The Financial Services Club's Blog

The Finanser’s Week: 24th September - 30th September 2012

Our biggest stories of the past week are ... 

The similarities between internet blocks and trade sanctions 

I spent last week in the Middle East, travelling the region and seeing some sights as well as meeting many banks from across the region. As always, it’s an interesting space and place, full of Eastern promise as they say....

How do you behave when no-one is watching? 

During my trip around the Middle East, I met a lot of banks looking at a lot of new ventures with lots of dialogue about new business models, new products and services, new organisational structures and new ways to communicate...

The future bank will be like Siri 

I spent a day strategising with one of the Middle Eastern banks about the launch of a direct bank service. One of the key questions they asked me is: do we organise the back office in the same way as...

The future of the payments terminal 

I’m speaking at a conference on the future of payments today for one of the world’s largest suppliers of payments terminals. They asked me my views on the future of the point-of-sale, and I said that it would disappear. Not...

You should take Bitcoin seriously

I realised that it was over ten years ago when I started banging on about mobile payments and tablet computing. It struck me particularly when I revived this video that I made back in 2000. From Chris Skinner's videos on...

25 years of Alex, a celebration

We entertained Alex at the Financial Services Club last night …

 

 

You should take Bitcoin seriously

I realised that it was over ten years ago when I started banging on about mobile payments and tablet computing.  It struck me particularly when I revived this video that I made back in 2000.

From Chris Skinner's videos on Vimeo

Some would say that video was / is visionary.  I would say that it was just ahead of its time, but nothing that could not be foreseen.

Ten years ago, it was obvious that mobile, wireless technologies would fundamentally change the way in which we pay and transact and, today, it is obvious that the way in which social, consumer technologies will fundamentally change the way in which we pay and transact over the next ten years.

Things worth reading: 28th September 2012

Things we're reading today include ...

The future of the payments terminal

I’m speaking at a conference on the future of payments today for one of the world’s largest suppliers of payments terminals.

They asked me my views on the future of the point-of-sale, and I said that it would disappear.

Not a good position to take when you’re the keynote speaker at a conference for a payments terminal supplier.

So we debated the point and here’s the reason why payments terminals might have a long-term future.

Things worth reading: 27th September 2012

Things we're reading today include ...

The future bank will be like Siri

I spent a day strategising with one of the Middle Eastern banks about the launch of a direct bank service.  One of the key questions they asked me is: do we organise the back office in the same way as our contact centre and internet bank service?

The easy answer would be yes, but that would be wrong.  The answer is no.  No way. Nada. Forget it.

A direct bank is a very different beast to an integrated bank.

25 years of Alex, a celebration

We entertained Alex at the Financial Services Club last night …

Things worth reading: 26th September 2012

Things we're reading today include ...

How do you behave when no-one is watching?

During my trip around the Middle East, I met a lot of banks looking at a lot of new ventures with lots of dialogue about new business models, new products and services, new organisational structures and new ways to communicate with staff, customers and stakeholders.

One of the key questions was how to maximise human resources.

OK, now you could debate whether humans are resources or assets or whatever, but the core of this answer was that humans need to be valued and have values.

We concurred that the clearest way to convince people of their role is to give them a very memorable understanding of what the company is about and then let them get on with it.

A kind of values or principles based organisational model.

Things worth reading: 25th September 2012

Things we're reading today include ...

The similarities between internet blocks and trade sanctions

I spent last week in the Middle East, travelling the region and seeing some sights as well as meeting many banks from across the region.

As always, it’s an interesting space and place, full of Eastern promise as they say.

Right now a lot of the discussion has been around the reactions to the trade sanctions in Iran, the laundering fines of HSBC and Standard Chartered, and the impact it is having.

It has certainly created a division of opinion between the pro-Islam and pro-Israel factions.

Things worth reading: 24th September 2012

Things we're reading today include ...

The Finanser’s Week: 17th September - 23rd September 2012

Our biggest stories of the past week are ... 

What Star Trek tells us about banking

For years, I’ve been a fan of Star Trek, and have used their innovations in many presentations, but I’ve always wondered: how come there’s no money on the Star Ship Enterprise? Is everything free? Not exactly. My supposition was that...

Banks spend billions on risk management IT, but is IT working? 

I was chairing a conference about risk and regulation today, and opened with the view the it is the culture of banking that needs to change. You can force the change through regulation, but if banks really want to be...

The Financial Services Club Season, London, Q4 2012

We are pleased to announce details of our Winter Season of meetings of the Financial Services Club, London. If you would like to attend any of the meetings, please go to the fsclub.net and register. Tuesday, September 25 2012 Alex...

Banks biggest opportunities lie in emerging markets

I just received a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on new bank models based upon different styles of banking in emerging markets. According to the report, the BRIC economies and their brethren will account for 35% of global...

Mobile payments explode in India

I was just updating a presentation about mobile payments. The presentation was from May 2011 and talked extensively about Google Wallet, Square and M-PESA. One year on and the presentation still talks about the same things but I am shocked...

What Star Trek tells us about banking

For years, I’ve been a fan of Star Trek, and have used their innovations in many presentations, but I’ve always wondered: how come there’s no money on the Star Ship Enterprise?

Is everything free?

Not exactly.

My supposition was that the future world of Star Trek, bearing in mind that it’s set in the 24^th Century, is based upon chips embedded inside the crew and these chips wirelessly register consumption and spending on an account tab.

Not the case, as it turns out.

Banks spend billions on risk management IT, but is IT working?

I was chairing a conference about risk and regulation today, and opened with the view the it is the culture of banking that needs to change.  You can force the change through regulation, but if banks really want to be able to prosper post this crisis, then it needs cultural reform.  And it’s not about the credit crisis or the sovereign debt crisis, but about the crisis of confidence in the whole darn banking system post LIBOR, PPI and mortgage mis-selling, money laundering and pulling the rug on lending.

The Financial Services Club Season, London, Q4 2012

We are pleased to announce details of our Winter Season of meetings of the Financial Services Club, London.  If you would like to attend any of the meetings, please go to the fsclub.net and register.

 

Tuesday, September 25 2012 

Alex : 25 years of satirising the City

Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor, creators of the Alex Cartoon series.  This is an open evening and is free to attend for people interested in joining the Financial Services Club.  If you would like to attend, send me an email.

 

Tuesday, October 9 2012

Quarterly Dinner: This house believes banks need branches

An Oxford style debate between:

• Anthony Thomson, Chairman, Metro Bank;
• Ian Lloyd, Head of Project Verde, Lloyds Banking Group; and
• Mark Mullen, Chief Executive of First Direct;
• Brett King, Chairman of Movenbank and Author of Branch Today, Gone Tomorrow

 

Monday, October 15 2012

Avoiding the glitch - the curious case of RBS

This meeting is by invitation only and will be a panel discussion with:

• Ralph Silva, Director and Broadcast Analyst with SRN;
• Chris Dunne, Payment Services Director with VocaLink;
• Roy Vella, former Head of Mobile Payments for the Royal Bank of Scotland; and
• Anand Vyas, Vice President, Sales for UK and Europe with Thinksoft.

If you would like to join this meeting, please email me. 

 

Thursday, October 18 2012

The future of money

Andrew Vorsten, Vice President for Technology R&D and Adam Banks, CTO and Head of IT, Visa Europe

 

Monday, October 22 2012

Launch of the results of our 2012 payments research report.

 

Wednesday, October 24 2012

How to fall foul of the US law

David Bermingham, one of the NatWest Three, and Rowan Bosworth-Davies, an expert on Financial Crime.

 

Thursday, November 8 2012

The challenges of fraud in the age of the mobile internet

Derek Wylde, Head of Group Fraud, HSBC

 

Wednesday, November 21 2012 

P2P, the place to be – an update on Zopa’s progress

Giles Andrews, CEO, Zopa

 

Tuesday, November 27 2012

Government and banks: a relationship that has changed

Mark Hoban MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury

 

If you would like to attend any of the meetings, please go to the fsclub.net and register.

 

The Financial Services Club Season Outline 2012-2013

Things worth reading: 19th September 2012

Things we're reading today include ...

• Spanish bank bad debts at record
• Lord O'Donnell: Bank favourite who wants to leave advising behind
• UBS questioned €3.6bn of trades by Kweku Adoboli weeks before his arrest
• Standard Chartered says wholesale banking profits to double
• Exclusive: Morgan Stanley infrastructure fund hit by Volcker rule
• Square – upwardly mobile
• Bankers 'among the least trusted'
• Goldman names new CFO, heralding end of an era
• UBS was aware of Kweku Adoboli's billion-dollar trading problems six weeks prior to arrest

 

Mobile payments explode in India

I was jut updating a presentation about mobile payments.

The presentation was from May 2011 and talked extensively about Google Wallet, Square and M-PESA.

One year on and the presentation still talks about the same things but I am shocked and amazed about how much things have changed in just eighteen months.

Things worth reading: 18th September 2012

Things we're reading today include ...

• Wall Street braced for Occupy first anniversary protes

Banks biggest opportunities lie in emerging markets

I just received a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on new bank models based upon different styles of banking in emerging markets.

According to the report, the BRIC economies and their brethren will account for 35% of global assets by 2016, up from 24% today and just 10% in 2004.