Grid

It’s funny that I’m blogging so much about trust and identity, but that seems to be the theme of the year. So when I saw the new release of the Financial Conduct Authority’s five-year vision I was struck by the Chair’s opening page, which is all about trust. Ashley Alder writes: “When financial services are strong…

Cryptoassets, smart contracts, stablecoins, tokenisation and the two different types of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) – retail CBDCs and wholesale CBDCs. The world of finance and technology is quite confusing. Add onto this AI, APIs, BNPL, blockchain (Layer 1 and Layer 2), DLT [distributed-ledger technology], machine learning and more, and you get the idea….

Been having lots of conversations about digital identities and digital wallets lately. It is a theme that has been bubbling for years, yet seem to now be coming to a head. From the EU Digital Wallet and Identity program to India’s Aadhaar and UPI to Brazil’s Pix, there’s definitely something afoot. The core of the…

The main blog discussions this week include … Is the use of cash a fundamental human right? We are moving rapidly to a world without cash. In fact, the phrase war on cash was coined (coins?) by the card companies years ago. The aim was to get everyone moving to cards, not cash. It’s now…

There have been many headlines over the years, with recent ones talking about saving septillion years using quantum computing and mapping a fruit fly’s brain that previously would have taken thousands of years using AI. No wonder businesses are keen on AI. So it’s weird that, according to Microsoft, half of UK businesses have no idea…

I just got an interesting report from Visa produced in late 2024. It is focused upon consumers, and their approach to cross-border payments. The research shows that the cross-border payment market is experiencing explosive growth, fuelled by a surge in international travel, ecommerce, and remittances. Consumers are spending more regularly cross-border than ever before and…

On the Finanser, we often talk about Stripe, as their valuation is the highest of all fintechs. In case you missed it, their peak valuation was in 2021 at $95 billion; it then nearly halved but, over the past year, has bounced back to a valuation today of $91 billion. Interestingly, according to their annual newsletter,…

We are moving rapidly to a world without cash. In fact, the phrase war on cash was coined (coins?) by the card companies years ago. The aim was to get everyone moving to cards, not cash. It’s now gone beyond that, as everyone wants us to move to digital wallets. All well and good. The…

I was watching The Apprentice the other night, and the task was to create a children’s bank for 6-9 year olds. The contestants had to work together to create an app and piggy bank, and then pitch it to senior investors from Go Henry, Monzo and TSB. It was a disaster. In fact, the team…

This week’s main blog discussions include … You and your digital twin are in danger A phrase that’s been rising recently is digital twin. My definition of a digital twin is not the same as others. I would define a digital twin as the digital version of you or your organisation. Over time, you build…