Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Opinion

Are big bank fintechs unfairly valued?

I’ve watched Marcus for a while and was not surprised to see its founder is leaving. There are those who are great at building companies and those who are great at running companies. They are rarely the same person. In fact, some of the greatest companies were created by builders and runners. Walt Disney is…

The fine line between freedom and regulation

I haven’t blogged much about my friends from Hangzhou (China) lately, as it is all in a state of flux, but what I can say is that the will of the people – President Xi – appears to be strong. If you haven’t seen the latest nuance, Ant Group are now sharing customer data with…

Why do we need banks and branches?

For years, people have argued that you need branches to serve customers for more complex transactions: to serve people who are uncomfortable with digital access; to serve young people getting their first mortgage; to serve retailers and small businesses with their cash needs; and so on and so forth. Baloney. To be honest, I’ve advocated…

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…

Will you take the red or the blue pill?

What is time? Do you have any idea? What is the time right now? Does it exist? Einstein says ‘no’. “Time does not exist. We invented it.” Some guy called Albert pic.twitter.com/JS9JMfEyJk — Chris Skinner (@Chris_Skinner) August 28, 2021   Building on Einstein’s quote, I used to regularly present that the world has no borders. We…

One size does not fit all: the Rubik’s Cube of banking

I recently spotted this post from Panagiotis Kriaris, who leads business development at Unzer: In the era of #APIs, #openbanking and #openfinance, banking has become a totally different game vs what it used to be calling for equally adapted business models. Let’s take a look at #businessbanking and at 4 potential #digital models for banks….

What if you had “f**k you money”?

I was quite taken by South Park’s co-creator Matt Stone talking to Bloomberg, about a deal where he and his co-founder Trey Parker just got paid $900 million to make six more seasons and 14 movies. His specific comment: “As you can see from this deal, we have f**k you money now” … made me think….

What is identity?

I’ve been close to Peter Vander Auwera for many years, thanks to Innotribe. He retired a few years ago on bitcoin – I wonder how many times I will use that line? – and became an artist. Great guy. But he’s still tracking me and others in the Finverse and posted this yesterday. It’s so…

In the Finverse, trading is just gaming in reality

Building on the Finverse, I always remember the big trading scandals of the 2000s with Jérôme Kerviel of Société Générale and Kweku Adoboli of UBS. In fact, it probably applies to all rogue traders of notoriety, including the most infamous one, Nick Leeson of Barings Bank. What did they all have in common? Gaming. You…

What is the future?

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Chris Skinner
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