The Finanser’s Week: 20th January – 27th January 2019

The main blog headlines are …

Digital banks have fast and regular communication

A further aspect of the digital banks I am talking with is that they have reviews all the time. Not formal reviews, but fast meetings with the business people, designers, developers and even audit and compliance all around the table. It is quick, frequent and …

Don’t just bring one, bring all

Continuing my conversation about implementing digital transformation, one of the biggest issues all companies face with transformation – digital or otherwise – is bringing the people with you. Some would say that anyone who does not join the journey can leave, but that’s quite a …

Synchronised swimming or football teams?

In another guest post related to industry versus digital banking Marko Wenthin, co-founder of solarisBank, sent this insight into my discussion of FinTech banks last week. Organisational behaviour – synchronised swimming versus football teams I read the post of my friend Chris today about how a …

Will blockchain replace core banking?

I’ve got lots more to write about digital transformation and the things I’m learning from banks engaged in doing it but, to give you a break, I also have a couple of fantastic guest submissions which are worth sharing. Today’s share is from Simon Taylor, …

Digital transformation needs a burning platform

Ever since I started working in business process re-engineering and transformation a while ago, before most millennials were born I should say, I learnt a lesson early on. Transformation will never work without a crisis point. You cannot make the whole company change if profits …

And the top news headlines this week are …

Metro Bank shares crash after loans blunder revealed - Guardian

Hundreds of millions wiped off value of company after it says loans were given wrong status Metro Bank has revealed a major blunder in how it classifies its loan book, an admission that drove its share price down by nearly 40% on Wednesday, wiping £800m off the value of the

Champs-Elysées bank heist took three and a half hours after robbers place 'closed' sign on front door - The Telegraph

Up to 25% wiped off house prices in some of UK's wealthiest areas - Guardian

Your Move says Brexit impact has led to falls in some cases of almost £500,000 in 12 months House prices in some of Britain’s wealthiest areas have had up to 25% wiped off their value in 12 months as Brexit turmoil continues, according to the estate agent Your Move. That

Data dependent? Five questions for the ECB - Reuters

The European Central Bank holds its first meeting of the year on Thursday as concern grows about weak economic growth at home and risks abroad from global trade tensions and Brexit.

One thing to be grateful to Brexit for: Britons are buying less on credit - Guardian

Consumer borrowing is falling, which is no bad thing. But it’s uncertainty, not regulation, that’s acting as the brake A sharp decline in household spending on the never-never, and especially spending on credit cards, is a trend that must surely be welcomed. The Bank of England said last week in

China should boost banks' active support for economy: central bank official - Reuters

Encouraging China's banks to actively increase support for the real economy, rather than relying on authorities' orders to boost lending, is the key to improving the supply of credit in the economy, a central bank official said on Monday.

Shareholders received record dividends of almost £100bn in 2018 - Guardian

But Brexit could take a bite out of future returns from UK-listed companies, says report UK-listed firms paid record dividends last year, thanks to rising profits, but a report warns that shareholder payouts could take a big hit if Brexit goes badly. Companies listed on the UK’s main market shelled

Pawnshops and payday lenders surge on US shutdown - Financial Times

Specialist consumer-financiers help bridge earnings gap for federal workers

Investment banking: The battle for Barclays - Financial Times

The UK lender has wrangled for decades over whether to maintain its investment bank. Now an activist investor is trying to force the issue

HSBC tells Welsh customer not to complain in 'foreign' language - The Guardian

Bank asked ‘shocked’ customer to resend message in English A major bank told a customer who wrote to it in Welsh to complain that some services were not available in her language that she should communicate with it in English rather than a “foreign” tongue. Nia Lloyd, a classroom assistant