Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Payments

Payments in the Cloud

We’ve got our cloud computing meeting tonight, and many of you may wonder what the hell all that is about. Well, cloud is the big buzz in the tech sector because it’s new, glitzy, sexy and brings together all the stuff that’s gone before. From the old days of bureaux and mainframes, through outsourcing, SaaS…

One step ahead of the card fraudsters

The UK Payments Administration released the latest fraud figures today (doubleclick to enlarge):   This shows general card fraud is down 23% to £232.8 million in the first half of 2009 although, of concern, will be the fact that online fraud is increasing at a rapid click (55%) year-on-year.  This rise in cardholder not present…

FraudQ209

One step ahead of the card fraudsters

The UK Payments Administration released the latest fraud figures today (doubleclick to enlarge):   This shows general card fraud is down 23% to £232.8 million in the first half of 2009 although, of concern, will be the fact that online fraud is increasing at a rapid click (55%) year-on-year.  This rise in cardholder not present…

FraudQ209

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…

RBS, Gary

Escape with Phones4U

Just got a really interesting note about a new MasterCard from Phones4U.  It’s called the ‘Escape‘ Card and focuses upon migrant worker remittances.  What’s interesting is that it has been launched by the mobile phone shop Phones4U, a completely non-bank non-carrier operation that is just a pure retailer of mobile telephony. Here’s the shortened write-up:…

Escape with Phones4U

Just got a really interesting note about a new MasterCard from Phones4U.  It’s called the ‘Escape‘ Card and focuses upon migrant worker remittances.  What’s interesting is that it has been launched by the mobile phone shop Phones4U, a completely non-bank non-carrier operation that is just a pure retailer of mobile telephony. Here’s the shortened write-up:…

Escape with Phones4U

Just got a really interesting note about a new MasterCard from Phones4U.  It’s called the ‘Escape‘ Card and focuses upon migrant worker remittances.  What’s interesting is that it has been launched by the mobile phone shop Phones4U, a completely non-bank non-carrier operation that is just a pure retailer of mobile telephony. Here’s the shortened write-up:…

Forget money, let’s use sand

For years, I’ve played poker with matches and chips rather than coins and notes. We accept that a match can be ten cents or a chip is a dollar or more. We don’t need real money to know our exchange rates. Now, this basic idea is being replicated in social networks. Facebook, as many of…

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…

Telefonica O2’s Money ads launched

On return from Hong Kong, some of us switched on the major Mancunian derby of United versus City. Like most policymakers, the referee made up new rules at the end of the game to let United win but hey, get over it. In the half-time drizzle, I did note however that Sky Sports ran a…