BBVA who recently purchased digital only Simple Bank announce their first and the worlds first (apparently – requires validation) implementation of HCE which in practical terms is the recently uncovered method for bypassing the telco’s previous hold on payments using mobile phones. For more read my earlier review of Dave Birch’s discussion on HCE here. BBVA introduces HCE-based mobile NFC payments | Finextra Spain’s BBVA has become the first major global bank to commercially launch a host card emulation-based mobile contactless payments service. Relevance to Bankwatch: In summary from my earlier post and subsequent study, HCE (Host Card Emulation) is … Continue reading BBVA implement HCE in their wallet deployment

Every once in a while a headline pop up that makes one wonder what it could mean. Here is one – what does the future look like with a China that is significantly more automated? What happens when most robots are in China? China becomes largest buyer of industrial robots | ft.com China, once the manual labour “workshop of the world”, has become the largest buyer of industrial robots, as rising wage costs and growing competition from emerging economies have forced manufacturers to turn to technology. We have grown accustomed to the idea that wage disparity will level off and … Continue reading Industrial robots complicate inter country relative advantage

As one of the “seven” readers of Ron’s blog, he makes a good point about disruption that I would defend. Its all too easy to get caught up on the new shiny object of any one innovation, but thats hardly disruption. When we look at the big 5 banks in Canada each making well north of $1 bn – $2 bn per quarter, and having assimilated all digital/direct banks before them, there is little sign of immediate disruption. Define Disruption – Snarketing Should’ve taken a cue from Bill Clinton, and when asked about the potential for disruption, I should’ve said … Continue reading The inevitability of disruption in financial services and some reasons why

Off topic for this blog, at least for now is the concept of Internet of Things (IoT). I remain convinced there will be a convergence between IoT and financial services that we just haven’t seen yet. Meantime wearables based on health matters are the next big shiny thing that fan folks are focussed on. WEARABLE APPS: Inside The Race To Create A New App Ecosystem On wrist-worn devices, we believe the health and fitness category will produce the killer apps. The whole field of personal fitness and health apps will boom as the hardware matures and adds more advanced sensors. … Continue reading Internet of things is being trapped in paradigm of wearables

When eBay became aware of the data breach that provided hackers access to the user information of 128 million users it heralded one of the largest data breaches to date. This gave the hackers access to the names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and passwords of its 128m active users. Lessons from the eBay cyber attack | ft.com The company said it had only become aware of the intrusion two weeks ago. As a result, it is now asking its active users to reset their passwords – aiming to rectify what is probably one of the biggest data breaches in … Continue reading eBay – “One of the biggest data breaches in the history of the internet”

Really? I mean seriously …. really???? Tech breathes life into branches – Nationwide chief Beale “A lot of people say that the impact of digital is going to remove branches from the high street. We’re forming an alternative view,” says Beale. Nationwide says that 94% of customers who have used the video links think that the service is a good or excellent replacement for face-to-face meetings. Beale tells Finextra that the building society has made moves to make the system as personal as possible. For example, advisors ask customers if they want a cup of tea and then contact the … Continue reading Nationwide to the future!! – Digital brings cups of tea to branch customers

The subject of payments is a disorderly view of many disparate players, regulations, countries and organizations. This conference which is chaired by our good friend Chris Skinner has a decent coverage of issues including the poor old consumer and the evolving needs of growing demographic cohorts. PayExpo 2014 London What will the payments market look like in 10 years? How does the regulation match up to this? How does the modern day consumer (Generation Y) want to pay for their goods? If you want an idea of the complexity of the payment landscape then this post earlier today from another … Continue reading PayExpo2014 – Europe’s multi-channel payments event

TD are out today with their mobile wallet which I just saw on Finextra. Its a big deal for a bank to get this far, so congrats to TD. Mobile Payment The next time you’re on the go, like on your morning run or walking the dog, don’t worry about reaching for cash for your small purchases2 — all you need is your smartphone1. With TD Mobile Payment, just link an eligible TD Credit Card to the TD app and you can pay safely and securely in an instant. Continue reading TD CanadaTrust launches mobile wallet