Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
The
similarities between internet blocks and trade sanctions
I spent last week in the Middle East,
travelling the region and seeing some sights as well as meeting many banks from
across the region. As always, it’s an interesting space and place, full of
Eastern promise as they say....
How
do you behave when no-one is watching?
During my trip around the Middle East, I met a
lot of banks looking at a lot of new ventures with lots of dialogue about new
business models, new products and services, new organisational structures and
new ways to communicate...
The
future bank will be like Siri
I spent a day strategising with one of the
Middle Eastern banks about the launch of a direct bank service. One of the key
questions they asked me is: do we organise the back office in the same way
as...
The
future of the payments terminal
I’m speaking at a conference on the future of
payments today for one of the world’s largest suppliers of payments terminals.
They asked me my views on the future of the point-of-sale, and I said that it
would disappear. Not...
You
should take Bitcoin seriously
I realised that it was over ten years ago when
I started banging on about mobile payments and tablet computing. It struck me
particularly when I revived this video that I made back in 2000. From Chris
Skinner's videos on...
25
years of Alex, a celebration
We entertained Alex at the Financial Services Club last night …
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
Old tricks cause
card fraud rise - BBC
Debit and credit card fraud has increased as con-artists turn to
unsophisticated snatching and Pin theft, an industry body says.
Marks
& Spencer to open 28 more bank branches - The
Independent
Marks & Spencer today announced plans to open 28 bank branches by
the end of the year, as its first current accounts went live.
New
P2P Payment Methods: Have Paper Checks Met Their Match? - Payments
News
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has released a new paper
entitled "New Person-to-Person Payment Methods: Have Checks Met Their
Match?". Compared with person-to-person payments via cash or checks, new
methods now available to consumers offer significant advantages but still leave
gaps in service, suggesting a role the Federal
Upbeat
Hester says RBS is reaching recovery point - The
Independent
The chief executive of part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland says it
is nearing the point of becoming "recovered", and will complete a
major restructuring by next year.
Kweku
Adoboli's colleagues 'knew of his illicit trades' - The
Telegraph
Colleagues of the alleged rogue trader Kweku Adoboli knew about his fake
trades four months before he was arrested, a court heard.
Broker
admits £32m Ponzi scheme - The Independent
Nicholas Levene, the Bentley-driving former stockbroker who spent a
spell as deputy chairman of Leyton Orient Football Club, looks set to face a
long prison sentence after yesterday admitting to orchestrating a £32m
"Ponzi" fraud.
US
card issuer to refund $200m - BBC
America's sixth-largest credit card issuer will pay $200m (£123m) in
refunds to settle accusations it misled customers into add-on services.
A
£30bn talk for Merkel and Hollande - The Independent
Ostensibly, they met to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a landmark
speech by Charles de Gaulle to the youth of Germany. But yesterday's talks
between the French President François Hollande, and German Chancellor, Angela
Merkel were thought to be dominated by the proposed £30bn merger of Britain's
BAE Systems and
'Gentle
giant' Paul Volcker has too little time left to fix the world - The
Telegraph
Paul Volcker sees the current era of economic and political turmoil as
one of the most difficult periods in history.
Paul
Volcker: ring-fencing banks is not enough - The
Telegraph
Ring fencing Britain's banks will not protect taxpayers in the event of
another financial crisis, according to Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the
Federal Reserve and the architect of the "Volcker Rule".
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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...
