Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Financial Services Club is pleased to announce to readers of the FinanSer the Third Annual Retail Banking International Leadership Summit (ILS) in Orlando, America, from November 17th to 21st 2008.  This is an invitation-only gathering for senior managers from European and Asian retail financial …

The Financial Services Club is pleased to announce to readers of the FinanSer the Third Annual Retail Banking International Leadership Summit (ILS) in Orlando, America, from November 17th to 21st 2008.  This is an invitation-only gathering for senior managers from European and Asian retail financial …

The Financial Services Club is pleased to announce to readers of the FinanSer the Third Annual Retail Banking International Leadership Summit (ILS) in Orlando, America, from November 17th to 21st 2008.  This is an invitation-only gathering for senior managers from European and Asian retail financial …

After being at the Association of Corporate Treasurers annual bash last week, sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, I got home and found a note from NatWest, the UK subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland, saying that there had been changes to the charges on …

Since technology first appeared in the financial world, we have worked harder and harder to use automation to reduce costs and increase efficiency. We successfully made the back office a processing machine, whilst trying hard to create a front office where customers serve themselves. Well, …

Since technology first appeared in the financial world, we have worked harder and harder to use automation to reduce costs and increase efficiency. We successfully made the back office a processing machine, whilst trying hard to create a front office where customers serve themselves. Well, …

Here is the City gave me the tip to watch this very funny video spoof today, inspired by Deutsche Bank and the great film A Few Good Men, one of my favourites. But then, like most things, this was just a rip-off of a spoof …

A recent quote was on a UK poster. The quote was from Jeremy Clarkson, the biggest bloke (translates into yob, lout, brute) in Britain, and it said: “money and rumpy-pumpy are the twin engines powering everything we do”. … in other words, money and sex …

This was a comment I made during a panel at the ACT Conference in Edinburgh, where I joined esteemed speakers in a BBC Question Time style debate, chaired by Andrew Neil, the political journalist and writer. The other speakers on the panel were: Angela Knight …

The ACT summit in Edinburgh has had a wide range of speakers of variable quality. However, today’s keynote is one that most people take note of: James Wolfensohn. Wolfensohn is well-known for an illustrious career, including close work with Paul Volcker, the former chairman of …

The ACT summit in Edinburgh has had a wide range of speakers of variable quality. However, today’s keynote is one that most people take note of: James Wolfensohn. Wolfensohn is well-known for an illustrious career, including close work with Paul Volcker, the former chairman of …

The ACT summit in Edinburgh has had a wide range of speakers of variable quality. However, today’s keynote is one that most people take note of: James Wolfensohn. Wolfensohn is well-known for an illustrious career, including close work with Paul Volcker, the former chairman of …

I’ve been reading a range of articles about the next generation internet, or the semantic web as it is called by those in the trade. Semantic is a method of looking for the meaning and relationships between things, and the semantic web effectively moves us …

Unlike some of the sceptics about SEPA, I believe we are finally getting there. There’s still a long road ahead – the SEPA Direct Debits (SDD), the Payment Services Directive, effective card schemes using the SEPA Card Framework (SCF), D+1 and more still need to …

Two interesting stories on hacking this week.  The first is a joke and the second is worrisome. The joke is that we have a race here in London.  The race is to see who can win the vote for Mayor of London this Thursday: Ken …

Two interesting stories on hacking this week.  The first is a joke and the second is worrisome. The joke is that we have a race here in London.  The race is to see who can win the vote for Mayor of London this Thursday: Ken …

Two interesting stories on hacking this week.  The first is a joke and the second is worrisome. The joke is that we have a race here in London.  The race is to see who can win the vote for Mayor of London this Thursday: Ken …

The best story of the week is the leaked email from Der Spiegel of Deutsche Bank’s instructions to employees to give up their sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. As the credit crunch hits, no more market excesses are allowed, with Deutsche’s staff to …

The best story of the week is the leaked email from Der Spiegel of Deutsche Bank’s instructions to employees to give up their sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. As the credit crunch hits, no more market excesses are allowed, with Deutsche’s staff to …

With Faster Payments going live on 27th May, the question the banks are really struggling with is how to make money. FPS means that banks no longer make money on their float, as we are talking D. Not D+1, 2 or 3 or more. Just …

With Faster Payments going live on 27th May, the question the banks are really struggling with is how to make money. FPS means that banks no longer make money on their float, as we are talking D. Not D+1, 2 or 3 or more. Just …

Further to my previous post of Bird and Fortune, they’ve followed up with another classic interview with their fictional banker to explain the credit crunch.  Fantastische!