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So Apple has just announced record Q4 profits, and we all go ooh and aah, but I went: what’s happening with Apple Pay? After calling Apple Pay a winner two months ago, several people claimed it would fail (although many have personal stakes for saying so). I called it because of the sheer size and power…

We were having a debate on twitter, me and a few of my fintech pals, when one of them posted a link to this blog.   The blog is on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) website and written by Rishad Tobaccowala (great name!), and provides a view of 5 insights and 3 predictions from Davos. The…

I was running a workshop for a bank the other day and asked the group: “what are the toxic assumptions in the bank that will stop it from succeeding to change?” The resultant list was fascinating and long and, to give you a flavour of what the group came up with, I’ve bucketed them into…

So the FinTech50 were announced last night. These are the 50 most innovative fintech start-ups, as voted for by a panel that included yours truly.   The process is quite rigorous with the organisers – Julie Lake and Nicky Cotter – bringing together over 700 global contenders for a range of specialist panels to review….

Sometimes social media kicks off great discussions about banking.  In fact, most of what I learn, collaborate, corroborate, develop, gain, understand and envisage comes primarily through my social network.  The latest dialogue that spawns its own blog entry is from the Facebook Group Next Bank (I’m speaking at Next Bank Europe btw on February 11th…

I just received some fascinating research into the state of the investment management industry from State Street Research.  The research was conducted over a period of 18 months through surveys of 3,744 investors, investment providers, government officials and regulators, across 19 countries. Here’s the summary: THE FOLKLORE OF FINANCE The models for success in the…

I regularly encounter discussions about corporates’ needs from banks that say: the corporate generally doesn’t give a buck about their banking. Apparently most corporates do not understand banking, do not care about getting the best services and rely far too much on their cosy sense of keeping the status quo. Actually, banks probably feel the…

There's a busy week coming up in February when all the innovators gather in London. First, there's the Bank Innovators Lab Day run by FSClub friend JP Nicols on February 9. Then there's Finovate Europe on February 10 and 11, run by our friends Jim Bruene and Eric Mattson. And the week ends on February…

I was asked which bank to invest in the other day, and it’s been on my mind ever since, as that’s a tough question. Which bank stock would you buy? Since January 2008, Bank of America has lost nearly 56% of its value, compared with 81% in Citigroup and 4% at Goldman Sachs. Conversely, J.P….