In two separate announcements, carried at Finextra, wireless banking seems set to take off in 2008 in the US.  The first is a JV between Metavante, and Monitise from the UK to provide a mobile banking platform, that is also linked to the NYCE debit/ ATM network.  The second is AT&T and some Banks using a downloadable application from Firethorn, in Atlanta. Metavante says it will provide hosting services for the US platform and as part of this service it will link the m-banking system to its Nyce electronic payments network, which connects 280,000 ATM’s and 1.5 million point-of-sale terminals. … Continue reading Wireless banking gets a boost in the US

This is totally off BKW topic, and I apologise if you are not aware of the issue that’s circulating.  Normal programming will resume.  Blogging is bigger than all of this, and the death threat story (no links provided deliberately) is something that rational people cannot tolerate.  This is truly amazing … I cannot fathom this statement that follows.  Better to shut up.  We now we have Dave Winer, and Chris Locke … previously admired internet guru’s standing together on matters that no sane person would even consider.  On this one, I take the side of the mean kids, because no one … Continue reading Lets never forget what Winer wrote here

I posted this comment to the Kathy Sierra blog late afternoon, after she received a death threat.  I respect and subscribe to her blog, and the notion that she gave up a conference, and has stopped blogging is unfathomable.  This is just wrong. This / these guys) have a problem, and I have encountered this irrationality from one of them before, so if its him, I am NOT surprised. I note none of the names mentioned have denied responsibility, and claimed horror at their names being used this way. Hang in there Kathy … its a small step, but everyone should unsubscribe … Continue reading A turning point in "social" – online ‘rage’ is out of control

 Stephanie focusses on a great question here at her presentation to BlogCamp in Zurich, and manages to invent a new word in the process.  What is going on in the other languageospheres? I know almost nothing of what’s going on in the German-speaking blogosphere. The borders on the internet are linguistic. How do we travel? There is no digital equivalent of walking around town in a foreign country without understanding a word people say. Note: cultural divides are a general problem – I’m trying to focus here on one of the components of the cultural divide: language. Source: BlogCamp: Multilingual Blogging … Continue reading Bridgeblogging – how can we eliminate language barriers?

Some insightful comments on the US Sub-prime problem, from the incredibly rational blog, Econbrowser.  But, as Felix Salmon observed, if anything the opposite appears to be the case: the states that are now experiencing the highest mortgage delinquency rates are the ones where the previous real estate appreciation had been the most modest Source: Econbrowser: Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble I’d go further and note that this analysis suggests that the problems lie in the poorer states, or at least those states that have a relatively high representation of lower income.   Technorati tags: sub+prime+mortgages, US Continue reading Econbrowser: Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble

 Marcel who is pretty hooked into Banks and Second Life in Europe talks about plans for Friday, and more on ING’s OurVirtualHolland. Friday evening March 23 (hs 21.00 CET) it’s party time! The first plots of OurVirtualHolland will be granted to the proposal submitters. Many interesting and surprising proposals have been submitted: Restaurants, café’s, employment-agencies, tourists guides, traditional clothing, garden-design, dating in SecondLife, virtual mobile phones, birth-cards, a radio station; it’s all there. Source: Second Life · Sneak preview on ING’s venture in Second Life · Shaping Thoughts   Technorati tags: ING, Shaping+Thoughts, Second+Life Continue reading Sneak preview on ING in Second Life

 Just got around to downloading this tonight from itunes.  Good grief – its eerie to hear him shift from ‘Maid’ into “Heart of Gold” with zero audience reaction;  its too new – they hadn’t heard it yet! This is a must listen for any Neil Young fan Source: A VC: Neil Young, Live At Massey Hall, 1971 Here is Ohio live:  I didn’t even catch him live till ’76 – 5 years later – wow! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh44QPT1mPE   Technorati tags: Neil+Young, 1971, Massey+Hall, Toronto Continue reading Neil Young, Live At Massey Hall, 1971

 I have always had a soft spot for Barclays, having worked for a subsidiary at the time (British Linen Bank) that subsequently was swallowed up by Bank of Scotland. Interesting that an Irishman who put BMO back on the map, also did the same for Barclays taking them down an international track, that has just been plain successful. This post describes the latest scenario’s and outlines the scale of the joint operation, that would place the joint operation at about 5th in the world in terms of capitalisation. Mr. Barrett chose the international route. By 2004, when he switched from … Continue reading More on the Barclays, ABN Amro potential merger