This represents a shift from an earlier survey indicating 47% in the same (or similar – not clear) category. The attributes most cited for eroding trust were “disrespectful attitudes”, poor privacy, weak IT – including Web sites, poor corporate governance and a lack of investment in the local community. Online banks fared worse than High Street banks in the customer trust study, with the two worst-rated banks both being Internet-based. Overall the lowest six ranked banks were those with no High Street presence. Elton Birden, VP, UK financial services, Unisys, says banks must look beyond firewalls and data breaches and … Continue reading 71% in the UK saying they do not trust their banks (Unisys)

This post from VC Union Square Ventures about their client, Wesabe, is well worth the read. In particular I found the criteria for selecting Wesabe fascinating. Those criteria could apply to online banking initiatives. On the web it can be a whole different story. If you manage your expenses on a web based service you have the opportunity to contribute to community and to take advantage of its collective wisdom. Allowing your service provider to aggregate transaction data anonymously makes it possible for that provider to deliver a service that is better than desktop software in a number of important … Continue reading Why Union Square picked Wesabe

While we are on the topic of Open source Banking/ Social Finance companies funding, here is Wesabe closing a $4 million Series A, yesterday. BERKELEY, Calif., June 20, 2007 – Wesabe, a personal finance start-up, today announced that the company closed a $4 million Series A round, led by Union Square Ventures (USV). An early-stage fund based in New York, USV’s best-known deals include investments in FeedBurner (acquired by Google) and de.licio.us (acquired by Yahoo!). O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, the lead seed round investor in Wesabe, also participated in the Series A round. Source Wesabe Technorati tags: Social Finance Technorati tags: … Continue reading Wesabe announces that the company closed a $4 million Series A round

Mike Arrington at Techcrunch is not one to shy away from difficult topics. TechCrunch covers startups, but this story has a conspiratorial air to it, and one that’s relevant to the Banking space. I’ll probably never know who sent me that well organized, methodical email, or what motivation they had for getting the stories written. But I do know this: after researching this story, I’m more afraid of the credit bureaus and their perverse business models than ever before. Source: TechCrunch The subject is a VC funded startup, LifeLock. LifeLock has a business model based on consumers protecting themselves from … Continue reading Interesting mystery, which appears to involve credit bureaus, in opinion of Techcrunch