Our biggest stories of the week are ...
Are payments infrastructures fit for purpose?
During the spring, we reached out and asked readers to provide their views about the world's largest payments infrastructures and whether they are fit for the purpose they are being used for. Today, we released the results ....
Why payments infrastructures are NOT fit for purpose
At SIBOS 2004, Heidi Miller asked tough questions of the payments community such as: in the age of the internet SWIFT, “what have you done for me lately?” This inspired our payments survey. Now obviously, seven years later, we must be able to organise a simple cross-border payment between two countries as banks? Surely. Well, the answer is surely not.
Lloyd’s branch sell off … what a load of Verde
I was talking about lots of things yesterday but one conversation sticks in my mind more than any other: who will Lloyds sell their branches to? This is all wrapped up in a debate with the European Commission dating back...
A mass of social media and web 2.0 stats
I like numbers and haven't posted any for a while. So I was pleased to find a bunch of useful social stats while crawling the net the other day. These stats starkly put into context why social media is important, especially in finance which is so integral to society ...
Talking about iris recognition and passwords recently, I got a note from Spanish Bank, Bankinter, which has just launched an app that identifies clients through iris recognition on the phone. The way it works is that customers access their brokerage...
The major general news stories of the week include ...
Bank to make switching current accounts easier - The Telegraph
British banks are poised to shake-up competition on the high street by making it far easier for customers to move current accounts between providers.
Greek Default Would Wreak Havoc on EU Banks - Business Week
A year after European officials bailed out Greece, investors say the region’s banks haven’t raised sufficient capital or cut loans enough to withstand the contagion that may follow a default.
Greek crisis is a money spinner for hedge funds - The Telegraph
Credit traders and government officials maybe panicking about Greece but for the world's biggest hedge funds, the €360bn (£322bn) debt crisis is a unique investment opportunity.
Euro Zone Could Break Up by 2013: CEBR - Business Week
The euro area is on course to break up as member nations’ willingness to continue bailouts for the region’s indebted countries dissipates, the Centre for Economics and Business research said in a research note.
Shanghai 'to be financial centre' - BBC
Shanghai is on track to become the world's largest financial centre in a decade, according to a new report.
Misys shares soar as it confirms takeover bid - The Independent
Misys, a leading supplier of software to the banking industry, saw its market value soar to nearly £1.5bn after it revealed a takeover approach.
Lloyds chief Horta-Osorio puts Halifax, Scottish Widows at heart of 'revitalised' bank - The Telegraph
New bank chief is to call for the "revitalisation" of Lloyds as he sets out ambitious plans to place the Halifax and Scottish Widows brands at the heart of the part-nationalised bank.
Allied Irish Bank has 'defaulted' says derivatives body - The Telegraph
Banks that sold insurance on the debt of Allied Irish Banks will have to pay out to investors in the nationalised lender's debt despite complex legal manoeuvres by the Irish authorities to avoid putting the lender into default.
Is The World Crazy For Bitcoin, Or Has The Bitcoin World Gone Crazy? - Techcrunch
I last wrote about Bitcoin less than a month ago. (If you're one of the people who admitted in comments "I still don't get it," here's a terrific and detailed explainer from The Economist .) Since then the value of Bitcoins has quadrupled —and then halved . The founder of
Hack attack pushes Bitcoin to the brink - The Independent
Bitcoin, an online currency beloved of libertarians and technophiles, which had been threatening to break into the mainstream, was facing the worst crisis of its two-year existence last night after hackers brought down its biggest exchange.
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Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
