Opinion

Building upon my blog about Revolut the other day, and their need for a banking license, I’ve been accused many times of coming back to a theme that you can only be a bank if you’re a bank with a license. Why do I keep coming back to this theme? It’s all about trust and…

It’s all about the difference between an emoney provider and a bank … I’ve been having an ongoing debate with a Revolut fan about the fact that they have an emoney licence, as an EMI (Electronic Money Institution), and that they are not a bank in Britain. It’s part of the ongoing debate about their…

You may not have spotted it this week, but there has been a number of major strategic changes and moves by fintech leader Stripe. I’ve followed Stripe since their founding in 2010, and use them as a poster child of change in finance and technology, as demonstrated by their fast cycle growth from a company…

I say there is no next big thing, just the evolution of what we have right now, but there are two areas highlighted by the Future Today Institute in their Tech Trends Report 2024, which you might claim are the major changes on the horizon, rather than the next big thing. These are namely AI and…

Continuing my debate about data usage and data abuse, I listened to a fascinating discussion from the BBC about whether Mark Zuckerberg is a good or bad billionaire. You can listen to the podcast if interested, but a few items came up such as the release of customer data to Cambridge Analytica a few years…

Just been having a few meetings about the future of payments. Funnily enough, that sounds like the theme of my new book Intelligent Money. The message? Money is embedded, invisible and intelligent. It is ubiquitous, everywhere, anywhere. It is just part of the fabric of the world we live in. But then I thought further, talking…

I’ve just had several incidents with traditional banks digitally that made me realise they really are faced with big issues. You may have noticed this in my recent blogging, but here are three specific insights that illustrated the point. The first is the fact that I keep having to open the bank’s app to find…

Thirty years ago, I presented at a conference with the theme being the end of cash. Thirty years later we are all gradually going cashless. Twenty-five years ago, I presented at a conference, with the view that bank branches weren’t needed. Twenty-five years later, most bank branches are going, going, gone. Twenty years ago, I…

I just received an interesting report released in January by ClearBank and Celent, looking at how electronic money and electronic payment institutions (EMIs and EPIs) work with banks and the financial ecosystem. The findings indicate that these start-up companies fill the gaps where incumbent banks feared to tread, such as offering crypto clearing services. John…

Vitalik Buterin, the guy who created Ethereum cryptocurrency and smart contracts, blogged the other day about what happens when AI and blockchain collide. Funnily enough, that’s the theme of my new book Intelligent Money. Vitalik cites four major areas where blockchain and AI will make a difference, and each has different ramifications. The focal point…