Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Payments

The future of money: a speech by the Governor of the Bank of England

Last week the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, gave a virtual speech at the Brookings Institute on the future of money, technology, payments, digital currencies and central bank digital currencies. It’s an interesting speech, and worth sharing here. Enjoy. Reinventing the Wheel (with more automation) Speech given by Andrew Bailey, Governor of…

Cashing in on women

I spotted a really interesting analysis of cash and bank notes the other day. For those who follow this blog, you’ll know that I love bank notes. I collect them. Each country has different coloured bank notes with different art on its cash that reflect their ethos and society. In fact, through the years, most…

No one changes behaviour … unless forced to

I see lots of surveys and research about the use of technology in finance. Things like 47 percent of consumers are interested in biometric payments or 80 percent of consumers would use mobile payments. Then you look at the adoption rates and the actual usage is more like 4 and 8 percent respectively … if…

The end of main street

Wondering about the future. Always wondering about the future. Thinking about where things are going. It’s the only thing we don’t know. We know the past; we live in the present; we wonder about the future. What’s my future? What’s your future? What’s the future for our children and our children’s children? What’s the future?…

Goldman Sachs compare bitcoins to tulips, and cryptofolks aren’t happy

Goldman Sachs just became the bad boy on the block in the bitcoin brethren by saying bitcoin has nothing behind it. Remember last week when we were all bullish for the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin call? L pic.twitter.com/W5lRyx1L5Y — Zack Voell (@zackvoell) May 27, 2020 However, when you look at their presentation … … they don’t…

What happens if consumers stop consuming?

I saw an interesting article the other day: I Don’t Feel Like Buying Stuff Anymore … our economy is built on Americans of all class levels buying things. What happens when the ability — and desire — to do so goes away? It’s theme is that when stuck at home with nothing to go out…

The future of payments post-pandemic (free research report)

During this quiet period of time, it’s a good time for reflection and I was lucky enough to be commissioned to produce some research on how European FinTech influencers see the future of payments post-pandemic. I’m releasing the report today and here’s the opening summary: When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Europe in early 2020, it…

OK, but the end of cash must be in sight? #coronavirus

Last week, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) issued their top ten technologies for the next decade, one of which is digital money: Unhackable internet Hyper-personalized medicine Digital money Anti-aging drugs AI-discovered molecules Satellite mega-constellations Quantum supremacy Tiny AI Differential privacy Climate change attribution This was selected due to Libra and the digital currency developments in…

The end of cards and cash … not yet, according to Deutsche Bank Research

I just found that Deutsche Bank Research issued three in-depth reports in January looking at the future of payments: Part I: Cash: The Dinosaur Will Survive… For Now Cash will survive. But digital currencies’ potential could re-balance global economic power. Part II: Moving To Digital Wallets And The Extinction Of Plastic Cards As changes in…

The end of cards and cash … just fifteen years late

I just received a report from Deloitte about credit and debit cards. It says the future is not so bright: “more payment choices, along with changing consumer preferences, are threatening the long-term viability of the credit card business model.” Damn. I said that fifteen years ago. It made me think about what I was presenting…