I’ve spent the last two days locked in a conference centre in Nice at a key meeting of finance ministers, politicians, policymakers, bankers, insurers and exchanges. You can tell the type of meeting by the number of lashes each person has received by the tongues of their counterparties. Wonderful to watch and be a part…
I know I go on and on and on about Web 2.0 and social media, but I do this because these trends illustrate a fundamental shift in the way we live. The fact I’m blogging here every day, downloading music and film files, connecting globally with all my friends, family and business colleagues through my…
I spent yesterday with a group of Japanese bankers discussing the future of banking. Actually, I say ‘discussing’ but Japanese bankers are very polite and so there were very few questions. Therefore, I spent yesterday with a group of Japanese bankers telling them about the future of banking. All of this was with simultaneous translation…
Hi everyone. After a week away, I’m back: relaxed, recharged and reinvigorated. I don’t know about you, but when I get back to the office I immediately wonder, “What’s happened? What’s new? What’s changed?” Looking at SIBOS, the SWIFT tradeshow starting in Vienna next week, one thing that should be changing faster is SEPA’s implementation…
The banking industry continually seeks to find cost-effective methods to minimise fraud, although often in a way that creates issues or insecurities with the customer. A great example is the UK’s implementation of Chip&PIN, with Canada, France and other countries implementing similar programs. From a personal perspective, the one thing I have noticed is that…
In times of crisis, there is danger and opportunity, and this is no truer than when there is a recession, stagflation or war. In the 1920’s for example, during the runaway hyperinflationary times of the Weimar Republic, Germans started to create alternative economies using local currencies. This is because the national currency was effectively worthless…
Social networks have created new forms of money already and, as I spend more time playing with these virtual currencies, I can see how they may become the future of money, from a retail and consumer viewpoint anyway. For example, last November, I wrote about the threats of money laundering in virtual worlds. At the…
