The Top Payments News Stories in June, 2016

Payments news stories in June 2016 were dominated by the usual themes – fintech initiatives, collaboration, bank branch closures, the move to contactless payments, cyber-security breaches and a couple of SWIFT stories. But there was one story that overshadowed all of these – Brexit. Firstly, the build up to the crucial EU referendum vote. Secondly, ...

7 Things Harvard Taught Me About Blockchain Technology 1

I recently read the Harvard Business Review article “The Impact of the Blockchain Technology Goes Beyond Financial Services“. There is a buzz in financial services around blockchain technology, and the impact it will have on the industry. So this article caught my eye since it was talking about blockchain technology outside of finance, and since it ...

What is the EU in 3 Simple Infographics

So, what just happened? The UK has made up its mind and decided to Leave the EU – with 51.9% of the vote, 48.1% of the public wanting to Remain The British Prime Minister has said that he will leave Downing Street by October, 2016 The UK is being pulled in a few different directions: ...

10 Most Popular EU Referendum Tweets from the BBC Debate

Tonight there was a lively BBC debate at Wembley Arena, in London, on the upcoming Brexit EU referendum. The BBC debate featured views and opinions from both the Remain and Leave camps and from across the political, social and economic spectrum. I must admit i had one eye on the BBC debate and another on ...

List of the NCC – National Clearing Codes 18

In the post a Simple Guide to the SWIFT MT101 Format there is reference to tag 57 – Account with Institution. On the whole, you should use 57A which requires the BIC value. But for some domestic transactions you need to use the 57C option, and must indicate the National Clearing Code. Sometimes if you wish ...

An Unexpected Strategy Lesson by Alistair Campbell 2

Last week i went to the US, and while i sat waiting in the departure area i spotted a “unattended” book not far from where i was sitting. I didnt think too much of it, went for a walk, got a bite to eat and spotted that my flight had been delayed. So i went ...

10 Epic Themes from the CB Insights Future Of Fintech Event

I’m one of the 167,608 subscribers to the CB Insights Newsletter – a must read for folks interested in all things fintech. CB Insights provide industry led research, data and analytics covering a vast spectrum of topics from incumbent corporation investment strategies through to start up company trends, noteworthy economic, markets and investment analysis for ...

10 Lessons My Boiler Taught Me About Payments

Over the last couple of years i have been busy renovating our house. It was on the market in a pretty bad state, but i loved it. I had ideas about this, that and the other and knew that i could make it our home. But the renovation is not the focus of this post, ...

List of MT940 Transaction Type Identification Codes 8

One of the most popular posts on this blog is the MT940 Format Overview. The Mt940 overview has prompted all kinds of questions and one of the most recurring requests is for a list of the Transaction Type codes – the official term for these are the SWIFT Transaction Type Identification Codes or sometimes they are ...

The Top Payments News Stories in May, 2016 1

Payments news stories in May 2016 were packed with reports about the SWIFT related hacks in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Ecuador. While there is just one line below, i dedicated a complete SWIFT related hacks post to the various goings-on. Elsewhere, mobile payments went from strength to strength with the continued roll out of Apple Pay, Android ...