up takes it further and has a swipe at the whole bank culture …