On this blog I have mused for some time about the future of branches and the ascendance of online banking in their place.  I have been proven wrong so far as rumours of the branch demise are proving false.  However there continue to be be periodic clues and hints of a different future.  Nationwide are eliminating cash withdrawals for cash cards only. Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals | BBC Nationwide Building Society is to stop some customers taking out less than £100 over the counter at its branches. From 7 June customers with cash cards who want smaller … Continue reading Nationwide are eliminating cash withdrawals for cash cards only.

From the “we haven’t really learned anything” department, banks continue to work within the rules they are given and make month end adjustments to their balance sheets with considerable impact to the real risk level, by understating debt in reports. Wall Street banks accused of window dressing debt | The Times Leading Wall Street investment banks have been accused of understating debt levels used to finance security trades by an average of 42 per cent at the end of each financial quarter for the past five quarters. … While the practice of “window dressing”, or using cosmetic devices to make … Continue reading Risk assessment of banks’ continues to be harder than it needs to be

I look forward to John Mauldin’s weekly emails.  He is pragmatic and fact based in his analysis.  This particular quote today caught my attention as one that summarises the Obama/ Brown (US/ UK) fixation with new debt that addresses an immediate problem yet creates a future one that is much larger.  The world of privatizing the gains and socializing the risks must become a thing of the past. And This Thing About Leverage The problem of too big to fail is ultimately one of leverage. If a small bank fails, no one really notices. If a giant bank fails and … Continue reading “The world of privatizing the gains and socializing the risks must become a thing of the past” | Mauldin

Small but important change (imho) to your own laptop that will eliminate lots of potential problems from viruses.  90 percent of Windows 7 flaws fixed by removing admin rights After tabulating all the vulnerabilities published in Microsoft’s 2009 Security Bulletins, it turns out 90 percent of the vulnerabilities can be mitigated by configuring users to operate without administrator rights, according to a report by BeyondTrust. As for the published Windows 7 vulnerabilities through March 2010, 57 percent are no longer applicable after removing administrator rights. By comparison, Windows 2000 is at 53 percent, Windows XP is at 62 percent, Windows … Continue reading Change to your Windows 7 set up that will make your life easier/ safer