Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

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Before You Buy a Home, Figure Out What You Can Truly Afford

Most people start house hunting before they truly understand what fits their budget. They browse listings, save dream homes, and imagine living there long before they calculate the real monthly cost. That approach often leads to disappointment due to financial pressure later. A smarter approach is to understand your numbers first. When you know what…

Things worth reading: 24th February 2025

Things we’re reading today include: ‘Worst hack in history’ as $1.5bn in cryptocurrency stolen | Money News | Sky News HSBC and other banks fined after using chat rooms to discuss gilt trades Four major City banks fined more than £100 million by watchdog Michael Saylor Urges US To Buy 20% Of BTC Supply, Use…

Things worth reading: 16th December 2024

Things we’re reading today include … Bitcoin jumps to new record high of more than $106,000 – BBC News The fintech company that collapsed and took $90m of people’s life savings with it | The Independent Tech-savvy Saudis push consumer fintech to new heights | Arab News Lloyds Bank seven-day warning over ‘locked’ accounts HSBC…

Things worth reading: 15th November 2024

Things we’re reading today include … Senator Lummis Bullish For A US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Deutsche Bank Highlights Crypto’s Growing Role in BRICS Cross-Border Payments World Cloud Report 2025 – Unlock Financial Growth with Cloud Donald Trump Says Jamie Dimon Won’t Be Part of New Administration – Bloomberg Bank of England governor says Brexit has…

Things worth reading: 14th November 2024

Things we’re reading today include: Musk supports radical change in who controls America’s supply of money Dogecoin Price News: Trump Confirms Musk to Lead D.O.G.E as Traders Target $1 Bitcoin’s record-breaking price rally continues amid ‘Trump bump’ crypto frenzy Top bitcoin analyst says Trump’s win is ‘not the main story’ behind recent bitcoin price surge,…

A Cashless Whisper

During lockdown in the pandemic, I went a bit off script and started singing karaoke songs, with the words changed to focus on banking and payments. It was just a bit of fun to keep me busy at that time. Nevertheless, there are still many moments where I hear a song and think oh, that…

That annoying auto-renewal you forgot to cancel

There’s nothing more annoying than when you get that note saying that you have just been charged $149 to renew your annual subscription to Youreanidiot.com. I subscribe to lots of different things and often forget that I subscribed. Then you suddenly find that $100s are leaving your account each year on things you no longer…

Things worth reading: 19th September 2024

Things we’re reading today include: Inside the Bank of London, the unicorn that had an ‘immediate’ need for cash (ft.com) Dutch bank ING to ditch climate laggards as clients (ft.com) Politicians have hidden behind the Bank of England for far too long (telegraph.co.uk) How Fintech Innovations Are Powering Volt Payment Solutions — TFN (techfundingnews.com) Volt…

Things worth reading: 27th August 2024

Things we’re reading today include … Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News – Finovate Governor Of Reserve Bank Of India Talks Fintech, CBDC – Pilot Reports Over 5 Million Users | Crowdfund Insider Fintech for Good: A Burgeoning Movement for the Sustainable-Finance Age (internationalbanker.com) Bank Card Fraud in EU: France Accounts for Nearly…

Things worth reading: 24th July 2024

Things we’re reading today include … UniCredit to Buy Vodeno, Aion Bank for €370 Million in Digital Push – Bloomberg Does the Bank of England have a plumbing problem? (ft.com) Expert warns anyone with smartphone risks being locked out of bank account – Birmingham Live (birminghammail.co.uk) The next fintech to go public may not be…