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The Finanser’s Week: 21st July – 27th July 2014

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by
Invest Northern Ireland

Our biggest stories of the past week are ...

Are you a career optimist or a headless chicken?

I just read some interesting research by the Bank Workers Charity, a charity set up over a century ago to provide education to orphans but, today, a charity that looks after the needs of redundant or sick (not cool, but ill) workers in finance.  They’ve been very busy lately.

Banks need rock star coders to survive

I was having a debate the other day with two bank CEOs.  One runs a direct bank that is going digital and the other runs a branch based bank that is investing in digital.  At one point in the conversation, we got into a discussion about coders and, in a surprisingly frank dialogue, both CEOs said that coders are the most critical resource for their bank today.  Coders make the difference.

That weird and wonderful thing called bitcoin

I keep getting into debates about bitcoin and when banks should take notice of bitcoin.  C’mon.  If a bank hasn’t noticed bitcoin yet, then they must be a bank completely uninterested in banking strategies.  bitcoin is important, but it’s not the be-all and end-all.  In fact, it is fairly irritating.

Financial Institutions Unprepared For Digital Future

My good friend Jim Marous who recently joined The Financial Brand, asked Brett King and I to provide input on a Bain report on the rise of digital in banking. 

Metro Bank: opening 14,000 new accounts per month

I was lucky enough to visit with Metro Bank recently, and they gave me startling stats and insights to the emerging business.  Launched in June 2010, Metro Bank has rapidly grown to 27 branches today, with a plan for 32 by the end of this year and 48 by the end of next.

 

The major general news stories of the past week include ...   

If British banking is 'one step up from a quill', why is Metro finding it so hard to break in? - The Telegraph
Metro Bank's founder said British banking was broken and would be easy to challenge. Four years since its launch, the bank is growing fast but it's still a minnow compared to the Big Four.

City watchdog hits out with hiring halt - The Telegraph
The Financial Conduct Authority has used its power to stop companies hiring for the first time as it sends a powerful message to City firms

Deutsche bank suffers from litany of reporting problems, regulators said - Wall Street Journal
An examination by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that Deutsche Bank's giant U.S. operations suffer from a litany of serious financial-reporting problems that the lender has known about for years but not fixed.

Why Atom Bank chose to start a banking revolution from Durham - The Northern Echo
ALMOST seven years since the sight of customer’s besieging a North-East lender offered irrefutable proof that the banking industry was undergoing a sea change, Business Editor Andy Richardson talks to the people behind the region’s latest foray into the world of financial services.

Make the Barclays-Goldman comparison - Financial Times
Among the famous head-to-head rivalries in banking, Goldman Sachs and Barclays never really figured. However, investors would be wise to compare the two banks

Scotland’s financial sector at ‘risk’ - Financial Times
MPs infuriate Scottish nationalists by warning on the impact of independence and labelling the idea of a currency union as a ‘dead parrot’

Student loans system is collapsing, MPs warn - The Independent
The student loans system is collapsing, MPs warn today in a damning Select Committee report.

More corrupt than ever: - Daily Mail
Thought the bankers who wrecked Britain's economy had reformed?

Nationwide computer glitch 'over' - BBC
Nationwide Building Society says the technical problems that hit its online banking services have been resolved.

Man 'who had been refused overdraft extension' is Tasered by armed police after bursting into bank with a homemade FLAMETHROWER - Daily Mail
A man was Tasered and arrested by police today after he allegedly burst into a bank with a makeshift flamethrower and threatened to burn it to the ground because he was refused an overdraft.

 

If you like the Finanser, check out our latest book: Digital Bank

 

The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:

Invest Northern Ireland 

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Chris Skinner Author Avatar

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...

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