Banking Avengers - have you met them?

At a family gathering, I asked my 14-year-old niece, who her favorite Avenger was? She paused, and replied, “I like Shuri for the smarts and Natasha for the fighting skills”. I smiled, and told mysel

Banking Strategy, Digital and Transformation

Which? reports branch closures, but banks must maintain a physical element to customer experience

Which? has released a research report showing more than a third of bank branches have closed in the last five years. The consumer group found that 3,303 branches closed between January 2015 and Augus...

Disruption in Retail Banking

UK Post Office Access To Cash - Setting Back Service Standards By Half A Century?

More stories this week in Britain about the potential for Post Offices to replace ATMs as far as the supply of cash to the public is concerned. There is a heavy irony in Post Offices now being touted ...

Financial Inclusion

Will real rates loan searches ever be available to the sub-prime market?

Let’s talk about representative APRs. Those enticing little percentages that influence a consumer’s decision to apply for one loan product over another. Far too often excitement turns to disappointmen...

Taking a chance on TPPs: a road banks cannot afford to follow

Despite all the new and varying financial players in today’s market, banks still hold a vital position in society. Firstly, they play a huge part in ensuring the stability and the integrity of the fin...

Banking Regulations

How to Personalize Digital Experiences in Finance

Customers have come to expect a level of personal service from companies that is the digital version of a 24/7 concierge. Think Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify, all companies that have set the bar for pe...

Fintech innovation and startups

Elevating trust with lessons from the past

In 1852, Elisha Otis invented the safety elevator. If the hoisting rope broke, its safety mechanism automatically brought it to a halt – as he demonstrated to dramatic effect at the 1854 world fair. A...

Fintech innovation and startups

Fair AI: How to Detect and Remove Bias from Financial Services AI Models

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) promise a smarter, more automated future for everyone. But the algorithms that underpin these technologies are at risk of bias, a substantial thr...

Artificial Intelligence and Financial Services

e-id - central part of banking services - huge growth in Finland

The banking sector is doing in practical terms all the strong e-ID transactions needed in Finland. There are some 3 600 organizations and all of the public sector using this services (dating back to t...

Digital Banking Trends

Demise of cash speeding up in Finland

A population of 5,5m (and some tourists) produced the following ATM volumes: Million times/billion €s: 2014: 145,1 million times/14,4billion € 2015: 137,1m/13,9bn 2016: 124,3m/13,0bn 2017: 12,1bn€ 201...

Digital Banking Trends

Open Banking Transaction Categorisation Mythbusting

This is the first part of a two-part series covering all things categorisation. Part one will cover the what, why and some of the how with part two going deeper on the technical nitty-gritty of how w

Open Banking

Will the cumbersome administrative tasks for your financials finally be a thing of the past?

PFM, BFM, Financial Butler, Financial Cockpit, Account Aggregator…​ - Will the cumbersome administrative tasks on your financials finally be taken over by your financial institution? 1. Introducti

Personal Finance