~chris-skinner-s-blo | Bookmarks (165)

I’ve been talking a lot about bank IT outages lately, as you can hear here on the BBC! Tech Life – Surviving digital banking outages – BBC Sounds Why? Because they are becoming more and more common and frequent: Big bank systems crashed for over 800 hours in last two years due to IT outages More... The post Bank IT outages … let’s talk about...

Things we’re reading today include: Investor makes a stand against digital banking Globalisation may have run its course in current form, says HSBC chair Ant Group reduces AI costs 20% with Chinese chips Solaris Investor SBI Completes Ownership Process Bailey warns tariffs and ageing population are threat to Britain Top 500 Banking Brands | Brand... The post Things worth reading: 26th March 2025 appeared...

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... The post The FCA’s five year vision appeared first...

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.... The post The quagmire of fintech terminologies appeared first...

Things we’re reading today include … America’s rich scramble to open Swiss bank accounts over Trump fears Alibaba-affiliate Ant uses Chinese, U.S. chips to cut AI costs Fintech can be a powerhouse helping to drive the UK’s economic growth Interim SEC chief cast sole vote against suing Musk How banks can boost productivity through simplification... The post Things worth reading: 25th March 2025 appeared...

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 post A digital identity scheme for Europe …...

Things we’re reading today include … Why Is Everyone Investing in Indian Fintech? Will London take New York’s fintech crown? Analysis-Klarna IPO filing spurs hope of British fintech listings These fintech companies are hiring in 2025 after a turbulent year | TechCrunch ‘The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto’ Review: Cryptocurrency’s Ghostly Creator – WSJ $250 Million Bitcoin... The post Things worth reading: 24th March 2025 appeared...

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... The post The Finanser’s Week: 17th March – 23rd...

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... The post How much will AI save your business?...

Things we’re reading today include: Revolut Hiring Hundreds to Become a Fully-Fledged UK Bank – Bloomberg Trump: US Will ‘Dominate Crypto’ OCC Opens Doors for Banks to Embrace Blockchain, Crypto Banking 500 2025: Challenger banks among the fastest growing bank brands in the world White paper: How AI is propelling innovation in financial services –... The post Things worth reading: 21st March 2025 appeared...

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... The post Consumer cross-border payments are exploding, but banks...

Things we’re reading today include … Less than a quarter of Europe’s fintech unicorns are profitable | Sifted UK FinTechs bleed millions as fraud surges, research reveals Monzo develops backup bank to cover outages Six Ways to Lose All Your Crypto – WSJ Bank Branch Closures Accelerate UK High Street Decline, PwC Says Nearly 100... The post Things worth reading: 20th March 2025 appeared...

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,... The post Stripe versus Adyen: which one is doing...

Things we’re reading today include … Inside the Nastiest Fight in Fintech: New Suit Alleges Payments Startup Deel Had A Corporate Spy Starling bank blocking its OWN customers from opening savings accounts Fintechs and crypto companies seek bank charters for growth Fintech unicorn council joins Revolut and Zilch bosses for Treasury meeting North Korea becomes... The post Things worth reading: 19th March 2025 appeared...

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... The post Is the use of cash a fundamental...

Things we’re reading today include: Australia drops King Charles from their bank notes and Aussies aren’t happy Elon Musk discovers the Treasury’s Magic Money Machine ‘Biased, confusing, used inconsistently…’: fintech terminology dissected in ECB paper Sweden’s Klarna discloses 24% revenue surge in much-awaited U.S. IPO filing Klarna nabs Walmart away from Affirm and boosts its... The post Things worth reading: 18th March 2025 appeared...

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... The post Robobank: protects the public, secures their funds...

Things we’re reading today include … Trump’s crypto embrace ‘sowing the seeds’ of a financial crisis, says Bank of France chief ‘A fundamental right’: UK high street chains and restaurants challenged over refusal to accept cash Back to cash: life without money in your pocket is not the utopia Sweden hoped Citigroup plans to slash... The post Things worth reading: 17th March 2025 appeared...

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... The post The Finanser’s Week: 10th March – 16th...

Not sure if you noticed, but this week the U.S. Congress House Committee on Financial Services had a day investigating stablecoins, led by Chairman French Hill. The hearing was entitled ‘Navigating the Digital Payments Ecosystem: Examining a Federal Framework for Payment Stablecoins and Consequences of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency’ , and invited various... The post America sees stablecoins as critical to US...

Things we’re reading today include … Britain rapidly becoming a low-cash society warns ATM network boss JOHN HOWELLS Government announces inevitable end to Payments Services Regulator Deutsche Bank reviews Canary Wharf presence Revolut Hiring Hundreds to Become a Fully-Fledged UK Bank Reflecting on the State of Play for FinTechs in 2025 India arrests Russia based... The post Things worth reading: 14th March 2025 appeared...

As many of you will have gathered, the next new book is all about Digital Trust in a Deep Fake World, coming out summer 2026 (I’m working on it now), so I was interested to see two fraud reports from by veriff, the AI-driven identity verification company, this morning. Released today, the reports show fraud... The post Fraud is rife … gov, banks and...

Things we’re reading today include … Industry Reacts as UK Government Axes Payments Watchdog | FinTech Magazine Ex-Barclays boss Jes Staley fights for hit reputation which has been ‘irretrievably damaged’ by City ban, tribunal told Bank of England scraps diversity rules amid DEI backlash Bank CEO says 4-day week isn’t progressive, and AI will make... The post Things worth reading: 13th March 2025 appeared...

I don’t like lists. Most are subjective, incorrect and silly. Nevertheless I decided to make a list today of the greatest fintech firms in the world. It is purely from a personal perspective and nothing to do with valuation, relationships or brown envelopes, although the latter is always welcome. So here it is: Chris Skinner’s Top... The post The Top 10 Fintechs 2025, according to...