We launched a new wing of the Financial Services Club for Central & Eastern Europe on Wednesday. The first meeting was a discussion based around the theme: "Is there are crisis in CEE?" with four esteemed panellists, namely: Dr.Friedhelm Boshcert, CEO, Volksbank International (furthest left); Josip Protega, President of the Management Board, Hrvatska postbanska banka…
I was intrigued to see a report earlier this week that every Google search is equivalent to boiling a half-full kettle of water. In reports on Monday, all the newspaper headlines were saying things like: "Two Google searches 'produce same CO2 as boiling a kettle'". OMG! I'll never use Google again. In fact, I'm gonna…
I was intrigued to see a report earlier this week that every Google search is equivalent to boiling a half-full kettle of water. In reports on Monday, all the newspaper headlines were saying things like: "Two Google searches 'produce same CO2 as boiling a kettle'". OMG! I'll never use Google again. In fact, I'm gonna…
On the back of the PayPal party, we had a great meeting last night at the British Embassy in Vienna, Austria. It was a lavish affair, with over 100 guests networking and talking with Ambassadors and dignitaries from across the Central & Eastern European area. The evening was targeted towards financial services organisations, and leading…
I've blogged a few times about M-Pesa. The first time was in late 2007, when Citibank did a deal to roll the M-Pesa model worldwide for remittances. Then again in 2008, when Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced the idea of a business model based upon being an MBNO, a Mobile Banking Network Operator. The idea of the latter…
I've blogged a few times about M-Pesa. The first time was in late 2007, when Citibank did a deal to roll the M-Pesa model worldwide for remittances. Then again in 2008, when Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced the idea of a business model based upon being an MBNO, a Mobile Banking Network Operator. The idea of the latter…
The leaders of the UK banks are meeting Gordon Brown and his chaps at for lunch at Chequers today. How nice. Not sure what they could be talking about, although a spokesman said the weekend meeting was just a "long-standing lunch" commitment, don't believe a word of it. Equally, although Mr. Brown ruled out another…
One of my most hated words in business use is 'paradigm'. I can't stand the word ever since 'paradigm shift' became the most over-used phrase in bingo words, along with 'value-add', 'benchmark' and 'think outside the box'. The very word 'paradigm' sends shivers down my spine. "Paradigm: a model that forms the basis of something"….
