Welcome to The Finanser, the portal to the knowledge base of the Financial Services Club, chaired by Chris Skinner. To make an enquiry about a speaking engagement, just contact us and, if you are interested in Chris Skinner as a speaker, here’s an illustration of his keynote presentations …
Read More »Do we have a work-life balance anymore?
What is work-life balance these days? I accidentally on purpose started an interesting debate on Li…
There’s a Starman … who needs a bank account
Yesterday I asked Is there Life on Mars as a tribute to my hero David Bowie. I originally titled tha…
Is there life on Mars?
Twenty years ago, I remember being impressed when the late, great David Bowie launched a bank. Admit…
Would you believe they put a man on the moon?
… “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” Arthur C. Clarke This…
Rip it up and start again
I spotted two updates recently. The first is the half a billion dollar mistake at Citigroup. The sec…
The Finanser’s Week: 22nd February 2021- 28th February 2021
This week’s main blog notes include … Banks waste billions on digital How much money is …
Read all about it: The Kalifa Review is out!
I blogged the other day about Singapore-on-the-Thames in anticipation of the Kalifa Review of UK Fin…
The elephant, the bird and the tiger (king)
This is the tenth in a series of blogs about the elephant, which represents the economy, and the bir…
Banking on digital growth
I recently joined The Digital Growth podcast … powered by Sounder … and they kindly tra…
If it walks like a bank, talks like a bank and smells like a bank, then it’s a bank
I see so many articles with titles like: What will banks do when Amazon becomes a bank? Google to ta…
Banks waste billions on digital
How much money is wasted by banks on digital? I wonder whether, one day, anyone will work out how mu…
Banks embrace the gig economy
I just got a report from PwC and my heart sank. The headline is: Financial institutions to significa…
Digital’s impact on towns: the end of main street
I’ve had several debates about the closure of shopping malls, the end of offices and the deserted hi…
The Finanser’s Week: 15th February 2021- 21st February 2021
The main blog discussions this week include … CBDCs, the Digital Euro and how it might work I’m very…
PC Banking
I made a joke the other day about visiting PC World, and you really have to watch what you say in th…
The links between purpose, digital and leadership
As mentioned the other day, I’m focused upon purpose-driven banking these days. I guess this t…
What was that Brexit deal, again?
Britain has left the EU, but now I read headlines everywhere saying cross-border movements are impos…
Is the Crypto revolution finally underway?
I haven’t commented much on bitcoin’s (BTC) recent surge, as I’ve been watching and waiting, but it …
CBDCs, the Digital Euro and how it might work
I’m very aware that central banks are investigating the use of digital currencies, particularly as t…
The Finanser’s Week: 8th February 2021- 14th February 2021
The main blog discussions this week include … Singapore-on-the-Thames? Welcome to the new London … […
The Elephant made me sad
Sitting quietly in my room, I felt someone breathing on my neck. It was him. Y’know. The elephant. T…
The start-up I should have started
I often feel bad for not having started a FinTech start-up myself. It’s not that I haven’t thought a…
Where is the Intelligent Bank?
I wrote a blog a few days ago about money not being about jars and pots. The gist of the blog is tha…
Singapore-on-the-Thames? Welcome to the new London … [Kalifa Review]
In the midst of Brexit plans and a Covid pandemic, the UK Government launched a FinTech review chair…
The balance between data gathering and data usage
I was on a call the other day, discussing Big Data and Green Finance. It’s not an area I talk about …
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Recent Posts
The future is already here (from Japan)
I’ve said for a while now that Robots would eventually look after all my banking needs, and with the Semantic Web and Artificial Agents, we’re almost there. But then I see these developments coming out of Japan: and I realise that the future is real …
Read More »SWFs and Citigroup – Unethical or just Flash Players?
Another excellent collection of folks at the annual Gateway conference, a meeting of British American Business leaders. Sir Wim Bischoff, Chairman of Citigroup, gave the keynote speech all about the impact of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF). Although they have been around for decades, it has …
Read More »City bankers lose more than just their jobs
The papers have been filled with fascinating stories about banking over the past 24 hours, including a call for balance sheets and core capital ratios to be a minimum 6%; the Eurozone asking for a single seat at the IMF, rather than the current 10; better …
Read More »City bankers lose more than just their jobs
The papers have been filled with fascinating stories about banking over the past 24 hours, including a call for balance sheets and core capital ratios to be a minimum 6%; the Eurozone asking for a single seat at the IMF, rather than the current 10; better …
Read More »City bankers lose more than just their jobs
The papers have been filled with fascinating stories about banking over the past 24 hours, including a call for balance sheets and core capital ratios to be a minimum 6%; the Eurozone asking for a single seat at the IMF, rather than the current 10; better …
Read More »Is it really you?
Whether it be watches or Windows, Louis Vuitton or Lagerfeld, Bangkok’s street markets have them all. In the alleys and markets you can find every brand for a fraction of its price. The sheer audacity of the stores in the flea markets, selling any branded …
Read More »Is it really you?
Whether it be watches or Windows, Louis Vuitton or Lagerfeld, Bangkok’s street markets have them all. In the alleys and markets you can find every brand for a fraction of its price. The sheer audacity of the stores in the flea markets, selling any branded …
Read More »Bank brands … forget the adverts
We had a great conversation today about bank brands at the Asian Banker’s Retail Excellence Program (I’m an advisor to the program and sit on the judging panel for their Awards). It started with Nielsen sharing some data about a branding analysis project they ran …
Read More »Bank brands … forget the adverts
We had a great conversation today about bank brands at the Asian Banker’s Retail Excellence Program (I’m an advisor to the program and sit on the judging panel for their Awards). It started with Nielsen sharing some data about a branding analysis project they ran …
Read More »Bank brands … forget the adverts
We had a great conversation today about bank brands at the Asian Banker’s Retail Excellence Program (I’m an advisor to the program and sit on the judging panel for their Awards). It started with Nielsen sharing some data about a branding analysis project they ran …
Read More »What is ‘world class technology’?
It’s a question that came up yesterday in discussion with a group of bankers and I often find myself challenged to discuss ‘world class technology’ with folks. This is because they want to be leading edge, innovative, seeking new ways of doing business and driving …
Read More »What is ‘world class technology’?
It’s a question that came up yesterday in discussion with a group of bankers and I often find myself challenged to discuss ‘world class technology’ with folks. This is because they want to be leading edge, innovative, seeking new ways of doing business and driving …
Read More »How to stay off the implode-o-meter
The Financial Times has been writing about the end of the credit crisis this week, saying that BlackRock’s $15 billion deal to buy a portfolio of distressed subprime mortgage debt from UBS, for 75 cents on the dollar, shows things are picking up. Also, Deutsche …
Read More »“A smarter, simpler SWIFT”
The SWIFT Annual Report came out last Friday (download it here, 3.4 Megabytes) and makes for some interesting reading, especially as I like numbers. Yes, it does include lots of numbers: there are 8,332 institutions connected to SWIFT (note: institutions, not banks) across 208 countries …
Read More »“A smarter, simpler SWIFT”
The SWIFT Annual Report came out last Friday (download it here, 3.4 Megabytes) and makes for some interesting reading, especially as I like numbers. Yes, it does include lots of numbers: there are 8,332 institutions connected to SWIFT (note: institutions, not banks) across 208 countries …
Read More »China launches Facebank
Rather than Facebook, China’s Facebank makes far more interesting viewing:
Read More »Internet banking in 2008 should be very different
The banking world makes radical changes slowly. Major changes are big risks and we don’t like to jump into taking big risks too fast … unless it’s a structured investment risk of course. But risks related to our technical infrastructures take place far more slowly. …
Read More »Today is Europe Day, and are we proud (Part 2)?
The EU has an anthem. It is Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, with the lyrics removed. The original German chorus has been removed to respect the fact that we don’t have a common language in Europe, yet. Strange that, as I thought that most us speak …
Read More »Today is Europe Day, and are we proud (Part 2)?
The EU has an anthem. It is Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, with the lyrics removed. The original German chorus has been removed to respect the fact that we don’t have a common language in Europe, yet. Strange that, as I thought that most us speak …
Read More »Today is Europe Day, and are we proud (Part 2)?
The EU has an anthem. It is Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, with the lyrics removed. The original German chorus has been removed to respect the fact that we don’t have a common language in Europe, yet. Strange that, as I thought that most us speak …
Read More »Today is Europe Day, and are we proud (Part 2)?
The EU has an anthem. It is Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, with the lyrics removed. The original German chorus has been removed to respect the fact that we don’t have a common language in Europe, yet. Strange that, as I thought that most us speak …
Read More »Today is Europe Day, and are we proud (Part 2)?
The EU has an anthem. It is Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, with the lyrics removed. The original German chorus has been removed to respect the fact that we don’t have a common language in Europe, yet. Strange that, as I thought that most us speak …
Read More »Today is Europe Day, and are we proud?
You may not have realised it, but today is Europe Day. In the UK, we took especial notice of Europe Day by not mentioning it in the news, not talking about it on TV, not referring to it on the radio and avoiding any reference …
Read More »Today is Europe Day, and are we proud?
You may not have realised it, but today is Europe Day. In the UK, we took especial notice of Europe Day by not mentioning it in the news, not talking about it on TV, not referring to it on the radio and avoiding any reference …
Read More »Today is Europe Day, and are we proud?
You may not have realised it, but today is Europe Day. In the UK, we took especial notice of Europe Day by not mentioning it in the news, not talking about it on TV, not referring to it on the radio and avoiding any reference …
Read More »Integrated Investing in a Connected World
After picking holes in banking infrastructures, and the lack of integration the institutions have with today’s connected world, there is one part of the market that really gets technology. They do not just get technology, but they lead in it. Where? Investment markets. The investment …
Read More »Integrated Investing in a Connected World
After picking holes in banking infrastructures, and the lack of integration the institutions have with today’s connected world, there is one part of the market that really gets technology. They do not just get technology, but they lead in it. Where? Investment markets. The investment …
Read More »Fragmented payments in a connected world
If payments is just transferring a file electronically between a sender and a recipient these days, why is it so darned complicated? Bearing in mind, the internet connects everyone and everything electronically, how come we have so many disparate payments infrastructures? From retail to wholesale …
Read More »