Everyone’s now talking about mobile payments and mobile banking.  I was talking about that effectively as a core strategic area back in 2004.  So it took about five years to become the mainstream bank conversation. Now, I talk about social payments and social banking.  I’ve been talking about this as a core strategic area since 2008, so it will be around 2013 to 2014 when most banks get onto the bankwagon. Interestingly, many already are, with American Express being up there...

Things we're reading today include ...   Spain injects €9bn into ailing lender BankiaThe Telegraph Eurozone set to abandon Greece – and austerity The Independent EU summit fails to inspire marketsThe Independent US money market funds shun eurozone banksFinancial Times VIDEO: Economic lessons from the 1930sBBC   Robert Tchenguiz had Kaupthing execs 'resident' in his homeThe Telegraph Buffett banker details ‘top secret’ dealFinancial Times Facebook and banks face...

This week's view from Europe, courtesy of Edith Rigler : Moving to e-procurement can deliver huge savings – European Commission, 20 April 2012  The Commission estimates the total size of the EU's procurement market at more than 2 trillion euro, so each 5% saved though e-procurement could result in about 100 billion euro of annual savings. But e-procurement is still used in only 5-10% of procurement procedures carried out across the EU.  The Commission proposes to...

I was recently asked to make a comment on the UK Building Societies sector. Like American credit unions, most building societies exist in the interests of their members as mutual organisations. They balance customer interests with their portfolio of business, and try to manage all on an even keel. Unlike most other financial institutions, the building societies generally have an executive team with an extremely long tenure – the average building society keeps its CEO in position for around 15...

Things we're reading today include: Facebook float hits more problemsBBC Zuckerberg loses friends on Wall Street as regulators probe $19bn slumpThe Independent Morgan Stanley subpoenaed over Facebook IPOFinancial Times   JP Morgan loss 'flags up' transatlantic trade risksThe Telegraph Troubleshooter in running to succeed DimonFinancial Times   Zynga and American Express Launch Zynga Serve Rewards ProgramPayments News Ex-Goldman Sachs chief Rajat Gupta accused of...

There’s a strong dialogue about why new services such as PayPal and Square take off so fast, and the answer is a combination of usability and accessibility. If something is easy and it works, then it can gain critical mass fast. That’s true of Facebook, Twitter and other social media. The more intuitive, accessible, easy and social it is, the more viral it becomes and hence gains mass market fast. That’s true of Zynga’s games and Youtube’s videos. And it’s true of mobile payments, which is the...

Things we're reading today include ...   IIF: Spain's bank losses could hit €260bnThe Telegraph Eurozone crisis 'hits mortgages'BBC VIDEO: Will Greece return to the drachma?BBC Posen: Greece is not the issue, it's banksThe Independent   Double trouble at JP Morgan: trader's losses could exceed $7bnThe Independent  JPMorgan suspends $15bn shareholder returnThe Telegraph JPMorgan loss set to alter regulatory focusFinancial Times   Facebook IPO:...

It appears that every time a CEO of SWIFT speaks at the Financial Services Club, they leave SWIFT! Lenny Schrank, the then CEO, spoke at the Club in 2006 and left a few months later; then Lazaro Campos spoke at the Club in March and guess what, he’s off. Wonder when we’ll invite Gottfried Leibbrandt, the new man, to speak? Lázaro Campos announces he will step down as CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt confirmed as successor Brussels, 21 May 2012 – SWIFT CEO Lázaro Campos has notified the Board of his...

Things we're reading today include ... Spain will ask for bailout soon, top financier warnsThe Independent What next if Greece quits the euro?BBC HSBC's Greek branches ready for drachmaThe Independent European pain likely to trouble VodafoneThe Independent Funds’ €60bn to buy European bank debtFinancial Times Cracks are appearing in Europe's state-backed lendersThe Telegraph   HSBC machines hit by IT failureBBC NBNK 'in Catch-22' over Lloyds sell-offThe Telegraph...

Our biggest stories of the week are ... The multibranded bank Having made the claim many times that banks are not great at multichannel but excel in a single channel, I got into an interesting debate last night with the CEO of one UK bank.  He was asking whether branch-based banking had a future.  I said branches have a limited future ... European leaders agree wording for Greece deal As we approach euro meltdown (join our webinar with GTNews on Tuesday for more on this), I...