Opinion

After the bank reporting season in the UK last week, the most notable row that has emerged – alongside bonuses and a lack of lending – is the lack of taxes banks pay. Banks are remarkably adept at being tax efficient – or should we say, tax avoiders – and this has been known for…

Looking at technology specifically in financial services, there are many that are being cited as hot for 2011: More social media developments as firms like Foursquare, Groupon and Quora add functionalities not seen before; More bank mobile apps, with clever structures and device-specific security; The creation of new retail payments structures, as Apple and Google…

Welcome to 2011 and I hope you all had a lovely, jubbly holiday. I did … sitting around eating lots, drinking lots, getting nice presents lots, being with family lots, watching TV lots, not being on twitter or blogging lots … oh, what fun. And so back to work … and being first day back,…

So this week I thought it worth posting a few reflections on 2010, the year that was, and begin with some thoughts on retail banking (tomorrow will be payments and Wednesday, capital markets). Surprisingly, retail banking has not had any really startling changes. Branches are still the focal point, as evidenced by Santander who increased…

I was quite intrigued to hear a speech by Ben Ramsden, Founder and CEO of Pants to Poverty. Ben's talk was all about social business which, when combined with social finance, creates a completely different and new form of commerce that, if the next generation has any say, will compete with and potentially merge with…