Our biggest stories of the week are ...
Of all the world's banks, UK banks must be the most anti-social
I was asked to talk about the role of social media in banking this week, and was a little irritated by the question. Why? Because social media has a very strong role in some banks. Take any large American bank...
Money in 2020: mobile and cashless ... or not?
I just got a copy of the latest Pew Internet Project report which invited experts and other Internet stakeholders to offer their predictions on the future of mobile payments, and what people’s “wallets” might look like in 2020. Here’s a summary of what they found …
Barclays Bank: innovators do win more business
We seemingly spend all of our time bashing banks these days, me included. They’re either slow, unresponsive and ignorant of change, or they’re greedy, arrogant and screwing the economy. You can’t win. That’s why my new book was going to be called …
Barclaycard contactless sticks it to you
I feel like I spend a lot of time these days dissing contactless payments, or at least those that rely on NFC and RFID chip technologies. The reason being that I cannot see why I would want to get something...
Why cash works and mobile internet doesn’t
The wireless world of connectivity we live in has risks, and the greatest risk has to be infection of technology. Technology viruses like trojans and man-in-the-middle look mild today, when you see the tsunami of malware that’s out there. Just...
Since the financial crisis hit, there has been a regulatory spotlight shining on the whole of the banking sector. That light is now trying to bring vision to the shadow banking sector. Will it succeed? The European Commission is trying...
Things worth reading, the European view (4)
This week's view from Europe, courtesy of Edith Rigler …
The major general news stories of the week include ...
Bob Diamond: profile of Britain's richest banker - The Telegraph
What do you have to do to get Peter Mandelson to label you "the unacceptable face of banking"?
Barclays admits second serious error on swap sales - The Telegraph
Barclays has admitted a second serious error connected to the sale of interest rate swaps as the bank fights claims that it mis-sold hedging products to small and medium-sized business customers.
Shareholders veto Citigroup chief's pay - The Independent
Shareholders in Citigroup, one of the world's largest banks, gave a stinging rebuke to chief executive Vikram Pandit last night by rejecting his $50m pay package at their annual meeting.
Warren Buffett has prostate cancer: letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders - The Telegraph
Warren Buffett, arguably the world's most successful investor, has revealed he has prostate cancer. Here is his letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.
Lloyds' Horta-Osorio can't bet on the Co-op - The Telegraph
Antonio Horta-Osorio has some thinking to do. When he returned from his two-month sick leave at the start of January, all seemed relatively right with the world.
UK banks need to raise £20bn to strengthen balance sheets, says Barclays Capital - The Telegraph
British banks need to raise almost €25bn (£20bn) in extra capital to strengthen their balance sheets and convince investors to buy their bonds, Barclays Capital has warned.
Any takers for the toughest job in Britain? - The Telegraph
Ed Conway looks at who is likely to replace Sir Mervyn King as Governor of the Bank of England.
What ails the Spanish economy? - BBC
What are the issues affecting the Spanish economy?
Analysis: China currency move nails hard landing risk coffin - Reuters
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's weekend reform of its currency regime nails shut the coffin on the last remains of doubt about whether the world's second biggest economy has successfully steered a course past a hard economic landing.
Mobile Payments: What's In It for Consumers? - Payments News
Fumiko Hayashi, a senior economist with the Kansas City Fed, has published an article entitled "Mobile Payments: What's In It for Consumers?" "The main demand-side barrier has been the uncertain value of mobile payments to U.S. consumers. In some other countries, there have been obvious advantages to consumers of using ...
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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...
