Latest opinions that Sriram Natarajan has shared on Finextra

Join the Community

24,399

Expert opinions

40,867

Total members

301

New members (last 30 days)

226

New opinions (last 30 days)

29,365

Total comments

Join Sign in

Sriram Natarajan

Risk Dog

Credit Risk Fraud Cards Professional

Member since

22 Nov 2007

Location

Gurgaon

View Sriram Natarajan's full profile

Sriram's opinions

Mobile Food Stamps

With the global food crisis raging on, it is time for countries and international organisations to think of creative ways to address the issue. Giving free rations is not a viable economic answer. Consumers reeling from price hikes don't need food aid; they need assistance on the pricing. One of the common solutions to address food inflation is i...

09 July 2008 /payments /regulation

Oil and Card - Yin and Yang?

Gasoline (or Petrol - depending on which side of the Atlantic you are) prices are biting so hard now that gas station owners and consumers are planning a rally to demonstrate their grievances. See press release http://www.prweb.com/releases/Gas/MasterCard/prweb1063174.htm Looks like oil prices are so pervasive in our lives that we can trace almost ...

01 July 2008 /payments /regulation

Carbons are forever

I am intrigued by the number of conferences and events on 'greening of financial services'. Unless I got it wrong, I am not sure if financial services is on the top 10 list of industries contributing to global warming. However, I am sure banks can contribute to 'carbon credits' by encouraging electronic access and cutting down on the tons of state...

22 June 2008 /security /regulation

Dumb and Dumber?

I notice a lot of attention in the blogosphere to this article on how the Internet (Google in particular) is turning humanity into a mass of 'thoughtless' nerds with a poor attention span and limited ability to assimiliate useful knowledge. You can read the article here -http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google The author's (Nicholas Carr) tho...

12 June 2008 /security /regulation

ID Theft - After-shock review

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), a non-profit organisation involved in the fight against ID theft, has released the 2007 'ID Theft Aftermath' report. This report outlines the 'human' side of ID theft - what effect does ID theft have on victims and their responses and feelings. The report covers victims in the US and hence represents the ...

05 June 2008 /security /regulation

Fear Index!

I came across a new Index of Fear - the Unisys Security Index. See here - http://www.unisyssecurityindex.com/ This security index outlines the 'fear levels' of various countries on four areas of security: National security - security and epidemics Financial security - bankcard fraud and ability to meet personal financial obligations Internet secu...

28 May 2008 /security /regulation

Prompt responses to tragedies - by the wrong guys!

We have seen two major natural calamities in the past week -cyclone in Myanmar and an earthquake in China. The Internet is abuzz with relief measures and donation outpourings. A lot is being made of the fact that a social networking site Twitter was the first to throw up the news of the quake in China. Also, many bloggers/geeks are noting with app...

14 May 2008

Credit card clampdown - new regulations

End of last week, the Federal Reserve released a proposed set of regulations on credit cards and overdraft. See http://federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20080502a.htm These regulations, when implemented will: Prohibit credit card companies from raising rates on existing credit card balances, unless a payment is at least 30 days overdue. C...

06 May 2008

Hail this Central Bank! Mobile payments' SIM 'God'

I saw a very gratifying announcement today in the news. The Reserve Bank of India (central bank) has given its formal blessing to mobile payment systems in India. "The Reserve Bank of India is finalising regulatory guidelines for mobile payment systems in India and it will place draft guidelines on its website by June 15, 2008. Though a numb...

30 April 2008

Vote for the top public intellectuals

Foreign Policy magazine has opened the doors for us to vote on the world's top 100 intellectuals. We can also put in candidates we think deserve to be on the roll call. I saw the usual suspects are in there - Thomas Friedman, Mohd Yunus, Amartya Sen, Jeffrey Sachs, Pope Benedict XVI and host of names in whose wisdom we normally soak in. Do put in ...

28 April 2008 /payments /regulation