Futuristic Banking

Stuff that's out there in the way out and beyond in banking.

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

CommSec iPhone trading app shows the way

The share dealing arm of Australia's Commonwealth Bank is ready to cash in on iPhone mania ahead of the initial 3G release in the country Friday. CommSec has developed a native iPhone app that effectively converts the device to a wireless laptop, from which users can check out news and market movements, view their holdings and outstanding orders ...

10 July 2008 /retail /wholesale

Matt White North America editor at Finextra

Twitter to rule P2P payments?

I don't really get Twitter but maybe it's time to start paying attention because the microblogging site could soon be a major player in mobile person-to-person payments. Earlier this week Nate Westheimer, Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Rose Tech Ventures, posted a blog claiming the site, which doesn't make any real money yet, could become a billion ...

04 July 2008 /payments /retail

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Black day for black-box technology

UK insurance company Norwich Union has scrapped a pioneering pay-as-you-drive insurance policy, which used in-car telematics and GPS satellite tracking to monitor car usage. The data was used to offer cheaper premiums to drivers who avoided high-risk periods such as rush-hour and late at night. The insurance house had put years of effort into maki...

01 July 2008 /retail

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Location, location, location

My last blog posting pointed to a recently-filed wireless patent from Apple for the use of GPS location tracking on the iPhone to serve up onscreen menus from establishments in your immediate vicinity. Fancy a coffee but don't have time to stand inline? Simply whip out your phone and select your order from the nearest Starbucks while you walk dow...

26 June 2008 /payments

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

The iPhone as money

Apple filed a rather fascinating patent application in December last year for a wireless communication system. "A processing system is described that includes a wireless communication interface that wirelessly communicates with one or more wireless client devices in the vicinity of an establishment. The wireless communication interface receiv...

13 June 2008 /payments /retail

Matt White North America editor at Finextra

Aviva living in a fantasy world

On the day insurance giant Aviva announced it will axe 1800 UK jobs, its American arm invited agents to visit the company's private island in Internet-based virtual world Second Life. The firm says its island features free virtual gifts and a "bright futures centre”...

06 June 2008 /retail

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Is that a server in your pocket?

In his ever-informative BankerVision blog, Lloyds TSB's James Gardner reports back from the latest TTI Vanguard meeting on technology trends in Canada. He was particularly struck by a presentation that posited the transformation of the mobile phone from a communications device to a smart personal server. During the presentation, a linux handset ...

01 May 2008 /payments /retail

Retired Member 

Mobilisation - The Art of War in Transaction Space

I look around and see a lot of money in the payments business, both to be made and being invested. It's obvious we aren't seeing the killer application out there yet but the market is heating up. I see KKR's move into payments through First Data and Western Union as having some potentially big upside. It may be the hedge against any potential loss...

03 April 2008 /payments /retail

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Citi's bank-branded mobile handset

From the public filings of the US Federal Communications Commission - a mobile phone manufactured by Mobicom but branded by Citibank. The phone has no numeric keypad but instead uses basic navigation buttons to interact with onscreen menus. Features include an MP3 player, speakerphone, PIN entry and NFC technology for making credit card payments....

31 March 2008 /payments /retail

Ed Daniel Senior Consultant, getting old you know ;-) at esdaniel.com

Dunbar's 150

It is not surprising that after a mad rush to follow the crowd, catalysed by Facebook publishing their API (a strategy that allowed 3rd party developers to build applications that could leverage the platform and be used by Facebook members thus increasing value of the underlying service) that the steam would run out of this engine. What continues...

28 February 2008