Payments

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Another day, another conference, another meeting. This time we’re chatting and talking with a group of people from banks, and I’m wearing one of my favourite new t-shirts, emblazed with the message: Just hodl it! Before taking stage, someone asked me what hodl meant. I was surprised. I thought everyone knew what hodl meant. I…

I was taken in by an article on the BBC yesterday due to the headline: ‘I wasn’t allowed to buy my burrito with cash’ The article recounts the story of Nicholas Duggan, a construction worker, who tried to buy his lunch with cash, but the store refused and demanded payment by electronic means. Interesting. Specifically…

Just before Christmas I heard of a new European payments initiative called PEPSI, short for Pan European Payment System Initiative. Nice acronym although I prefer Coca-Cola, the Co-ordinated Car Co-operative Association. Or something like that. Anyways, whichever Cola you prefer, this new initiative is interesting. Backed by over twenty mainly French and German banks, the…

I have often written about how the developing world is leap-frogging the developed world. The reason is that the developing world had no infrastructure in place whilst the developed world implemented their infrastructure in the last century. The developed world has become a legacy world. The developing world is a world fit for today. First…

I was going to write stuff about this but The Financial Stability Board did it for me. Here’s where the regulator will focus in 2020: The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published its work programme for 2020. The FSB’s work priorities for 2020 reflect the evolving nature of the global financial system and associated risks to…