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Great Summary - we should do something similar to round up regulatory responses too.

And the answer is... YES

My goodness, don't tell poor Katharaman, he'll have a heart attack...

This sort of response is absolutely typical in the early stages of adoption. For reference just search around 1995 on comments re the Internet such as this:

All tangled up in the Internet Many users object to complexity and cost as well as subject material

"It was almost impossible to even get on the Internet," fumed Paul Beaudoin, the station's general manager. He did finally manage to establish a connection, but, "It was so slow. I'm waiting for these things to download, and in the end it's a picture of some guy and his cat and it says, `Here's my cat.' "

Internet will have more users when it is simpler - Dec 15, 1995

There are tons of academic research papers seeking to explain why it is that consumer interest in the Internet was so slow and why 'regular folks' just weren't sold on the concept.

As we can see by this precedent, clearly Internet never went anywhere and so as it will be with mobile payments undoubtedly. 

@Alex - I guess you better go and tell all those people buying them then that they're wasting their time. 

Let's see how that goes for you... 

@Alex - it would be nice and convenient if there was no changes in the world and it continued to work within our very defined set of parameters of what we think of as a currency, banking system, etc. But that's innovation for you - it tends to be disruptive, and that gets messy. Not for innovators, mind you, just for incumbents who don't like being disrupted.

The title of this story is factually wrong. While certainly restricting the use of Bitcoin as a typical currency for chartered banks, the Chinese Government has most definitely not "Banned" bitcoin. That statement is inaccurate.

In the statement from Xinhua and Yi Gang, the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China and the director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the government stipulated that Bitcoin was a digital or virtual commodity not a currency. In that sense, Banks are restricted in the way they can offer Bitcoin. For example, they can't hold Bitcoin deposits or trade it as in ForEx scenarios. 

However, contrary to the sensational headline, rather than banning Bitcoin the Chinese government has very specifically said that Chinese consumers and businesses are absolutely free to trade in Bitcoin with just one proviso:

“Ordinary members of the public have the freedom to participate in Bitcoin transactions as a kind of commodity trading activity on the Internet, provided they assume the risks themselves,” the statement said.

For more details see - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/business/international/china-bars-banks-from-using-bitcoin.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=0

@Ketharaman - I have engaged with another bank, but it's not based on klout score or social media - it's based on their digital platform for my banking needs (can I do everything I need online) and on their service approach.

In terms of HSBC - it's a shame. I was a dedicated customer of theirs for 15 years and I worked closely with them in the trenches for almost 10 years, the last thing I wanted to do was bad mouth them in a forum like this. But, they simply had too badly broken a process and without a path to resolution for customers, on such a critical relationship point, I felt I was left with only one course of action.

While HSBC did reinstate my account, and apologize, the bigger news here is what has happened as a result of my post:

1. They are giving customers now until January 10th to move their account
2. They are sending out emails in addition to snail mail to notify customers
3. Their call centre staff have a revised set of instructions and protocols

It would appear that HSBC themselves agreed that some of their process was defective and they have addressed that. You seem to think I was too harsh on HSBC because they didn't respond to my social media requests, but that's not what I was trying to achieve. The above for me is a victory for customers, and shows simply that it just isn't that hard to fix some of these things.

Actually there are already strong precedents in China that support Bitcoin due to the regulations that appeared to restrict QQ coins in 2008. So I don't think there is much uncertainty re Bitcoin in China - if they do nothing but treat Bitcoin the same as QQ, it will be regulated in respect to exchange like any other currency in China and that will be it basically.

I have to go into a branch to sign electronically on an iPad!!?!?

I'm afraid there's a major, major disconnect here with consumer behavior. There is still an overriding sense of process curtailing innovation, not seamless service that works to improve customer interactions. Today if I go to StandardChartered.com.hk I still have to submit at least 3 documents manually before I can open an account or apply for a credit card - this is not progress.

https://forms.online.standardchartered.com/public_website/hongkong/OnlineSales/credit_card_form.html?Cardtype=HK_SCP&Gifttype=SC13

We have to get out of the mindset that branch revenue is better because the PROCESS and data collection is preferred by compliance - that is not a value add. Until we do, new branch designs like this are just re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic