Fintech News Issue #184 Thursday, September 20th 2018 09:43AM

Consulting group Bain is out with some interesting numbers on the foregone conclusion that a Bank of Amazon will be reality someday. While this is great news for team Bezos it is not so good for traditional retail banks – a sector of finance that is held in low esteem. Amazon’s net promoter score ranks at 47. Regional banks register 31 and national banks are, well, despised (18).

The fintech banks are coming. With regulators accepting applications from financial technology startups for national bank charters, traditional banks are going to see a lot more competition. Potentially bad news for them. But for consumers, it could be a win if it results in better service and lower costs.

Artificial intelligence (AI), or the development of computer systems to perform human-like tasks, like decision-making and speech recognition, is a fairly divisive topic. Sometimes, the uncertainty surrounding AI can be met with anxiety, fearing that one’s job or industry may be overtaken by automation.

GDPR has resulted in a multitude of changes and challenges for financial institutions around the globe — not only in the EU. Any organization with business interests in the EU must rethink how they collect and use personal data. Under GDPR, a business must have the customer’s consent to leverage their data in any way.

In boardrooms around the world, senior leaders are scrambling to set the strategic direction for their financial institution. But when senior leaders aren't brutally honest about where their organization needs to improve and innovate, their strategic plans are doomed to fail. Here's what needs to be on their radar, and the hard conversations they need to have.

I recently did an interview with my American friend Jim Marous over on The Financial Brand. It’s a good interview so I thought I would post my answers here. Feel free to comment!

As companies have continued experimenting with blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, commentators have begun to explain how the use of blockchain can raise antitrust concerns.

Over the past few years I have made the commitment to looking forward to the year ahead to predict some of the most significant digital transformation trends. Knowing that digital transformation is not only a technological shift, but an organizational change at the intersection of technology, business and people, such reflection must take into account countless possibilities.

Distributed ledger technology can solve cyber attack threat for financial sector

There’s a saying among successful people in business. Who you know is more important than what you know. In the age of digital social networks, this has never been more true.

Payday loan businesses provide short-term loans to customers short on cash between paychecks or if they need quick loan to fix a pressing need. Each paycheck is used as a security on each loan.

Providers have no alternative to fully understanding each consumer they serve. The future of engagement is not about points and discounts, but about making banking easier and providing personalized experiences that respond to financial needs in real time.

About ten years ago I sat in a meeting where it eventually became clear that there was some unease as to whether CLOs and CDOs are essentially the same thing (they are) but folks were damned if they would ask. The dance of sideways validation was a sight to behold.

The winners of the future will not be those with the best digital technology and advanced analytics tools, but those institutions that can apply these tools for the benefit of the customer. It is time to move from innovation "posing" and AI "strip-mining" to fantastic customer experiences.

If you decide you want to invest in cryptocurrency, there is a lot to learn. It can all be a little overwhelming at first because there is a lot of conflicting information on what to invest in and how. The very first thing that you need to understand, though, is what your options are.