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278 Results from 2008, /retail

Retired Member

Retired Member 

What can we learn from previous financial crises?

The recent turbulent events are clearly set to have long-lasting consequences on the global economy. But is there something we can all learn from past financial crises to determine if there is a tried and tested path for recovery? Norway, Finland and Sweden all experienced serious economic downturns in the late 1980s and early 1990s followed by a s...

/regulation /retail

Retired Member

Retired Member 

Why Tax Cuts Shouldn't Work...

…at least in the format that HMG is considering. I understand they will be targeting cuts at the low-paid and indebted, which of course is a compassionate thing to do in the circumstances. To expect them to use the tax cut to increase their spending, however, is morally reprehensible. Any financial advisor worth his salt will instead advise the ...

/retail Online Banking

Retired Member

Retired Member 

If I Wanted To Be A Bank Could I Have All Girls?

I read Sriram's blog about having a dream - wanting to be a bank. It got me dreaming. If I wanted to be a bank who might I choose to run it? Being a bit of an alternative thinker I thought - who would go the hardest, but do it nicely and with a smile? Well, having a very bright and popular wife, I was reminded that there must be some under-appreci...

/retail Innovation in Financial Services

Retired Member

Retired Member 

Never Mind Tax Cuts, Save Up for the Coming Bail-Outs

Before we get too carried away with the prospect of (unfunded) tax cuts, perhaps the government should be keeping back some of their non-existent funds to bail out other industries. After setting a precedent by promising (but not yet delivering) shed loads of cash to bail out the banks, how will it react to the inevitable clamour for similar supp...

/retail Transaction Banking

Hans Hagen

Hans Hagen Founder at Alphastrike

Not a Level Playing Field in European Consumer Lending

The European financial services industry should be pleased that the European Parliament finally passed the Consumer Lending Directive earlier this year, after more than six years of mulling, negotiating, and digestion. Or should it? Does the directive really bring about a single market for consumer lending, and level the playing field for consumers...

/payments /retail

Retired Member

Retired Member 

ID - The Issue - Who Cares Who The Stig Really Is?

I have a few ideas about identity management. The mobile money laundering article begins with a premise about Brittany a 'personal entertainer' (my description), who uses electronic payments to collect fees from her clients and to make her purchases because they are allegedly more anonymous than cash. Well I'm not too sure about that. I would hav...

/retail Whatever...

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Low-tech innovation in the ATM comfort zone

A New Zealand woman has come up with a novel low-cost solution to shoulder-surfing at ATMs. Beach Haven-based Sharon Stamper is the brains behind the yellow lines that are now a standard fixture in all Taranaki Savings Bank ATMs. The former "fulltime mother" told the Stuff Web site that the security line creates a "comfort or securi...

/security /retail

Gary Wright

Gary Wright Analyst at BISS Research

Obama, Obama

The election of President Obama is a wonderful and historical event for the USA but also the world. The American dream is more real today than ever before. A Black President in the White House is a healing beacon of light across America that will start to bring social and cultural changes and a uniting force forever consigning racial divides to th...

/retail MiFID

Retired Member

Retired Member 

Fraudsters Drive Convoluted Address Change Process

The other day I received a statement from a financial services company with whom I have a small amount of business. Nothing unusual in that, other than the accompanying leaflet that set out a new process they were adopting to deal with address changes. Back in the good old days, an address change could be accommodated by a trip to a bank branch, o...

/retail Online Banking

Retired Member

Retired Member 

No Mobile Transactions, Hello Fee Per Month?

I welcome confirmation of our own conclusions that customers want to use their mobile similarly to ATM usage patterns - primarily for balances. The transaction part they'll have to do without for the moment (with Monitise, until they sort out those stick on NFC thingys?) Fees? I expect there will be some downward pressure on fees from customers wh...

/retail Innovation in Financial Services

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