I have been taking in a fiew WEF disucssions and one I did enjoy was the Posen/ Martin Wolf interview, and can recommend this for anyone interested in nations and the worlds financial systems.  Wolf speaks of three key risks within the financial system which intestingly are precisely those same risks from 2008. D/E (Debt to Equity) of banks which on average sits in real terms (disregarding risk weighted) in the range of 20 : 1 or 25: 1.  Wolf makes the point that at that ratio consider how much loss needs to occur in asset value before the bank … Continue reading Remebering 2008 and how little things have changed; World Economic Forum 2015

The Akamai State of the Internet report for Q3-2014 is out here.  The paragraph on to top ports being attacked leapt out at me.  In 2014 there has been a shift towards ports that highlight attack volume is aimed at business. Akamai who have shifted their business model to on of defence against large scale attacks such as DDoS are well placed to know.  Something for banks to know and be certain the attacks they will face are bound to increase. 1.2 Attack Traffic, Top Ports / … The significant decline in the volume of attacks targetingWeb-associated ports, coupled with … Continue reading The shift in cyberattacks to brute force logins – Akamai

I have long given up on predictions for banking.  The evolution of financial services has been nothing like as expected over the 19 year history since online banking began.  So here is a rather loose collection of observable trends that directly or indirectly impact banks, most strengthenining banks’ positions and some requiring adjustment.  the myth that is dis-aggregation of financial services as large banks move to become financial utilities the myth that is PFM is becoming fully exposed the near future of Banking as a business model Discussion: what is a bank? Banks do two things; they hold depositors money and they … Continue reading New Year 2015 blog post – visible trends in financial services

Venturebeat along with everyone else has its 2015 predictions out and two of their top five caught my attention.   web design using cards super contextual web Card Design Something that tech sites began using a couple of years ago, and banks in Canada are beginning to pick up with BMO leading, and RBC to a certain extent.  Of course industry leader mbank in Poland lead the way in a super simple clear and bright card based interface. Bank sites, epecially full service banks, have way too much information to house on a home page.  It is essential to place … Continue reading Thoughts on the VentureBeat 2015 predictions