Charlene Li offers a good description of Open Social and how Google is ensuring the web remains open and useful to al. more about “fop_wrapper.swf (application/x-shockw…“, posted with vodpod Continue reading Open Social explanation | Video – Charlene Li

Ron Shevlin of Aite Group thinks the potential Goldman Sachs move to online account opening has advantages over traditional banks. This makes sense. While Bruce Cundiff at Javelin notes the lack of experience at Goldman in this space, my thought is that could be an advantage. Banks are constrained by risk, organisation and cultural hurdles, and Goldman may able to avoid those. Mr. Shevlin said any online start-up would benefit from the Goldman name and could avoid issues such as those faced by Citigroup Inc., which required customers who wanted to earn the higher interest rates of its high-yield online … Continue reading Goldman Sachs as an online bank – UPDATE

We can expect innovation in these difficult banking times. It will come in ways that no-one expects. innovation is often non linear, and always counter-intuitive. Here is an example no-one expected. Goldman Sachs mulls online bank – Wall Street Journal | finextra.com Goldman Sachs is considering launching an Internet banking operation in an effort to build its deposit base, the Wall Street Journal reports. Citing unidentified sources close to the bank, the Journal says the new unit will seek deposits that can be used to fund future business initiatives. The company has not ruled out the possibility of buying an … Continue reading Innovation in banking from a former investment bank

Fascinating debate kicked off at Social Media Conferencec. #cdninst It was kicked off by Ira Bassen and supplemented by another journalist at the back of the room. While many other good points were made throughout about PR and MSM, the big debate was when journalists essentially stated social media is fake, and the underlying premise of “friending” me is to sell more things. A theme throughout the conference is the very role and definition of social media. Traditionally PR and marketing were disconnected from product and service quality and were instead focussed on messaging and brand awareness. If the quality … Continue reading Social Media and journalists

Gordon Brown moves further down the slippery slope towards a very different view on the value of money, and the personal motivations that underpin the economics of all civilized non-state managed economies and countries. Homeowners granted mortgage holiday | ft.com Gordon Brown is to grant homeowners in financial difficulty the right to demand a two-year mortgage holiday, guaranteed by taxpayers, in a dramatic bid to underpin the housing market. The scheme would offer protection to households that are falling behind on mortgage payments when one earner losses their job, falls ill, or suffers a big fall in income. Relevance to … Continue reading UK mortgage holiday plan has serious flaws

This extract from an interview with Robert Rubin in the WSJ really makes one wonder just how much some senior bankers have lost all touch with reality. These kind of abstract comments on the topic of risk and particularly following recommendations from a consultant who has zero stake in the matter, offer perfect examples of the loss of transparency in interbank investments. It also highlights precisely why banks will not lend to each other any more, and why there is such panic in the financial markets. [hat tip Ron] CITI’S RUBIN: THE CONSULTANTS MADE US DO IT Mr. Rubin said … Continue reading It was the consultants who made us do it | Citi

Just listened to Francois Gossieaux deliver this presentation at #cdninst. Fascinating and insightful – research based analysis on the attitudes and behaviours of people relative to communities. Good examples too. 2008-tribalization-of-business Continue reading The Tribalization of Business | Beeline Labs