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Coming at the problem of low adoption of T&E software from the user's side, we found in a study that employees find making T&E claims to be a huge pain. No surprises here but it's a shame that vendor's efforts to reduce pain by introducing OCR scanning and other features have not delivered the expected benefits. It's maybe time that T&E vendors realized the futility of eliminating the pain and instead tried to offset it with novel features e.g. BitCoin settlement that we recommended for one vendor. Adoption and usage of the software went up significantly - partly because of the novelty value of BTC and partly because of the temptation of receiving BTC @ current US$ rate and seeing its value potentially zoom up in future. Surprisingly, the potential of BTC to plunge in value didn't act as a dampener, maybe because most employees tend to view expense reimbursements as "funny money", if and when they bother to claim it.

Phew. For once, I'm not in the minority. That said, banks may need branches even more than their customers might.

Secret Of Survival Of Bank Branches 

The way drone makers are gaining traction, I expect to see 30+ drones over my head in less than 5 years! While the privacy issue posed by drones shouldn't be taken lightly, there are many others who have trodden down this path viz. Google StreetView and smartphone-based webcam like apps. It shouldn't be too difficult for the lawmaker / drone makers to draw inspiration from these precedents and preempt / resolve any drone-created privacy issues in a speedy manner.

"nearly three quarters of a million pounds" in 1 year - that's, like, peanut molecules! I wonder if this or the 30K figure is right because this works out to GBP 25 per cheque, which seems very low.

To the above list, let me add this American Banker article that just came out: 

Are Virtual Banks Just a Flash in the Pan?

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/are-virtual-banks-just-a-flash-in-the-pan-1075112-1.html?BCnopagination=1

Written by Kevin Tynan, Senior Vice President Marketing, Liberty Bank, Chicago, this article emphasizes that even Millennials don't treat banking as 1s and 0s.

@ChrisY + 1. Besides, the only area in which the Gartner report (ow.ly/P4MEM) forecasts an increase in spend is "stronger than expected mainframe refresh"! The LOB execs might just reach the middle of the tunnel and find spanking new mainframes waiting for them on the IT side!

Even the froth seems to be fizzling.

Once-hot online lending companies go cold in face of skepticism 

http://fortune.com/2015/06/30/lending-club-ondeck-shares/

"Lending Club, ... has seen its stock fall 50% from a high of $29 per share shortly after the company went public."

I've long believed that sales happens primarily in branches, both in India and USA (https://twitter.com/s_ketharaman/status/615497632274886656). From @IanD's "hint", I guess the same is true of UK. Neobanks are right in assuming that (A) providing a place to park money - aka bank account - is a commodity business and that (B) money management is what will differentiate them. However, they're living in a fantasy world if they believe their strengths in (B) will overcome their weakness in (A). Especially since banks' digital offerings are getting better day by day. In fact, in India, some of the best digital banking solutions have come from banks. Latest example: PayZapp from HDFC Bank.

HDFC Bank's PayZapp Ends My Bill Payment Woes

Having had a great experience with implementing Faster Payments at a Top 5 UK bank along side Accenture, I'm happy to see the emergence of third-party aggregators to spread FPS farther and wider! It's also intriguing that, seven years later, no other country has a similar 24/7/365 realtime retail payments system (or is there?).

As a technology marketer, I do have a vested interest in pushing technology but I still agree with @BillT and @RaymondL.

• Faster Payments is underlying infrastructure. It happened in 2008. Most countries, including USA, don't have anything similar, even seven years later. So, what more innovation does the PSR MD want in infra?
• TELCOs tried carrier billing as an alternative rail although it never went mainstream, with some startups who began as pure-play carrier billing providers later adopting card rails in order to ensure their own survival. Are banks to be blamed for that?
• In a larger context, if nonbanks don't have what it takes to build a viable alternative to banking rails, what can banks do about that?

Can the PSR outline what innovation it wants to drive by its warning to "intervene directly"?