Innovation

Feb 24, 2010

Why Heads of Innovation are actually Bottoms

Over the past year, most of the banks I deal with have dropped the word ‘innovation’ from their mantra. It’s strange but true that the focus upon being innovative had been such a focal point during the 2000s and now it’s all over. To illustrate the point, the Top 10 American banks used the word…

Jan 19, 2010

How far can investment firms innovate?

I’m continually impressed and amazed by the speed of change in the technology of the investment markets. For example, last year was all talk about low latency and lit versus dark pools. This year, it’s all about private cloud-based services based upon colocation and proximity services. Next year, it will be all about real-time liquidity…

Oct 2, 2009

Lessons in innovation and tips for tomorrow

During the Infosys conference this week, the hosts constantly asked the audience to vote on a variety of questions about innovation. The organisers did say that they had wondered whether innovation was the right subject to focus upon this year, considering that for some it would be the last thing on their minds, but then…

Oct 2, 2009

Lessons in innovation and tips for tomorrow

Sep 30, 2009

What is innovation in banking?

I spent all day yesterday with a group of bankers in Portugal. Why? Well, it is the annual Infosys customer conference and they were kind enough to invite me over to give a keynote, which I will post here shortly. It was also run under Chatham House rules … so here’s who said what. Actually,…

Sep 29, 2009

What is Innovation in Payments (Part Two)

Last week, I blogged about innovations in payments from a consumer’s perspective, and followed it up yesterday with an ancillary note. In this second part, I thought I would take a closer look at what is innovatory in the corporate world of payments. Many of us would immediately start talking about e-invoicing, supply chains and…

Sep 23, 2009

What is innovation in payments?

I was asked to write about innovation in payments last week, and so here’s the first of three parts. The first part will focus upon retail payments innovation; the second, corporate payments; and the third, trade settlement. A weekly non-exhaustive update so to speak. First, what is innovation? Let’s define it again (yes, I’ve blogged…

Sep 17, 2009

Is there any innovation here? Nope

After the innotribe stuff, it was off to a panel debate about “payments innovation”. This session was described as follows: “The crisis has put the emphasis back on traditional banking and sources of revenue, with payments coming to the fore again. Yet payments are also seen as a commoditised, legacy business where scale is everything….

Sep 17, 2009

Is there any innovation here? Nope

Jul 15, 2009

Where will innovation come from?

McKinsey publish regular articles and research that stimulates the little grey cells. For example, this week they ask the question: "will Asia become the center for innovation in the 21st century?" This is a timely discussion, as it fits with the work I'll be delivering at SIBOS this year, bearing in mind that SIBOS is…