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One of the issues I have with financial services is that it’s frightening. You might not think so, but I grew up in a world of cushioned money. I didn’t know much about money at all. The most I knew about money is begging for more pocket money. The Bank of Mum and Dad was…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving at a pace, creating a really interesting online debate the other day about its applications. Specifically, the question was raised about self-driving cars and how they make decisions. For example, when a self-driving car crashes, who should die? This is a question explored in depth by researchers from the MIT…

I have one slight concern as we go cashless, having experienced it myself. You cannot go cashless if it does not include everyone. I had this experience in China. Arriving on a Sunday lunchtime at the Holiday Inn Express hotel, I successfully checked in and had a nice room with an empty fridge. Downstairs, being…

I sometimes write blog posts that I actually disagree with. I write it to provoke reactions, and to test my own thinking. As a result, I think I usually annoy people in banks who read my writing but, instead, I actually get a quite a lot of compliments, for testing bank thinking. That is why…

Business Insider recently listed what they believe are the 32 FinTech unicorns around the world. Here is their list: =27. Symphony — $1 billion =27. TongDun Technology — $1 billion =27. Funding Circle — $1 billion =27. Kabbage — $1 billion =27. 51 Credit — $1 billion =27. Gusto — $1 billion 21. UiPath —…

I’ve got caught in a few discussions recently with people who tell me Ant Financial are Chinese. They’re not. Neither is Alibaba and, if you think they’re just Chinese, you’re going to miss a huge change in the next decade. Ant Financial is an open marketplace of apps, APIs and analytics, that I’ve been describing…