The Financial Services Club's Blog

From Bloomberg to Snoopberg

The shock news of the day, or not, is that Bloomberg’s reporters have been spying on their customers.

Or that’s the suspicion anyway, and was kicked off by Goldman Sachs complaint that a reporter from Bloomberg had telephoned to find out why an employee of the bank had not logged on to their Bloomberg terminal yet.  Had they lost their job?

Apparently, reporters at Bloomberg did the same in 2012 when trying to find out what was going on at JPMorgan over their London Whale  incident.  There are also concerns that they may have been tracking Tim Geithner, US Treasury Secretary, and Ben Bernanke, Head of the Federal Reserve.

Things worth reading: 13th May 2013

Things we're reading today include ...

The Finanser's Week: 6th May - 12th May 2013

Our biggest stories of the past week are ...

Sir Ranulph Fiennes caught trying to rob a bank

Like others in the conference hall, I felt a sense of awe as the world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph ‘Ran’ Fiennes, took to the stage to recount some of the stories about his life and travels, including the day...

Citibank: a flawed innovation process? No, but a ruthless one

I just got a heads-up about an interesting project taking place in Citibank called Darbie. Being aware of the challenge of new start-ups like Simple and Square, Citi are concerned that they might be disintermediated from the customer relationship, as...

Not bank branches again (yawn, zzz, duh)

The hardy perennial discussion of whether we need branches or not comes up again this week. It’s a regular debate on the blog and in the Financial Services Club, with various entries that are relevant to contribute towards the debate:...

Predictive, proactive, proximity based payments

After my discussion about the augmented economy which focused upon customer service, I thought about it from the other side: transactions. Many years ago, my technology firm made a play for banks to deploy data warehouses to perform predictive analytics...

  
The major general news stories of the past week include ...  

Cybercriminals 'drained ATMs' in $45m world bank heist - BBC

A gang of cybercriminals stole $45m (£29m) by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and draining cash machines around the world, US prosecutors say.

Eye-catching recruits and full bank buyout fast-tracks grocer's push for supremacy - The Independent

Sainsbury's is gearing up for a major assault on the banking sector with ambitious plans to take on HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and the rest of the financial high street.        

Say goodbye to the pin: voice recognition takes over at Barclays Wealth - The Telegraph

Barclays Wealth customers will no longer need to answer security questions and remember pin codes to use telephone banking.

Can customers ever trust bankers again? – BBC

Free banking at risk as EU wants us to bank anywhere in Europe - The Telegraph

 European proposals that would allow Britons to switch to a bank account in another country could hasten the demise of free banking, experts have warned.  

Nat Rothschild rues 'terrible mistake' in tie-up with Bakries - The Independent

The City financier Nat Rothschild has given a rare insight into his personal life, claiming he no longer drinks or smokes and goes to bed at 9.30pm.    

US banks tipped off to Harp loans - Financial Times

Banks say they have been able to use release to identify and analyse Harp loans, highlighting the industry’s use of ‘big data’ analysis              

Co-op Bank could need taxpayer support, says Moody's - The Telegraph

 The Co-op could require taxpayer support for its banking arm after the business had its credit rating downgraded by Moody's, which warned the mutual faced losses that it might not be able to afford.        

'Crisis over' hopes after HSBC posts £5bn profit - The Independent

HSBC has moved to put allegations of money laundering for Mexican cocaine gangs in the past as it posted a storming set of results that gave hope the banking crisis could finally be over.        

Treasury boss who drove President Obama loopy hits on a new signature for bank notes - The Independent

When US President Barack Obama nominated Jack Lew as the new Secretary of the US Treasury in January, the media had one overwhelming concern about the appointment: Lew’s illegible signature, which resembles the doodle of an absent-minded child, would now appear on every US banknote.        

 

 

If you like the Finanser, check out the books of the blog: the Complete Banker Series

The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:

    

For details of sponsorship email us.

 

 

Sir Ranulph Fiennes caught trying to rob a bank

Like others in the conference hall, I felt a sense of awe as the world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph ‘Ran’ Fiennes, took to the stage to recount some of the stories about his life and travels, including the day he was in court over trying to rob a bank. 

Things worth reading: 10th May 2013

Things we're reading today include ...

Citibank: a flawed innovation process? No, but a ruthless one

I just got a heads-up about an interesting project taking place in Citibank called Darbie.

Being aware of the challenge of new start-ups like Simple and Square, Citi are concerned that they might be disintermediated from the customer relationship, as are most old guard banks.

But rather than ignoring this threat, Citi has taken it on board and created a counter offer.

Things worth reading: 9th May 2013

Things we're reading today include ...

Not bank branches again (yawn, zzz, duh, wtf)

The hardy perennial discussion of whether we need branches or not comes up again this week.  It’s a regular debate on the blog and in the Financial Services Club, with various entries that are relevant to contribute towards the debate:

• To dump or not to dump the branch (2007)
• Branches Wanted: Dead or Alive? (2009)
• The branch-based banking model is dead, Part One (2009)
• Branch-based banking is dead, Part Two (2009)
• Bank branches are not dead (2011)
• Do banks need branches? (Financial Services Club Debate, 2012) 

It is a discussion that never goes away because no-one knows the answer.

Things worth reading: 8th May 2013

Things we're reading today include ...

Predictive, proactive, proximity based payments

After my discussion about the augmented economy which focused upon customer service, I thought about it from the other side: transactiosns.

Many years ago, my technology firm made a play for banks to deploy data warehouses to perform predictive analytics based upon consumer propensity models of their data-based behaviours.

It may sound a little complex, but basically it was meant to use data patterns to predict what the customer would do next and whether they might need some new financial service. 

Things worth reading: 7th May 2013

Things we're reading today include ...

The Finanser's Week: 29th April - 5th May 2013

Our biggest stories of the past week are ...

Bank customers: vulnerable victims or gullible gimps?

I must admit, having listened to Jeremy Roe regarding banks mis-selling swaps contracts along with Which? and the leader of bank employee union Unite talking about how general staff and customers feel about mis-selling, I’m a little bit cynical. Have...

Are banks bullies?

We had a fascinating insight into the issue of swaps mis-selling from Jeremy Roe last night at the Financial Services Club. Jeremy was a victim of the process and has been championing the cause ever since. He now counts 1,200...

Chris Skinner – speaker

I recently got signed up by O2 Speakers as my speaker agency.  It's the same agency that manage Brett King as well as others such as Chris Hughes, the co-founder of Facebook, and Michael Douglas, the actor.  Anyways, they've kindly produced a nice little video of yours truly which I thought worth sharing with all, as it's pretty good.

The UK's new bank regulator: Andrew Bailey

For the second time recently, I got to hear the thoughts of Andrew Bailey, CEO of the new Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation at the Bank of England. This time was at the annual dinner...

The latest on SEPA

At this year's International Payments Summit (IPS), there were discussions of many areas including social media, mobile, cloud, regulations and innovations. These have all been summarised in a wonderfully short overview document available to paying attendees. However, given my interest...

The augmented economy

In the middle of my showreel, I talk about augmented lifestyles. I’ve talked about this for many years, but now it is becoming an augmented reality, especially with the launch of Google Glass. Google’s glasses (I want!) allow you to...

  
The major general news stories of the past week include ...  

City culture saw bankers accept ‘holidays and prostitutes in return for lucrative deals’ - The Independent
A culture that developed in the City of London under which bankers accepted hospitality including strip club outings, holidays, prostitutes and even drugs from brokers helped created conditions under which the Libor rate could be fixed, it was claimed.        

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Insight: Why did Cypriot banks keep buying Greek bonds? - Reuters
NICOSIA (Reuters) - One day last October, a memory stick containing special software for deleting data was placed into a desktop computer at Bank of Cyprus.

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Monday Interview: All-American shake-up comes to UK banking - The Telegraph
To be frank, and I think we can be with Vernon Hill, both Metro Bank and its boss are what certain Brits would describe as “ghastly American”.

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Metro Bank losses pass £100m in just three years - The Telegraph
Metro Bank, the first new high street lender in Britain in more than a century, has seen losses reach more than £100m nearly three years since its launch.        

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Rivals charm RBS over Rainbow sale - Financial Times
A charm offensive is coming from two rival factions of City investors, each vying to persuade RBS to sell them a portfolio of 315 branches

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Lloyds's £4bn gilty secret is out ... and over - The Telegraph
Everybody loves gilts at the moment and probably no one more than Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio. Yet again, another set of the bank's results have been given a welcome boost by the sale of a slug of UK government bonds.        

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Market baffled by 700pc rise in Bankia shares - The Telegraph
Traders and analysts were left baffled on Tuesday after struggling Spanish lender Bankia briefly became the most valuable bank in the eurozone as its shares soared by more than 700pc.        

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Lloyds offloading Spanish branches after Verde blow - The Independent
Project Verde may have collapsed last week but Lloyds Banking Group managed to bring off a branches sale today with the disposal of its Spanish business.        

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Lloyds sees profits rise to £2bn - BBC
Lloyds Banking Group has reported a big rise in profits for the first three months of the year, making a total of more than £2bn.

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Irish bank regulator set to join Lloyds - Financial Times
Ireland’s chief banking regulator is set to join Lloyds Banking Group as the new head of compliance at Britain’s biggest lender.

 

If you like the Finanser, check out the books of the blog: the Complete Banker Series

 

The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:

 

For details of sponsorship email us.

Bank customers: vulnerable victims or gullible gimps?

I must admit, having listened to Jeremy Roe regarding banks mis-selling swaps contracts along with Which? and the leader of bank employee union Unite talking about how general staff and customers feel about mis-selling, I’m a little bit cynical.

Have banks behaved badly or are customers a little bit stupid?

Things worth reading: 3rd May 2013

Things we're reading today include ...

The UK's new bank regulator: Andrew Bailey

For the second time recently, I got to hear the thoughts of Andrew Bailey, CEO of the new Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation at the Bank of England.

This time was at the annual dinner for the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Edinburgh. 

Things worth reading: 2nd May 2013

Things we're reading today include ...

The latest on SEPA

At this year's International Payments Summit (IPS), there were discussions of many areas including social media, mobile, cloud, regulations and innovations.  These have all been summarised in a wonderfully short overview document available to paying attendees.

 However, given my interest in SEPA and the fact that we are just closing our fourth annual survey into its impact (have you taken part yet? if not, click here as it closes this Friday!), I felt compelled to extract the IPS summary of the SEPA debate at the conference and replicate here. 

Enjoy!

Things worth reading: 1st May 2013

Things we're reading today include ...

If you thought PPI was costly, wait till you see the price of this scandal

We had a fascinating insight into the issue of swaps mis-selling from Jeremy Roe last night at the Financial Services Club.

Jeremy was a victim of the process and has been championing the cause ever since.  He now counts 1,200 companies in his group, Bully Banks, out of the 40,000 cases that have been identified so far.

It does not sound like much, but if each case averages £2.5 million compensation, this is a £100 billion exposure and is far bigger than the PPI mis-selling scandal we all know about already.

Why would it be so much?

Things worth reading: 30th April 2013

Things we're reading today include ...