Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

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Things worth reading: 28th May 2026

Things we’re reading today include … Huawei Unveils Upgraded Solutions to Drive Finance Toward Agentic Banking Citi’s 5-year comeback: How CEO Jane Fraser turned the bank’s chronic underperformance into decade-high revenue  HM Treasury Publishes Findings of the UK Bank Ring-Fencing Review Project Agorá: a shared programmable platform for wholesale cross-border payments Tonik Becomes the First…

Things worth reading: 27th May 2026

Things we’re readihg today include … Deregulation hands top US and UK banks $1.3tn The £1tn Divergence: How Regulatory Loosening is Redrawing the Fintech Playing Field Goldman Sachs emerges as chief beneficiary of bank deregulation German media giant Bertelsmann gets banking licence Why JPMorgan Payments thinks like a fintech DBS Bank scales AI across 430…

What is an AI-native bank?

Now that Intelligent Bank has finally launched during my trip to China with Hauwei, here is more about what it means, as written by an AI friend … Intelligent Bank: The Third Financial Technology Revolution argues that banking is entering a third major era of technological change. The first revolution was automation, driven by mainframes, SWIFT, Visa…

Things worth reading: 26th May 2026

Things we’re reading today include … Europe’s Banks Got An Emergency AI Warning From The ECB – Here Is What It Means For Fintech Metro Bank investors urged to reject executive pay report Bank Loans to UK Businesses Hit 28-Year Low Shawbrook weighs Aldermore bid as Firstrand looks to offload challenger bank Commonwealth Bank boss…

Things worth reading: 25th May 2026

Things we’re reading today include … Kevin Warsh Sworn In As New Federal Reserve Chair, Capping Months-Long Saga Bank boss sorry after describing workers as ‘lower value human capital’ Banking reforms to boost investment by billions for British businesses Bank lending to UK businesses falls to lowest level in nearly 30 years Trump Executive Order…

The Finanser’s Week: 18th May – 24th May 2026

This week’s main blog discussions include … What banks are doing with AI The funny thing about AI in banking is that the headlines are completely wrong. Every week there’s another breathless prediction claiming that AI will “replace banks”, “eliminate core systems” or “create autonomous financial institutions”. Reading these articles, you would think that we…

Things worth reading: 19th May 2026

Things we’re reading today include … Standard Chartered to cut thousands of roles as AI use increases DBS to Hire Over 500 Young Local Talent as AI Reshapes Banking Citadel CEO was anti-AI, now he says AI is real and he is depressed Why NatWest is Placing a £20bn Bet on Digital-Led Growth UK banks…

The Finanser’s Week: 11th May – 17th May 2026

This week’s blog discussions included … Everyone is lying to you about money I just discovered that Ben McKenzie is taking the cryptocurrency industry head-on. Many of you will remember Ben from The O.C. but he’s now a little bit more serious. In fact, he wrote a book: Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud. Oh!…

Things worth reading: 15th May 2026

Things we’re reading today include … Government reviews access to face to face banking services Face-to-face banking access to be reviewed Can King Charles’ Digital Roadmap Fast-Track the UK’s Fintech Ambition? UK fintech funding falls by 43% in Q1 One in Four U.S. Adults Now Use Crypto Revolut prepares to launch private bank as it…

Things worth reading: 14th May 2026

Things we’re reading today include … What King Charles Said on Digital Advances Means for Fintech The next emerging market crisis may not start in banks The FCA’s Innovation Insights Report and what it means for financial services firms Bunq applies for Mexican banking license Deutsche Bank joins $120m funding round for crypto analytics firm…