Making a nuanced effort towards gender diversity - three pieces of advice From working in different countries to tackling the sector’s diversity problem, Sundeep Kaur, regional leader for global financial services at AWS, speaks to Jyoti Rambhai about the trends and challenges in payments. Tell us about your career path? I grew up and I... Continue Reading →

When the banks leave town - a banking desert in North Wales Prestatyn is a seaside town in Denbighshire, Wales - it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl and has a population of 19 thousand which is often swelled by visitors during holiday periods. The town gained media attention... Continue Reading →

My first financial goal Although I’d never been to Cheshunt and I didn’t know what a Building Society actually did my teenage self dutifully visited the counters of the Cheshunt Building Society 1 each Saturday to handover a small portion of my weekly newspaper round earnings. In return for handing over a couple of pound notes to... Continue Reading →

39 plays and 154 sonnets - I can't stop writing - Shakespeare? No a 1988 Barclays advert for the new Connect Card. https://youtu.be/5oYaVtQxxQo

The cheque you don't have to write featuring 1980's Eastenders actor Elaine Jordan - a 1988 advert from Barclays. https://youtu.be/mdudsJfUB00

Walking to work on the 26 April 1993 My walk to work on the 26 April 1993 was like no other - the historic Square Mile had been attacked!  A walk from Liverpool Street to Fenchurch Street this week brought back some very memories from early in my career. A career in London’s Square Mile... Continue Reading →

Driving change: Leveraging tech to becoming more sustainable Sustainability has become a hot topic in recent years as people become more aware of the impact human consumption inflicts on the planet. As a result, sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue in the payments industry, with many companies taking steps to reduce their environmental impact... Continue Reading →

Taranis Capital’s Advisory Board will comprise internationally recognised leaders from banking, fintech, capital markets, and technology. The formation of the Advisory Board marks another significant milestone for Taranis following its launch at the beginning of May 2023. Taranis Capital, An ethical, fintech-focused investment fund envisaged by its founding members, who each bring knowledge and experience suited... Continue Reading →

https://youtu.be/33-0Pl_q-zQ Everyday banking BankingHUB Access to banking and cash can be a challenge in an increasingly digital world. BankingHUB has teamed up up with the UK's major banks to provide a place where individuals and businesses can do their everyday banking locally and speak with a representative from their bank face to face. Here's what... Continue Reading →

Celebrating 10 years of the Cash ISA Transfer Service Most of us will know that a cash ISA – standing for Individual Savings Account – is similar to a regular savings account, but there is no tax to pay on any of the interest you earn. In the UK you can put away up to £20,000 in... Continue Reading →

In this blog we are pleased to explore the trends transforming today’s digital banking - a piece written by Vasile Valcov, Chief Commercial Officer at Salt Edge. Close your eyes for a second. Imagine you’ve just looped into the future and are now getting ready to order something online. You’re scrolling through websites, looking for the perfect match... Continue Reading →

Banks and building societies should compete with each other to offer the best set of tools and services to help customers address financial problems that were worsened by the pandemic, a think-tank says. The Social Market Foundation said that new “consumer duty” rules being introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority should drive financial services firms to improve the way... Continue Reading →

Cash anytime of the day as easy as ABC and other 1980’s adverts from the Griffin In this edition of Payments:Unpacked Payments Past we feature Midland Bank adverts from the 1980’s as told (mostly) by Richard Briers. https://youtu.be/Hy9RaZnevso

The most common street name in the United Kingdom is “High Street”. Did you know that it is derived from the Old English word “heah” which means “most important”? Social historian Juliet Gardiner explains that “it was in the 1860s and 70s that the High Street as we know it came about. Because of urbanisation,... Continue Reading →

In this blog we feature a point of view from Andrew Smith, CTO, Founding Member RTGS.global and ClearBank. In his blog Andrew considers whether agency banking is holding customers back. Agency Banking If you are new to the term “agency banking” then think of it simply as this, most banks are actually customers of bigger banks. The bigger banks... Continue Reading →

Tanya Thourani has been reflecting on Chase’s entry into the UK’s current account banking marketplace: Source: Tanya Thourani Tanya asks: Will you value a modern offering from an established financial institution or a more established offering from a modern institution?Last month, JPMC launched a digital retail bank in the U.K, challenging the British rivals (Neo +... Continue Reading →

Ahead of last week’s Money2020 event Anne Boden (CEO over at Starling Bank) has been gathering her thoughts on trust in the banking industry and the future of embedded finance. OK, I’ll say it. A lot of people don’t trust banks. This was, in great part, a motivation for the creation of Starling. Dissatisfaction with banks was... Continue Reading →

Customers of HSBC in Wales may soon be able to ask for a loan in their native language after the global bank announced that it was offering Welsh lessons to branch staff in the country. More than 50 branch staff have volunteered to take lessons in the language, including online instruction and live tutorials with fluent Welsh-speakers.... Continue Reading →

Bank accounts for kids has come up, time and time again over the years. Nigel Walsh has looked at them with interest in the past, but never had the need to make a decison - until now.... We are pleased to feature this Guest Blog by Nigel Walsh Long gone are piggy banks, the regular... Continue Reading →

Bank Holidays in the UK were introduced in 1871 by banker and politician John Lubbock, the first Baron of Avebury.  As well as his banking and political activities Sir John was also a scientific writer and tried to teach his dog to read. According to Horace G. Hutchinson in the Life of Sir John Lubbock,... Continue Reading →

As the high street once again opens up to customers without restrictions, retailers’ thoughts will soon turn to restocking, upgrading and investing in new staff, fixtures and fittings.  Now, thanks to CIP Capital, a new partnership between Card Industry Professionals (CIP) and YouLend, CIP merchants can access funding quickly and effortlessly, to help make improvements... Continue Reading →

The Bank of Ireland has launched a video tutorial series to give customers the skills and confidence to use digital banking services. In March, the bank outlined plans to shut a third of its branches as it reaches a digital "tipping point" between online and offline transactions - a long-term trend accelerated by the Covid-19... Continue Reading →

Here's a selection of articles written by Mike Chambers which have recently featured in third party publications: PCN Magazine - July 2021 Have digital options even replaced the petty cash tin? Click on the image to access the article. Global Banking & Finance Review - July 2021 The transformation of payments during the pandemic Click... Continue Reading →

Sarah Rutherford at FICO has commissioned a survey of 1,000 adults in each of fourteen countries to canvas them about their attitudes to opening a range of different financial accounts digitally using websites and apps.  Sarah reports that there were some very interesting findings and some results that challenged her pre-conceptions and received wisdom!  Sarah’s... Continue Reading →

Can green Fintech’s save the planet? In the latest edition of #fincuts Tanya Thourani asks: How cool is it if your card doesn't just buy things but fights climate change? How cool is it if Fintechs could convert pounds into kilograms of carbon emitted?Can you tell which is killing more turtles: the plastic straw or your friend’s flight from... Continue Reading →

Mark O’Keefe at Optima Consultancy has published a German Mobile Banking App review. Three take aways from Mark’s report: The challenger banks continue to raise the bar when it comes to what can be done in a mobile banking app. New entrant C24 have launched with a proposition stronger than most in the market and challengers continue to release features... Continue Reading →

Tanya Thourani has been thinking about how Fintech’s make money and has come up with five models: Nice & Simple : Subscriptions or Service Fees. Make it count : Brokerage Fees. Most Lucrative : Third Parties. Oldest Buddy : Advertising. The Gold Mines : Data & APIs. Read Tanya’s blog: Five ways for a Fintech to make... Continue Reading →

Fintech Rap Battle from Fintech Finance. Tom Blomfield and Monzo, take on Anne Boden and Starling in a throw down to decide who is the ultimate challenger bank. https://youtu.be/fG0JTbzMnd4

Many payments systems around the world are being improved or rebuilt to serve the needs of a modern, digital culture. Payments System Modernisation is a huge challenge that affects the entire payments ecosystem. XMLdation have created an Infographic that shows the breadth of the impact globally for real time, high value, and other types of payments.... Continue Reading →

Imagination: What could you do with a loan from Barclays? Earlier this week I posted an assignment from my late 1980's Chartered Institute of Bankers course - this led me to wonder how did my fictional South East Bank pamphlet compare with real bank adverts from the late 1980's? https://youtu.be/MctlwClGhGw

When studying for my Chartered Institute of Banking exams as a Grade 1 Bank Clerk in the late 1980's little did I know where my banking career would take me! My roles in product management, as the CEO of systemically important payment systems, my responsibility for the live launch of the Current Account Switching Service... Continue Reading →

When the winds of change blow some people build walls while others build windmills As the old Chinese proverb goes, ‘when the winds of change blow some people build walls while others build windmills’. Firmly in the windmill camp is Gavin McLean, head of product – payments, at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, part of Lloyds Banking Group,... Continue Reading →

Would you like to find out how to build profitable banking services? Manifesto Growth Architects have joined forces with Vacuumlabs to guide you through the process. Join Manifesto's Banking 2021 virtual event to find out more and meet the industry experts who will share their knowledge and experiences: ◦ Nigel Sirett| Vacuumlabs◦ Joanna Levesque| Manifesto... Continue Reading →

The Inclusion Foundation highlights that 1.23m of the UK’s most vulnerable do not have access to a bank account and such disadvantaged segments of society find it very challenging to pay and get paid.  They report that the problem is being further exasperated by the social isolation measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19,... Continue Reading →

Banking on IT: How I Disrupted an Industry by Anne Boden BANKING ON IT is the first-hand account of one woman’s quest to rebuild Britain’s broken banking system. After a lengthy career at the top of some of Britain’s leading banks Anne Boden had become disillusioned with the status quo – the financial crash had... Continue Reading →

Forget your flash metal debit cards, eco-friendly search engine Ecosia has invested £1 million for a 20% stake in TreeCard, a wooden payment card that channels profits from merchant surcharges into reforestation programmes.  TreeCard comes with an app that lets users track spending, split bills with friends and monitor how many trees have been planted... Continue Reading →

Mark O’Keefe’s (Founding director at Optima Consultancy and PSR Panel member) nine year old daughter has produced her own version of the Optima Consultancy banking app review, Amy’s review covers junior accounts. Which account does she think a child would say is best out of goHenry, Starling Bank, Revolut and RoosterMoney and why?  What advice... Continue Reading →

On this day in 1958 the credit card industry was born - and who better than Dave Birch to help us celebrate! In an article published today by Forbes Dave writes: Today is a very important day for us payments nerds. It is the anniversary of the “Fresno Drop”, the birth of the modern credit... Continue Reading →

In 1984 one UK bank was concerned about losing customers and made a decision that fundamentally changed how Britain’s banking landscape operated.  Midland Bank, then one of the UK’s big four banking groups (now HSBC), got rid of fees for cheques, statements and standing orders. In other words, it made banking free of charge -... Continue Reading →

The number of people switching bank accounts is starting to recover according to data just published by Pay.UK. 43,377 Current Account Switches occurred in August 2020 - a significant uplift when compared to the past three months, similar to April but still a far cry from the 111,327 switches that occurred in March. Read, subscribe... Continue Reading →

It wasn’t so long ago that using a bank account involved maintaining a minimum balance and included a whole suite of debit charges that might be levied. The extract below shows the fees that our parents and grandparents might have incurred when using their bank account in May 1981:  This extract from a Chartered Institute... Continue Reading →

Monzo have just announced that they are introducing new fees from the 31 October 2020: It’ll continue to be free to withdraw up to £250 of cash in the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) from your Monzo account every 30 days - after that there’ll be a fee of 3%. If your card expires,... Continue Reading →

Ipsos MORI have published results of an independent service quality survey of personal banking in Great Britain. The results are from an independent survey carried out between July 2019 and June 2020 by Ipsos MORI as part of a regulatory requirement, and the information is published at the request of the providers and the Competition and Markets... Continue Reading →

This article first appeared in the Payments, Payments, Payments newsletter – read, subscribe and share: northeypoint.substack.com/welcome Banking in the age of the robot is the first in a series of trends papers which investigate social and economic contextual factors that are influencing millennials’ attitudes towards and engagement with the financial system.  The paper provides a snapshot... Continue Reading →

What is an IBAN? … and why would I need one? Jonathan Williams, Director, Mk2 Consulting Standardisation is generally a good thing, at least that’s what ISO – the International Organisation for Standardisation – believes, and this applies to financial transactions more than most. The International Bank Account Number – pronounced “eye-ban” in the UK... Continue Reading →

Recommended reading: Add them to your reading list and let me know what you think. The Currency Cold War by David Birch The way that money works now is a blip. It’s a temporary institutional arrangement agreed in response to specific political, technological and economic circumstances. As these circumstances change, so money must change. Many... Continue Reading →

Today, we feature a guest blog by university student Reuben Taylor sharing his experience on opening a bank account with Starling Bank. Reuben shares his experience: Generally, at some point in life (potentially multiple times) you will have to open or switch bank accounts. And with the current coronavirus pandemic placing restrictions on human interaction... Continue Reading →

There is much to thank the Midland Bank for launching ‘free in credit banking’ in the mid 1980’s but perhaps, an unintended consequence was, this act that led to all current accounts feeling the same. A range of utility current accounts from an ever decreasing number of providers offering the same vanilla banking. In early... Continue Reading →

Pay.UK have just published the monthly Current Account Switch Service data for April 2020. The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) has completed 6.6 million switches since launching in 2013, 280,520 of which took place between January and March 2020. Despite the impact of COVID19, March saw the third highest number of Current Account Switches since... Continue Reading →

Today, 30 April 2020, saw the publication by Pay.UK of the Current Account Switch Service Dashboard covering the period 1 January to 31 March 2020. The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) has completed 6.6 million switches since launching in 2013, 280,520 of which took place between January and March 2020. With much talk of the... Continue Reading →