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2024 has been a bumper year for this blog. According to Google Analytics, the blog has 175,000 active users, an increase of 30% over 2023, with near 300,000 views and a million interactions and so, as usual, I share the most read blog entries at the end of the year. Here are the Top 10... The post The Top Ten Blog Posts of 2024...

Things we’re reading today include … Berlin mulls extravagant measures to stall takeover attempt on top bank – POLITICO A running list of BaaS banks hit with consent orders in 2024 | Banking Dive US regulator orders USAA Federal Savings Bank to correct unsafe practices | Reuters The fintech sentiment: Are banks ready for DORA?... The post Things worth reading: 19th December 2024 appeared...

It’s interesting to see AI appearing more and more in financial conversations. A few examples just this week: AI’s Role in Banking: A Game Changer or Just Another Fad? How Artificial Intelligence is changing banking How AI is helping banks support sustainability transformation. The ability to quickly process large amounts of data makes AI models... The post The move from AI to AGI to...

Things we’re reading today include … Why VPNs Have Become Essential to Fintech Cybersecurity 40% of UK High Net Worth Individuals Currently Hold Cryptocurrency Assets Lloyds advert banned for making false environmental claims | The Guardian UK Stock Market’s IPO Ranking Now Trails Oman and Malaysia – Bloomberg Bank worker stole £5m from safe deposit... The post Things worth reading: 18th December 2024 appeared...

I asked the question: What’s a cash machine for if no-one uses cash? in the 1990s. As the guy heading up the strategy for cash machines for a major cash machine company beginning with N and ending in R, it was a good question to ask. Thing is that no-one took the question very seriously... The post Cash, huh! What is it good for?...

Things we’re reading today include … Bitcoin rallies past $107,000, hopes grow for strategic reserve | Reuters Donald Trump and the “crypto capital of the planet” | Lowy Institute Nubank Announces Investment in Tyme Group, a Digital Bank With Operations in South Africa and the Philippines Why Norges Bank leads the world in transparency FIS... The post Things worth reading: 17th December 2024 appeared...

I found a very nice montage of the future jobs world on my newsfeed the other day, so here is the final summary of the other work we will be doing. I don’t agree with all of the thoughts below, e.g. working anywhere in the world is already here, but it makes for an interesting... The post Jobs of the future: Finalé – a...

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... The post Things worth reading: 16th December 2024 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … The challenge is how to deliver freedom, security, control and privacy A really interesting conversation popped up during a meeting with a fintech yesterday. The core of the discussion was around trust and identity – my favourite themes of the moment – and we got into a debate... The post The Finanser’s Week: 9th December – 15th...

A really interesting conversation popped up during a meeting with a fintech yesterday. The core of the discussion was around trust and identity – my favourite themes of the moment – and we got into a debate about the fact that most people want freedom and control of their lives. They want privacy and security... The post The challenge is how to deliver freedom,...

It is easy to believe in these futuristic scenarios that we won’t need human advisors. In the words of Vivian Ward, the escort in Pretty Woman: Vivian: You work on commission, right? Saleswoman: Ah, yes. Vivian: Big mistake. Big. If you believe that the future will no longer involve financial advisors, you are making a... The post Jobs of the future, Part Ten: the...

Things we’re reading today include … Trump advisers seek to shrink or eliminate bank regulators Klarna Fined for Anti-Money Laundering Failures Thought Machine valuation cut by nearly 40% by investor Molten Ventures Visa Direct to deliver faster bank transfers in a minute or less ‘Suspicious transactions’ led to collapse of UK fintech Stenn HSBC reviews... The post Things worth reading: 13th December 2024 appeared...

This was an interesting headline in The Wall Street Journal which made me open my eyes: Why the Coolest Job in Tech Might Actually Be in a Bank For tech and AI talent, jobs at financial services companies are more desirable than they have ever been. Banks have been working hard to make it happen.... The post Is the coolest job in Tech in...

With drones, self-driving vehicles and supersonic flights rising day after day, we are very likely to see a massively congested sky by 2050. Some would say the Jetsons has arrived and, if you look at what is happening today, they are not far wrong. Most of our flying and automated vehicle structure will run autonomously... The post Jobs of the future, Part Nine: Air...

Things we’re reading today include … Trump combines AI and crypto in White House ‘czar’ role FSOC: Financial Landscape Unprepared for FinTech and Crypto Cake Digital Bank Achieves Profitability in 3.5 Years European airline Ryanair partners with TrueLayer to offer Pay by Bank | Open Banking Expo Santander Appoints PayPal Vet to Head Digital Consumer... The post Things worth reading: 12th December 2024 appeared...

There’s a lot of debate about the big axis of power today: America and China (ed: what about India?). Both have massive tech giants  and both have super economies. Where does this leave Europe? It’s interesting for me in that most of the discussion is that Europe and Eurocrats strangle all innovation with regulation or,... The post Europe’s regulation strangulation appeared first on Chris...

We are looking at a possible million humans or more living on Mars by 2050. How will they live? What will they be doing? Is it going to be easy to travel between Earth and Mars? Are the communication systems going to work to keep connected with families on both planets? Why would you want... The post Jobs of the future, Part Eight: Multiplanetary...

Things we’re reading today include … Deutsche Bank and Crypto.com sign corporate banking deal Ukraine’s Mobile Frontline Bank Dodges Shells To Deliver Cash A new dawn for Metro Bank? – Investors’ Chronicle Goldman Sachs exits Net-Zero Banking Alliance | ESG Dive Ant International Expands Fintech Reach with AI Push | FinTech Magazine The evolution of... The post Things worth reading: 11th December 2024 appeared...

I talked a bit about Amazon and Apple teaming up to develop AI strategies to compete and beat Alphabet/Google and Microsoft the other day. It got me thinking: why are we talking the American Big Tech giants when there are several Big Tech Asian giants namely Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and NVIDIA themselves. What are their AI... The post The AI arms race is on …...

We are all happy to use an interior designer, but would you be happy using a DNA designer? What we mean by this is the obvious evolution of fertility treatments, such as IVF, evolving into specific DNA structures of change and even babies born out of womb through artificial gestation. It is probable that, by... The post Jobs of the future, Part Seven: DNA...

Things we’re reading today include …  Why the Coolest Job in Tech Might Actually Be in a Bank – WSJ The fintech winter continues to chill the outlook for local firms, says KPMG — Capital Brief Revolut Aims to Become New Zealand’s First Global Digital Bank European Banks Face A Mandatory Digital Euro. Now what?... The post Things worth reading: 10th December 2024 appeared...

As someone involved in cryptocurrencies early in the game, you would speculate that I’m now a billionaire. Yes, I did invest in bitcoin in 2013 when it was just $60. Now, it’s hovering around the $100,000 per bitcoin mark (and ETH just broke $4,000). Congrats if you made the investment ten years ago. Nevertheless, during... The post Bitcoin breaks $100,000 – so what? appeared...

I’ve talked about how the financial system can either aid or abet the challenge of climate change – so much so that I even wrote a book about it called Digital for Good. This means that there is a future where someone has to work to protect our environment who I call the Environmental Defender.... The post Jobs of the future, Part Six: the...

Things we’re reading today include … Syria: Chaos in Damascus as rebels set fire to buildings and loot bank | Express.co.uk Jack Ma makes rare speech at Ant Group’s 20th anniversary, predicts AI-driven future | South China Morning Post NAB to bring in huge change that will completely transform the way millions of Aussies access... The post Things worth reading: 9th December 2024 appeared...