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Whatever...

A place to share stuff that isn't at all fintec related but is amusing, absurd or scary.

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

The mysterious case of the dodgy VocaLink hotmail account

Another day, another sorry tale of dirty tricks, identity theft and corporate espionage on the Finextra news beat. Intrigued? Then read on. I promise you won't be disappointed. A couple of weeks back the Finextra news desk received an e-mailed press release announcing the acquisition of niche payments consulting firm The Sepa Consultancy by US tech...

/payments /retail

Keith Appleyard

Keith Appleyard IT Consultant at available for hire

Scrutinise your pandemic contingency plans

With the number of confirmed swine flu cases continuing to rise, a global benchmarking survey of financial institutions has revealed that, although over 70% of firms have a pandemic-specific business continuity programme in place, many may be dangerously out of date. https://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=19996 30% of those programmes have not ...

/regulation

Keith Appleyard

Keith Appleyard IT Consultant at available for hire

Nine Steps to Prepare Your Business for a Pandemic

The Financial Services Authority has called on UK Financial Services firms to assess their contingency plans in light of the recent outbreak of influenza https://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=19992 With acknowledgments to SunGuard, here is a useful Nine Steps to Prepare Your Business for a Pandemic 1. Consider the Impact of Missing People Wit

/regulation

Retired Member

Retired Member 

Are Online Papers Playing Whack-a-Mole With Readers?

I like to read. Videos take too long. People talk too slowly in online videos. I don't have the time to listen to endless bleating to garner a gem or two. That's why I like to read. I read very quickly, it's a gift. I don't always remember what I read but I generally remember where to find what I've previously read if it suddenly becomes relevant....

Keith Appleyard

Keith Appleyard IT Consultant at available for hire

Influenza pandemic - 53 percent of organisations have no BCP

It's only been 4 weeks since I wrote that 2 out of 3 UK Companies did not have a proven Business Continuity Plan https://www.finextra.com/blogs/fullblog.aspx?blogid=2737 but no apologies for resurrecting it again so quickly, since it also reported that 53% of organisations have no plans to help them cope during an influenza pandemic. So before thin...

/regulation

Keith Appleyard

Keith Appleyard IT Consultant at available for hire

RyanAir - go find a computer

RyanAir has announced that from 1st October, there will be no Ryanair check-in desk at any of its airports, and everyone must check-in online and print off their boarding pass. On the one hand RyanAir check-in is more flexible than British Airways etc, who don't let you check-in online until 24 hours before departure, and won't let you use the chec...

Matt White

Matt White North America editor at Finextra

Telegraph's Twitter Fall fails

Somewhat surprisingly, the rather 'traditional' Daily Telegraph has embraced the hip new thing that is Twitter. So, it decided to add a UK Budget Twitter Fall (live streaming update of tweets) to its site. This means that any tweet containing "#budget" makes it onto the paper's site. I'm sure you'll be shocked to learn that some mischiev...

Nick Hastings

Nick Hastings 

Charity Walk - the final countdown

Thought I'd give you a quick update on my walk. The kick off is under 4 days away now and I will be setting off next Tuesday (21 April). I am looking forward to the challenge and the experience but I must admit I am getting a little nervous!4 months of solid training is now coming down to 9 days following the Thames through field and town - and ha...

/payments /wholesale

Retired Member

Retired Member 

Time For A New Approach - PINS Useless And Data Gone

Chris Skinner pointed me to Verizon's staggering report that there were 285 million records stolen in 2008. 91% of those data breaches were committed by organised criminal groups. It also suggests that PIN algorithms have been defeated. The number of records stolen in 2008 was more than the previous four years in total. At Christmas I pointed out ...

/security /payments

Retired Member

Retired Member 

Santander Measuring Up To My Predictions?

There are some banks out there going full steam ahead and doing good things. In previous mega-blogs I've mentioned Santander as the one to watch. I also suggested that education was a great opportunity for FI's to participate, support and otherwise value add to their customers. Santander obviously agrees and El presidente Emilio Botin has announce...

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