~chris-skinner-s-blo | Bookmarks (184)

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...

Things we’re reading today include … Banks’ climate alliance calls vote to ditch pledge on limiting warming to 1.5C Banks risk losing cardholders amid growing demand for digital options The next wave of digital transformation demands integrating your bank horizontally and end to end Fintech’s New Power Player: The Chief Monetisation Officer UK fintech investment... The post Things worth reading: 12th March 2025 appeared...

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 up a complete digital profile. It can be anything from the holistic version of you... The post You and your digital twin are in...

Things we’re reading today include … Second biggest bank in US hit by major data breach stealing social security numbers and other personal info Citi Mistakenly Credits Client US$81 Trillion in Shocking Banking Blunder Revolut UK CEO stresses Revolut’s ambition to shift from “disruptor” to primary bank – Tech.eu The Fintech-Bank Marriage is Broken. Can... The post Things worth reading: 11th March 2025 appeared...

Or where is Jan Marsalek, part two … As the headlines rolled out last week, I heard a name: Jan Marsalek, the former COO of disgraced fintech star Wirecard. It turns out that he was also the central figure in a GRU, Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie (Russian military intelligence unit), operation created to spy across the... The post The fugitive Jan Marsalek, former COO of...

Things we’re reading today include … Trump Organization ‘debanked by Capital One’ Donald Trump is giving the euro a chance to dethrone the dollar HAMISH MCRAE: Donald Trump’s power will be contained by financial markets Klarna targets $15bn valuation with upcoming US IPO, bypassing London markets Australia’s biggest bank cuts more than 100 jobs after... The post Things worth reading: 10th March 2025 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … Trump’s secret strategy to replace the US dollar with bitcoin? The trade tariff war that Donald Trump introduced on March 3rd has created a situation where the world is at war. Trade war. China responded by saying that they would hit back by imposing 10-15% tariffs on US... The post The Finanser’s Week: 3rd March – 9th...

The trade tariff war that Donald Trump introduced on March 3rd has created a situation where the world is at war. Trade war. China responded by saying that they would hit back by imposing 10-15% tariffs on US farm products but, more importantly, have said that they are ready for war … any sort of... The post Trump’s secret strategy to replace the US...

Things we’re reading today include … 26 Million Devices Hit By Infostealers—Bank Cards Leaked To Dark Web Bitcoin plunges as Trump’s strategic reserve fails to impress markets Why 2025 Could Prove a Turning Point for Digital Assets? More than one month’s worth of IT failures at major banks and building societies in the last two... The post Things worth reading: 7th March 2025 appeared...

As Donald Trump orders creation of a strategic cryptocurrency reserve for the USA, North Korea is working hard to hack it. This is demonstrated by the biggest theft of all time – $1.5 billion – by the North Korean Lazarus Group from Bybit. How could this happen? Well, Chainalysis breaks it down nicely into a step-by-step... The post How North Korea stole $1.5 billion of...

Things we’re reading today include … The collapse of El Salvador’s bitcoin dream Why 2025 Could Prove a Turning Point for Digital Assets? I’m the CEO of a bank – I regret not saving more into my pension HSBC on the hunt for new UK boss after another leadership reshuffle ‘Money dysmorphia’ searches are rocketing... The post Things worth reading: 6th March 2025 appeared...

It is a wild ride with cryptocurrencies. Rising rapidly with Trump’s presidential campaign – after all, he is the crypto President! – things have gone south badly in the last week. It’s kind of that crescendo from zero to hero to zero again. The rises and falls in cryptocurrency values are a real rollercoaster. For... The post The crypto rollercoaster appeared first on Chris...

Things we’re reading today include … From Skepticism to Active Support: U.S. Creates the Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve – Funds Society What White House Crypto Strategy Means for Payments Innovation Millennials love bitcoin and now the baby boomers are joining in too Trump supporters lose billion as $TRUMP’s value falls of a cliff Dollar risks losing... The post Things worth reading: 5th March 2025 appeared...

We just had the annual Oscar jamboree and congratulations to Anora for its five Oscars, and particular respect to Sean Baker who picked up four personally, something that’s never been achieved before. But Hollywood has an issue. No one knows where the money goes. I’ve just joined some friends to fix that. It came around... The post Fintech and Hollywood: a perfect match appeared...

Things we’re reading today include … The Paypers’ Global Payments and Fintech Trends Report is live – ThePaypers Trump attempts to bail out his wealthy cryptocurrency backers with ‘U.S. crypto reserve’ | Mashable Donald Trump has ‘bailed out’ crypto. The US taxpayer risks being the biggest loser Banking’s critical functions are vanishing into the cloud... The post Things worth reading: 4th March 2025 appeared...

On Friday, for the second month running, UK banks payment systems were down. Last month it was Barclays. This month, it is Lloyds, TSB and Nationwide, and probably more. The issue is a joint one: there is no branch anymore and online help services continually tell you that you are 19th in the queue, and... The post How near are we to Zero Day?...

Things we’re reading today include … Trump orders creation of strategic cryptocurrency reserve Lloyds, Nationwide and Halifax among banks hit by app outage on payday (with quotes from some Chris Skinner guy) The £24m vanity project bound to stay locked in Bank of England’s vaults North Korean hackers ‘took just two minutes’ to pull off... The post Things worth reading: 3rd March 2025 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … European regulation strangulation, part 2 America innovates, China replicates and Europe regulates I often find the maze of European regulations hard to follow and track. It’s ok if you’re tracking one – like that Payment Service Directives and Regulations – but when you’re trying to track many, it’s... The post The Finanser’s Week: 24th February – 2nd...

Microsoft just unveiled a new chip called Majorana1 that it says will enable the creation of quantum computers able to solve “meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, not decades”. Two months ago Google unveiled Willow, a chip that “can reduce errors exponentially as we scale up using more qubits” and can process a computation “in under five minutes... The post Can you explain quantum computing in a...

Things we’re reading today include … Metro bucks the bank closures trend with plan to open over 100 new branches $300 Billion Gone! What’s Really Happening in the Crypto Market? Trump supporters lose $12bn as president’s cryptocurrency coin collapses FBI fingers North Korea for $1.5B Bybit cryptocurrency heist • The Register February 2025: Top five... The post Things worth reading: 28th February 2025 appeared...

America innovates, China replicates and Europe regulates I often find the maze of European regulations hard to follow and track. It’s ok if you’re tracking one – like that Payment Service Directives and Regulations – but when you’re trying to track many, it’s an ever changing cauldron. Right now, I’m trying to work out with... The post European regulation strangulation, part 2 appeared first...

Things we’re reading today include … Almost $1 Trillion Loss Rocks Crypto as Trump Excitement Wanes Lloyds Bank overstated interest-bearing deposits to BoE by £44bn Metro Bank sells personal loan book in switch to specialist lending 84% of bank customers would switch for AI-powered insights BNY Teams With OpenAI to Bring ‘Transformational’ AI to Banking... The post Things worth reading: 27th February 2025 appeared...