A vision of the future - and it has to be near term if you want to compete

Immediately following the 2008 crash we should have been at the peak of regulatory change. Indeed, there were some very rapid responses, such as the 2009/2010 UK liquidity regime.  The mountain of reform needed was far greater than initially understood, ranging from structural change to Basel III.

As a result of the size of the change needed, it has been slower. Bank business model changes have arisen as a result of the redefinition of capital, the meaning of high quality and, of course liquidity. In addition, the amount of capital reserves and liquidity have increased.  But now that Basel III is largely in place, is the avalanche over? 

BBVA: the FinTech poster child that thinks about the future

Another significant move by BBVA as it this week acquires Finnish online banking start-up Holvi. You have to hand it to the Spanish FI, when it comes to facing up to FinTech disruption, it is leaving many of its counterparts in the dust.

Cash continues to make a splash

Look away now, banks, card schemes and all the other proponents of a cashless society. It seems that notes and coins are not going away just yet. LINK cash withdrawals from UK ATMs in 2015 amounted to a record £128 billion. The total number of cash withdrawals only grew slightly in 2015 (by 0.8%) with the value of these increasing by 2%. The amount cash machine users took out also went up – with the average value rising from £61.25 in 2014 to £61.93 in 2015.

The impact of regulation on FinTech

As we enter 2016, there is no shortage of startups in the United States aiming to build technology-led, purpose-build products and businesses for the future of financial services. To-date, there are over 5,000 players in the FinTech market and counting. While the US remains one of the key launchpads of technological innovation globally, the lack of engagement and embrace of FinTech startups by regulators, and its skew towards incumbents, has the potential to cost the US its position at the top of the global financial services foodchain.

FinTech Future: It's Burgers, not Bitcoins

The other day I was watching my daughter playing with a group of children at her nursery. I didn't quite follow the rules but it was a picture card game with the apparent objective of winning as many cards as possible.

After a short while a couple of smug-looking kids (you know the sort!) had mastered the game and accumulated the majority of the cards to the obvious disdain of the rest, including my daughter.

Three key steps banks must take to react to fintech innovation

As the technology available to consumers and businesses alike continues to evolve, it’s unsurprising to see the financial sector – one we all rely on throughout our lives – beginning to innovate alongside the rest of the business world. A major element of this is the growth of the fintech. This sector has grown rapidly; so much so that 35 per cent of the UK’s online population has used at least one fintech product.

Challenges to implementing dynamic pricing in financial services

Legacy IT systems

The roadblock to real pricing execution lies in bank legacy core systems. Just a reminder, legacy systems are costly. A study by IBM suggests that rigid legacy systems cost the industry $200 billion annually, and siphons off roughly 20% of pre-tax profits. 

Let that sink in for a moment.