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Seven years ago, I was citing the fact that 43% of the global financial system runs on a computer language no-one speaks anymore. Seven years later, PC Magazine (are PC’s still a thing?) picked up on this theme with the headline: The World Depends on 60-Year-Old Code No One Knows Anymore | PCMag … and sub-headline:…

This week’s main blog discussions include: We need banking that is unusual Over the week, I got an update about Revolut and their business model. It was quite interesting although a little bit macro-level. My favourite part is where the Business Model Analyst listed the competitors to Revolut: Monzo: Monzo is a UK-based digital bank that offers features…

There are a number of numbers being bandied around regarding the major slump in the fintech sector over the past two years. The latest one that I picked up on is from the Indian data intelligence firm Tracxn, stating that UK fintechs raised just $4.3bn in 2023, a sharp drop from $11.2bn in 2022, which…

There’s a big scandal in Britain. It’s been bubbling away for almost thirty years, but has only come into the mainstream today thanks to a TV drama about what happened. So, 2024 started with this TV dramatization of the true story of how the UK postal service bankrupted many of their franchise holders due to…

Over the week, I got an update about Revolut and their business model. It was quite interesting although a little bit macro-level. My favourite part is where the Business Model Analyst listed the competitors to Revolut: Monzo: Monzo is a UK-based digital bank that offers features similar to Revolut, including budgeting tools, international money transfers, and fee-free spending…

HSBC has just launched a rival to Revolut and Wise for consumer foreign exchange transfers. Calling it Zing*, and currently available only in the UK, the idea is to offer a “worry-free
international money app”, even though they exist already. Why would HSBC’s be any different? You can find out the nuts and bolts of Zing…

Everyone got very excited last week about the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission, USA) approved the use of bitcoin on ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). Fantastic … but what does it all mean? Does it mean the SEC approves of bitcoin trading? Does it mean the Federal Reserve and USGov endorse cryptocurrencies? Some would say yes,…

The main blog discussions this week include … What’s in store for 2024: The Economy Welcome to 2024! For this first week of 2024, I’m going to summarise the stuff I’ve seen around the PEST landscape. PEST? Politically, Economically, Socially and Technologically. What’s in store for 2024: The Technology I was looking for the top…

Having covered so many articles on 2024 predictions this week, I am struck by how nearly all of them are AI-focused. That was 2023 folks. 2024 will be far more about geopolitics, which is one of five megaforces identified by BlackRock in a major recent research report, as summarised by Satori News: The world is…

According to most pundits, 2024 looks like a great year for cryptocurrency. Analytics Insight predicts a resurgence, with the crypto market expected to surpass the US$3 trillion mark. Why? The main driver seems to be another bitcoin halving, but also Ethereum and altcoins seem to be big movers, alongside rising crypto adoption amongst mainstream institutions. Gemini,…