Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

This week’s FU!

RIP Tina Turner – she might not have been the first to sing “Simply The Best” but she certainly was one of the greatest artists of all time in our books. Another great lady to hit the headlines this week was “The Darling of Starling” – Anne Boden, who announced she will be stepping down as CEO…

Question everything

I just had this chat on twitter, based upon my line: Question Everything! Question everythinghttps://t.co/jxovLjMuns pic.twitter.com/5Nz07Z0BmF — Chris Skinner (@Chris_Skinner) May 19, 2023 My friend Ajit asked WHY? My answer was: because, if you don’t, you accept everything as it is … which is not right when everything is changing around you. This reminded me…

Some challenger banks are challenged

I’ve written quite a lot about Revolut and Monzo, as well as many other challenger banks. Now, as we hit hard times with rising inflation, interest rates and a recession looming in so many markets what’s the state of the fintech nation? Well, it’s challenging for challengers. Some are doing well, but many are being called out for…

But I don’t want to be empowered!

Some years ago, I was talking about corporate transformation and the move from command-control to coach-counsel organisations. Command-control are businesses that run in a military style. You do what I tell you to do and obey the rules. Coach-counsel was far more developmental. How can I help you achieve your dreams. Some described the former…

Thinking about 2023

2023 is proving to be a really weird year. On the back of a pandemic, we have a world where interest rates are rising, business is contracting, tax is going up and confidence is going down. I cannot see anywhere in the world that is stable or normal. We have war in Europe; China has…

The art of #catfishing is turbo-charged

Technology is making catfishing a new art form that is getting better every single day. What is catfishing? Catfishing refers to when a person takes information and images, typically from other people, and uses them to create a new identity for themselves. Therefore, I was struck by this when a tweet by my friend Dave Birch noted…

The Finanser’s Week: 15th May – 21st May 2023

This week’s main blog discussions include … Decentralised versus centralised On the one hand we want order and control; on the other, we don’t want to be ordered or controlled. We want governance, but we don’t want to be governed. We appreciate structure, but we don’t want to have that structure tell us what to…

Fintech Uncut (#FU23)

Will the USA default on its debt or just raise the ceiling? Another horror story from the ranks of Revolut and more excuses from bank execs who never seem to shoulder the blame for anything! AND – that’s now the second episode in a row where the team didn’t mention Elon Musk – yes, we…

Decentralised versus centralised

On the one hand we want order and control; on the other, we don’t want to be ordered or controlled. We want governance, but we don’t want to be governed. We appreciate structure, but we don’t want to have that structure tell us what to do. The issue is a basic one: how far can…

Can banks change our future?

I just shared a speech by Christopher J. Waller, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, that started with this comment: “Climate change is real, but I do not believe it poses a serious risk to the safety and soundness of large banks or the financial stability of the United States.”…