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@NickCollin: It was early 2007. At a Top 5 UK Bank that had just started implementing FPS, we were discussing various ways - including value added products - to monetize FPS. As a marketing professional, I feel disappointed that, 9 years later, not one of them has fructified into an incremental source of revenue. Although I no longer have any vested interest, at least for old time sake, I'd be very happy if your prediction "MasterCard is probably just the right sort of company to do it" comes true!

Okay, thanks, @LauraGlynn. 

MasterCard will need some major getting used to with the drastic difference between its own and VL's revenue models: As against ~1% that MC must be making on cards, VL's figure is only 0.003% (£182 million revenues on £6 trillion transaction values).

@SreeramYegappan: Indeed, my comment is intentional and serious.

I searched for "CRS" and found the following results above the fold: Certified Residential Specialist; Catholic Relief Services; Computerized Registration System; Congressional Research Service. Which one of them pertains to the "CRS" in this post?

How do we reconcile "the financial ecosystem needs a centralised authority" with a "distributed infrastructure replacing centralised systems"? 

According to American Banker, it's not clear how many of 50+ regulators have jurisdiction over US fintechs! Amidst this confusion, fintechs can't be blamed for staying away from lawyers!!

Withdraw ££££ in cash from savings account at bank branch in Canary Wharf. Take a taxi to another bank branch in Hyde Park. Blow ££ when a tube journey would've cost only £. Remit ££££ from there. Enjoy the accomplishment of saving. Moral of story: Spending a little while saving a lot is a practical approach to saving.

I thought fiat currencies were dying. Why're we getting diverted into talking about last mile costs? Seriously...

Since the time I wrote Banks Have Nothing To Fear From TELCOs three years ago, banks have even less to fear from TELCOs! And, as this article rightly points out, this is not even a country-specific issue - TELCOs efforts at payments have bombed fairly universally.