Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
caught trying to rob a bank
Like others in the conference hall, I felt a sense of awe as
the world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph ‘Ran’ Fiennes, took to the
stage to recount some of the stories about his life and travels, including the
day...
Citibank: a flawed
innovation process? No, but a ruthless one
I just got a heads-up about an interesting project taking
place in Citibank called Darbie. Being aware of the challenge of new start-ups
like Simple and Square, Citi are concerned that they might be disintermediated
from the customer relationship, as...
Not bank branches
again (yawn, zzz, duh)
The hardy perennial discussion of whether we need branches
or not comes up again this week. It’s a regular debate on the blog and in the
Financial Services Club, with various entries that are relevant to contribute
towards the debate:...
Predictive,
proactive, proximity based payments
After my discussion about the augmented economy which
focused upon customer service, I thought about it from the other side:
transactions. Many years ago, my technology firm made a play for banks to
deploy data warehouses to perform predictive analytics...
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
Cybercriminals
'drained ATMs' in $45m world bank heist - BBC
A gang of cybercriminals stole $45m (£29m) by hacking into a
database of prepaid debit cards and draining cash machines around the world, US
prosecutors say.
Eye-catching recruits
and full bank buyout fast-tracks grocer's push for supremacy - The Independent
Sainsbury's is gearing up for a major assault on the banking
sector with ambitious plans to take on HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander
and the rest of the financial high street.
Say goodbye to the
pin: voice recognition takes over at Barclays Wealth - The Telegraph
Barclays Wealth customers will no longer need to answer
security questions and remember pin codes to use telephone banking.
Can customers ever
trust bankers again? – BBC
Free banking at risk
as EU wants us to bank anywhere in Europe - The Telegraph
European proposals that would allow Britons to switch to a
bank account in another country could hasten the demise of free banking,
experts have warned.
Nat Rothschild rues
'terrible mistake' in tie-up with Bakries - The Independent
The City financier Nat Rothschild has given a rare insight
into his personal life, claiming he no longer drinks or smokes and goes to bed
at 9.30pm.
US banks tipped off
to Harp loans - Financial Times
Banks say they have been able to use release to identify and
analyse Harp loans, highlighting the industry’s use of ‘big data’ analysis
Co-op Bank could need taxpayer support, says Moody's - The Telegraph
The Co-op could require taxpayer support for its banking arm
after the business had its credit rating downgraded by Moody's, which warned
the mutual faced losses that it might not be able to afford.
'Crisis over' hopes after HSBC posts £5bn profit - The Independent
HSBC has moved to put allegations of money laundering for
Mexican cocaine gangs in the past as it posted a storming set of results that
gave hope the banking crisis could finally be over.
Treasury boss who drove President Obama loopy hits on a new
signature for bank notes - The Independent
When US President Barack Obama nominated Jack Lew as the new
Secretary of the US Treasury in January, the media had one overwhelming concern
about the appointment: Lew’s illegible signature, which resembles the doodle of
an absent-minded child, would now appear on every US banknote.
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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...
