I have several friends in the FinTech world whose views I respect, and one of those is Steve Lemon, a co-founder of Currencycloud. He recently sent me this viewpoint, which I think is worth sharing. Enjoy! Is the weak link in alternative banking cross-border payments? by Steve Lemon, VP, Corporate …
Read More »Banking isn’t really about money
I’ve been tempted for some time to write a book about how sex is at the heart of commerce, innovation and money. I’ve alluded to it a few times, and particularly noted that the right honourable Jeremy Clarkson sometimes says something intelligent. “Money and rumpy-pumpy (sex) are the twin engines …
Read More »Cryptocurrencies are not currencies
I’ve been watching the rollercoaster ride of cryptocurrencies very carefully for the last year, and it only struck me today that these are not currencies … yet. Apart from a few novelty vendors and merchants who put bitcoin on their websites, I don’t see many others accepting ether or XRP, …
Read More »The future of money (research report)
I just got a report from J Walter Thompson on the future of money and there’s some interesting facts and stats. Here are my headlines: 76% of millennials are looking for new forms of banking 40% of people in their twenties have downloaded a money management app 80% of millennials …
Read More »Mobile payments are on fire everywhere and, whilst some are just catching fire, others are burning
I am struck every day by the disparity in financial structures I see worldwide. Recently, I’ve visited Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia for example, and am bemused how none of these countries has a strong mobile wallet operator. Instead, the nations seem to be 100% cash-focused, as my credit cards …
Read More »Digital banks are 35+ times more productive than traditional banks
I’m launching the new book Digital Human in New York on April 12 (if you want to come, register here), following on from our recent London launch. In London, I was delighted to host Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays Bank UK, and Li Wang, Head of Alipay and Ant Financial …
Read More »Ant Financial’s Strategy for AI, Blockchain, Cybersecurity and more
I’ve been flying around a bit and was lucky enough to find myself onstage the other day, chairing the Ant Financial Technology Forum at Money20/20 Singapore. I was honoured to accept to be the moderator of the afternoon and guess I was chosen because Alipay and Ant Financial are a …
Read More »The best plastic out there (Cards & Payments Awards)
I used to be on the Judging Panel for the Cards & Payments Awards but dropped out a few years ago as my travel schedule got too gruelling to give any time. Nevertheless, I’m always interested to see who wins and why, so here’s this year’s winners: Industry Achievement Award …
Read More »Apple Pray: why has Apple Pay failed?
I was talking the other day to a colleague about the phenomenon in Asia, India, Africa and South America taking place with mobile payments and the lack of take-up in the USA. Why is this, I wondered? Then got my answer, although it isn’t a singular factor but a combination …
Read More »Everything you need to know about bitcoin
I’m often asked how bitcoin works, where to buy them and how does it relate to blockchain and differ from ethereum, etc, etc. I was going to write a blog about it but Daniel over on Invest in blockchain beat me to it. He has also kindly let me republish his blog …
Read More »Regulating the cryptocurrency markets
Someone made the comment on my platform piece about what happens when there are no Jack Ma’s or Mark Zuckerberg’s, as the whole thing is decentralised? I guess that this is logical as my last line was that government control of cryptocurrencies is “not so easy for cryptocurrencies that have …
Read More »The real financial plans of the tech titans (#GAFA #BAT)
In my blog yesterday, I talked about the technology titans being liked and potentially trusted with money, but I still don’t think they will open full-service banking. Instead, I think they will focus upon full-service information. The reason I say this is that they don’t want to be banks, it …
Read More »Tencent’s WeChat Pay is AliPay’s major rival
I’ve written a lot about Ant Financial – they’re a 30,000 word case study in my new book – mainly because they are the first payments platform to focus upon global reach for financial inclusion. That is not to say that I am ignoring the other platforms: PayPal, Stripe, PayTM …
Read More »FinTech, cryptocurrency and corporate change
I was recently recorded on Roger Edwards’ podcast talking about FinTech, cryptocurrency and corporate change. Roger is a marketing strategist focused upon the insurance industry, and produces regular podcasts about said subject. You can checkout his website here, and here’s the low-down of our chat: On the show this week, I …
Read More »The disappointing arrival of Open Banking … and the optimistic future
Finally, just over a week ago, Open Banking came into the UK and Open APIs into the European Union. I am sure you all know what this is all about by now but, just in case, it is the regulations that force banks to share data through APIs – plug …
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