Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Innovation

The last thing we need is for banks to innovate

I stumbled across an interesting report by Clarivate who, using a statistical analysis, have identified the 100 most innovative companies in the world. Technology advancement is a complex composition of talent, of competition and of need. New ideas emanate from everywhere scientists, engineers and developers reside. What is the methodology? They basically take the inventiveness…

What should a car sound like?

Banking, like most industries, is being challenged by technology. I don’t say disrupted. Music, entertainment and other industries may have been disrupted. I think banking is challenged. But when I look out at the world, what does surprise and possibly amaze me is how some industries are adapting. We’ve seen banking adapt – who needs…

Green finance is becoming a USP

I see five major groups squeezing the financial markets these days. The first one is obvious: it’s the FinTech start-up community, which is now valued as a third of all banking value. The second is clear too: it’s the Big Tech firms like Facebook and Amazon, who are launching their own currencies and putting pressure…

How does enthnography relate to banking?

Making a statement I was intrigued by a news headline that Lloyds Bank is turning bank statements into art. Sounds ridiculous? Who gets a bank statement anymore? We use an app. But then I read the piece and was more intrigued as yes, it’s been created with an artist. The artist is Paula Zuccotti, who…

Branches, cash and cards? Get out of here!

I’ve been presenting and writing about the end of branches, cash and cards for twenty years: 2007: Bank strategies are fundamentally flawed – design around IP, not branches To be clear, I’m not saying they’re dead. I’ve been saying their role is replaced by the network and digitalisation. Digitalisation is the core, and these old…

BNPL became a big thing in August

Some years ago, July 2015 to be exact, I interviewed Niklas Adalberth, co-founder of Klarna. Niklas left the company shortly after but is still invested and, interestingly, is investing in other unicorns like Mollie. Not bad for a guy who was flipping burgers for a living in his 20s (he’s now 39). I quote from that…

The niche market banks and fintechs are missing

Thing is, when it comes to inclusion, what financial products would you create for people who are blind, deaf, have lost limbs and more? I’ve seen people debating this point over the years, but I haven’t seen much done. Talking ATMs with brail numbers is about it. Thing is, as mentioned yesterday, this is a huge market…

Welcome to the Finverse

Am I the only one fed up with catchphrases in tech to create the Next Big Thing (NBT)? Cloud, Big Data, Platform, Ecosystem, Kubernetes and more are regularly catching an ember to try to spark a fire. Sometimes it works – Digital and Banking-as-a-Service (I’m biased as I was there first) – but some just seem silly. Take…

Is there life on Mars?

Twenty years ago, I remember being impressed when the late, great David Bowie launched a bank. Admittedly it was backed by USA Bankshares, a proper bank, but the idea of celebrity-branded banks was expected to become a thing. Funnily enough, it hasn’t (unless you count Will.i.am and Atom) yet, nevertheless, what has become a thing…

Would you believe they put a man on the moon?

… “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” Arthur C. Clarke This quote has stayed with me throughout my life. Every time there is a new technology, we start with seeing it with awe and wonder then, within a few months, we view it as part of the fabric of our lives. We take…

What is the future?

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