Social Lending

Beginning the conversation about p2p Lending in Canada

Colin Henderson

Shameless plug: Its been a long haul, but we are making progress, and this week launched our blog at CommunityLend. /Shameless plug As we evolve the conversation, I want to get beyond what happens here at Bankwatch, which is Bank oriented, and focus on p2p Lending in Canada, and around the world from a consumer perspective. What do consumers want and expect in their financial services? How do consumers see the balance between themselves and financial services changing? Thoughts and comments welcome. CommunityLend blog Beginning the conversation about p2p Lending in Canada Continue reading Beginning the conversation about p2p Lending in Canada

Innovation1 Comment

Innovation happens at the edges | Banks: are you watching?

Colin Henderson

Mike Arrington is one opinionated blogger that I don’t refer to much, but he makes an excellent point here. He posted a complaint abut his ISP on Twitter, and immediately got a call from a Comcast executive. Comcast, Twitter And The Chicken (trust me, I have a point) And then I lost my cool, tearing into Comcast on Twitter. Jeff Jarvis and others picked up the story and blogged about it. And this brings me to the point of this post. Within 20 minutes of my first Twitter message I got a call from a Comcast executive in Philadelphia who … Continue reading Innovation happens at the edges | Banks: are you watching?

Social Lending1 Comment

The role of social in the economy

Colin Henderson

William is doing a good job at taking the discussion forward on the Social Economy. I have wavered myself on whether it is an economy or whether social is rather a new factor in the (online) economy. FORUM Solutions Discovering the Social Economy I tend to define the social economy a little more broadly: as that increasing part of our society’s economic decision-making that is influenced by emerging social tools. The water cooler is now global, and people can influence each other’s spending habits and brand preferences more effectively and instantly. The Social Futures Observatory have an extensive paper on … Continue reading The role of social in the economy

research

things I read yesterday … 04/05/2008

Colin Henderson

reportonbusiness.com: Canada continues to create jobs  Annotated tags: clblog, economy, reportonbusiness “Canadian employment is still holding up well, with no obvious signs of stress outside of the beleaguered manufacturing sector,” said deputy chief economist Doug Porter in a note to clients. “The bounce in the unemployment rate is as much a reflection of the tidal wave of people pouring into the work force as a sign of weakness in the job market,” he noted. “After all, employment is still up 1.9 per centfrom a year ago, which would normally be seen as a solid increase.” It’s Hard to Thaw a Frozen … Continue reading things I read yesterday … 04/05/2008

research

things I read yesterday … 04/03/2008

Colin Henderson

reportonbusiness.com: Ontario teetering on brink of recession: RBC  Annotated tags: ontario, recession Ontario, Canada almost into recession Like the United States, Ontario’s economy is “on the brink of recession” in 2008, says Royal Bank of Canada in a report released Thursday morning. The drag on Ontario’s exports will mean that Canada’s biggest province will only eke out 0.8 per cent growth of its gross domestic product this year, the report says. FT.com / Home UK / UK – $100bn pulled out of equity funds  Annotated tags: cash, equity markets Record amounts of cash on the sidelines as the markets await the next … Continue reading things I read yesterday … 04/03/2008

Uncategorized3 Comments

Scotiabank pilots social network for staff

Colin Henderson

Great use of new tools at ScotiaBank. Finextra: Scotiabank pilots social network for staff Canada’s Scotiabank is using technology from Microsoft to introduce an internal Web 2.0 social networking platform aimed at encouraging information sharing and collaboration among its staff. Based on Microsoft’s Office SharePoint Server 2007, the platform enables employees to share, store, organise, search and manage information using blogs and wikis. As part of the programme, the bank is creating online user profiles for staff members. Continue reading Scotiabank pilots social network for staff

AI6 Comments

Bank of America partners MIT for banking research lab

Colin Henderson

Courtesy of Finextra, and interesting approach by BofA to assess future innovations in Banking. I am not convinced on the merit of a lab based approach although it might include mathematical ‘what if’ scenarios, which could be valuable. Finextra: Bank of America partners MIT for banking research lab Bank of America says the new centre will serve as an “innovation engine that will seek to transform the ways banking will be conducted in a world of rapidly changing social, economic, and information landscapes”. Staff at the centre will explore ideas in banking by inventing technologies that reveal and use insights … Continue reading Bank of America partners MIT for banking research lab

research

things I read yesterday … 03/31/2008

Colin Henderson

FT.com / World / US & Canada – Bush and Brown in push to deal with crisis  Annotated tags: UK, US, credit crisis George W. Bush, US president, and Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, have agreed to step up co-operation over the crisis in financial markets. They are setting up a joint working group which will develop plans to monitor and regulate the banking system. FT.com / Companies / Financial services – London’s rise concentrates minds in US  Annotated tags: financial centre, london, new york This headline from last year, pre credit crisis is provocative in terms of which centre [London & … Continue reading things I read yesterday … 03/31/2008

regulation1 Comment

Two years on | Which banks understand the web lifestyle?

Colin Henderson

When I started this particular blog, my impetus was the lack of creativity amongst Banks in getting beyond automation of traditional transactions, and sticking them online [online banking]. Introduction « The Bankwatch Introduction Saturday, 28 January 2006 Welcome to Bankwatch. The purpose of this blog is to monitor banks around the world for their online capabilities, and the strategies they are adopting with online. Consumers are web savvy now, and most banks aren’t, so I will point those out, and I will also recognise best practices too. It might be useful to just take a look and see what progress … Continue reading Two years on | Which banks understand the web lifestyle?