“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 23 July)

This week’s top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• Need to Fit Billions of Transistors on a Chip? Let AI Do It
• The DeFi Hype: Why it matters
• London fintech funding soars in first half of the year
• Banks demand high bar for fintech access to Fed services
• Wells Fargo lays out two-wave strategy for office return
• Why cybersecurity keeps payments executives up at night
• REvil vanished from the internet. But ransomware attackers never fully disappear
• Yellen urges regulators to 'act quickly' on stablecoins
• Visa makes another big bet on fintech, buying UK payments start-up Currencycloud
• Cybersecurity risk: The number of employees going around IT security may surprise you
• How Compliance Professionals Should Shape AI Regulations in Finance
• "Never Trust, Always Verify": Why Your Business Needs to Adopt Zero Trust Principles for Cybersecurity
• Data breach fears cloud optimism as open banking expands
• How to keep business operations running after a cyber incident
• Apple Pay Later's Target: Startups Or Issuers?
• Failed payments cost North American banks $33.7B in 2020: report
• Biden administration readies 3 initiatives to curb ransomware
• Neobank HMBradley shifts to invite-only, seeks more partner banks
• Card companies go green, but hurdles remain
• Cybersecurity is the next frontier for AI and ML
• 8 Fintech Trends Changing Banking Forever

From our Blog

• Consumer Adoption of Voice-Activated Payments is Tepid
• Why Microsoft keeps beating Apple and Google with Windows
• Ranking the Top Used Payment Services for Online Shopping
• Facebook Pay’s Expansion Plans Might Get No ‘Likes’ From Big Tech Rivals
• COVID-19 and its Impact on the Asia Pacific Commercial Credit Card Market

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 16 July)

This week’s top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• NFTs - A hype or a lasting new investment asset class?
• CBDCs could give 'clean slate' for cross-border payments, BIS report says
• 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb says bitcoin is worth zero and fails as a currency and a hedge
• As SPAC Deals Fade, Banking And FinTech IPOs Step Into Listings Spotlight
• Visa rolls out BNPL for merchants
• PMorgan Suggests Adoption of Bitcoin as Legal Tender Might Break Bitcoin and Hurt El Salvador
• CFPB fines home improvement fintech GreenSky $2.5M, orders $9M in refunds
• China says measures applied to Ant Group to be imposed on other payment firms
• Iranian Hackers Posing as Scholars Target Professors and Writers in Middle-East
• Citi's Q2 profit jumps more than fivefold, but revenue slumps
• Want to quickly recover from ransomware? Plan ahead
• Wells Fargo charges ahead to $6B Q2 profit
• Bank of America's Q2 profit soars as low interest rates dent revenue
• JPMorgan's Q2 profit more than doubles amid slight drop in revenue
• Private credit joins private equity to freeze out banks
• Intuit's new Quickbooks card-reader joins the POS payments fray
• Behind the Firewall: How 6 security execs screen vendors

From our Blog

• Fintechs are becoming part of the establishment
• Using CBDCs for enhanced cross-border payments
• The end of Chinese Bitcoin mining
• Apple Working On 'Apple Pay Later' Monthly Installment Offering
• Non Fungible Tokens - a comprehensive overview

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 9 July)

This week’s top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• Banks prepare for 2021's second act with office-return, banker-pay pledges
• Cloud targeted in widespread brute force campaign
• Cybersecurity Ignorance Is Dangerous
• Risk management rises to No. 1 accounting priority during pandemic: ACCA
• Wells Fargo shuts down personal lines of credit
• Bank of America becomes last US SIFI to make crypto push
• Kaseya: What's known (and unknown) about the ransomware attack
• Tech savviness soars following pandemic but personal touch still key to customer experience
• If open banking were a colour - it would be green
• DeFi Is Ready to Disrupt Fintech
• World’s First Mobile Banking Service for Migrants MAJORITY Expands to the US
• Chime, Current lead U.S. banking app downloads in first half of 2021: report
• Paysafe builds up online betting, gaming payments systems
• Crypto exchange Binance responds to Barclays move to halt payments
• The pandemic pushed us toward a cashless economy. It could be the new normal
• Clash over debit card routing persists in comments to Fed

From our Blog

• Regulating digital payment services and e-money
• Could digital currencies make money more fragile?
• Could digital currencies put banks out of business? - The Economist
• Robinhood Warns of Meme Frenzy & Britain Wins Key Tax Exemption
• Facebook Rolls Out Live Audio Rooms, Its Competitor To Clubhouse

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 2 July)

This week’s top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• Robinhood agrees to pay nearly $70M in FINRA settlement
• Will Artificial Intelligence Robots Do the Majority of Our Work in the Coming Decade?
• British regulator warns Binance to halt UK activity
• Citi launches digital assets unit, confirming crypto plans
• On-demand pay catches on, but scrutiny persists
• New consumer tech gadgets modernize payments
• Quarles: Fed-backed currency poses 'significant' risks, 'unclear' benefits
• How multi-accelerated Kenyan fintech startup Kwara is building an international operation
• Critical goods industries face existential ransomware decisions
• Users Clueless About Cybersecurity Risks: Study
• Whistleblowers risk getting nothing from bankrupt companies
• Scant evidence that cyber insurance boom is leading to better security
• Automating invoices becomes a hot payments play

From our Blog

• CBDC and Cryptocurrencies are NOT the same
• Is the rush to CBDCs just a fad driven by FOMO?
• CBDCs and the opportunities for the monetary system
• Key Steps on the Road to Digital Modernization in Corporate Banking
• Crypto: will the bitcoin dream succeed?

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 25 June)

This week's top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• Attacks against container supply chains grow more sophisticated
• Legacy medical devices, growing hacker threats create perfect storm of cybersecurity risks
• BIS report shows growing divide on crypto
• Gensler says alternative to LIBOR poses risk of manipulation
• HSBC to sell French retail banking operations to Cerberus-backed entity
• PayPal to increase merchant fees in August
• Buy now-pay later drawbacks emerge for consumers, study says
• Morgan Stanley to bar unvaccinated staff from NY offices starting July 12
• VPN exploitation rose in 2020, organizations slow to patch critical flaws
• Mastercard faces pushback over ex-CEO's $27.7M pay package
• Visa pilots US merchant phone-tap system

From our Blog

• Elon Musk: CO2 saint or sinner? - FT Film
• Regulators Probe Market Amid Rising Meme Stocks
• Bitcoin Price Falters on China Crackdown
• Did covid-19 leak from a Chinese lab? - The Economist

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 18 June)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• The Merging Of Human And Machine. Two Frontiers Of Emerging Technologies
• Banks' pandemic-era flexibility reaches its pivot point
• Are Consumers Ready for a World Without Bank Branches?
• AI Will Fuel the Financial-Services Revolution. Here's What to Know
• Basel suggests strictest risk weighting for crypto
• Gig economy workers gravitating to faster pay
• Morgan Stanley, Bank of America CEOs break relative silence on office returns
• The Biggest Business Risks Around the World in 2021
• How payments became a magnet for money
• Mastercard faces pushback over executive pay
• Overlap concerns grow as more federal cyber officials join the ranks
• CFOs rethinking cost savings of just-in-time supply chains
• JPMorgan to buy robo-adviser Nutmeg to bolster UK footprint
• Visa pilots US merchant phone-tap system
• CFOs rethinking cost savings of just-in-time supply chains

From our Blog

• What are today's biggest business risks?
• ESG - What is next and what do you need to do?
• Who is going to win the digital money competition?
• Elon Musk’s Power Over Crypto, Explained - WSJ
• Crypto: will the bitcoin dream succeed? - The Economist

ESG - What is next and what do you need to do?

Over the last couple of years we have seen a flurry of activity on the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) front. The plethora of scattered, fast-paced ESG developments across the public and private sectors are putting corporate compliance teams in a difficult position, especially as some companies are still reeling from staff and resource cuts caused by the pandemic.

Want to know more about what is coming up and what you need to do? Read Alexandra Wrage's article in Forbes HERE.

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 11 June)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• Consumer spending changes likely to stick, Visa says
• SCOTUS limits scope of computer fraud law. Here's the business impact
• 4 questions to ask after discovering a cyberattack
• Second Circuit overturns challenge to OCC fintech charter
• Tech experts discuss the three-year anniversary of GDPR
• Banks Don’t Have To Innovate
• What to consider before paying a ransom
• Clear Junction: The Payments Revolution Starts with 5G
• Fujifilm refuses to pay ransomware demand, relies on backups
• Bad actors hide in everyday IT tools, complicating detection
• 'Super-apps' are the next evolutionary step for financial services
• Billions of passwords leaked online from past data breaches
• 'Super-apps' are the next evolutionary step for financial services
• JBS paid hackers $11M ransom to avoid further disruption
• Basel suggests strictest risk weighting for crypto

From our Blog

• Greensill, Gupta and Cameron: what went wrong - FT Film
• The Month Coronavirus Unraveled American Business - A WSJ Documentary
• "Banks Don’t Have To Innovate" - Why not?
• Risk and compliance knowledge in Fintech is a superpower
• How to deal with big tech - The Economist
• How the Facebook digital currency dream has changed - CNBC Reports

Risk and compliance knowledge in Fintech is a superpower

Whatever you think about regulation, it is a fact of life, it exists for a good reason. Moving money is a serious responsibility, and if it goes wrong, it can literally cost lives. If everything is fintech, then the value is in productizing the tricky bits of finance. 

Want to find out more? Check out the full article HERE on Fintech Brain Food

How the Facebook digital currency dream has changed - CNBC Reports

The Facebook-backed Diem Association plans to launch a new stablecoin tied to the U.S. dollar in 2021. Formerly known as Libra, the digital currency project faced years of pushback from regulators, with key figures deeming the project a failure months after the first white paper launched. So how is Diem getting its previous detractors on board? CNBC’s Joumanna Bercetche spoke to Diem’s chief economist Christian Catalini about what has changed, and what the new coin could mean for consumers. 

*NOTE- Diem has since withdrawn its license application in Switzerland shortly after publication of this report

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“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 4 June)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• The Pandemic's not over yet. Here's what will dominate compliance & risk for the remainder of 2021.
• Biden budget proposes $58B to take on legacy tech, cybersecurity
• Behind the Firewall: 4 cyber executives on security disasters they avoided
• AI is learning how to create itself
• PayPal invests $50M more in Black, Latinx funds
• Cash wallets are the future of fintech
• Moving from value to values: an ESG assessment
• Inside Wells Fargo's struggle with worker safety during the pandemic
• Opinion: The Fintech Express Is Leaving Women Behind
• Bank of America's mortgage bankers are quitting in frustration over call quotas, cross-selling mandates, and a new compensation scheme that shortchanges top producers
• Should Central Banks Worry About Facebook's Diem and Alibaba's Alipay?
• Rethink risk management programs post-SolarWinds, experts say
• Hackers Exploit Post-COVID Return to Offices
• White House steps in as JBS ransomware interrupts consumer supply chain 
• Forget the piggy bank, Till Financial’s kids’ spend management app gets Gates’ backing
  

From our Blog

• Could digital currencies put banks out of business?
• Kaspersky finds that cryptomining malware was up, financial malware down in Q1 2021
• Cybersecurity: Are false positives real?
• We know what you did during lockdown
  

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 28 May)

The latest top reads in CBDC, banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• Fed Guidelines Look to Curb Fintechs Before They Run Wild
• Major payments trade group weighs in on CBDC development
• SWIFT Assesses What Roles It Could Play in Future CBDC Ecosystem
• CBDC – 3 reasons to just say no
• CNA Financial's reported $40M ransom payment likely a record
• Fed paper this summer aims to spur 'broad conversation' on CBDC
• HSBC CEO says Bitcoin not for us
• Ransomware seen as top cyberthreat as extortion demands, payouts soar
• AI Is Everywhere — Should We Be Excited or Concerned?
• Cyber premiums rise as insurers struggle to assess risk, GAO says
• CFOs can be on the hook for investigations — even after they leave
• Square may soon offer small-business checking and savings accounts, app code shows
• Fintechs attack cross-border business payments as banks and legacy players rush to innovate
• Twitter looks to add e-commerce features, CFO says
• Pinning ransomware gangs is a game of 'whack-a-mole'
• Expert: Biden's executive order on cybersecurity is a good start toward protecting organizations
• AI will yield biggest return in CFO spending during coming decade: Gartner

From our Blog

• Why central banks want to launch digital currencies
• Is Google Pay Safe? What to Need to Know About This Payment App
• Follow the money - Smart money is going into cash
• Fintechs focus on cross-border business payments
• Is AI a race to be won?
• Phone Call Scams—And How to Protect Yourself

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 21 May)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• Is Bitcoin worth the energy and environmental costs?
• WannaCry lesson still echoes: Patch
• US Digital Banking Report: How 4 Companies Have Created and Own Niches in a Very Crowded Category
• DarkSide ransomware group suffers setbacks following Colonial Pipeline attack
• Colonial Pipeline hack highlights grid disruption risks even with IT-focused cyberattack
• Facebook-backed Diem withdraws FINMA application, shifts to US
• Bank of America to pay $75M to settle class action on overdraft fees
• US banks could cut 200,000 jobs over next decade, top analyst says
• COVID's silver lining: The race to cloud-based cybersecurity quickens
• What executives are saying about the future of hybrid work
• China bans financial, payment institutions from cryptocurrency business

From our Blog

• Are banks still needed?
• American Branch Banking is dying - Why?
• The Clearing House urges firms to buy into its real-time system
• Significant Cyber Attacks from 2006-2020

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 14 May)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• A future with fewer banks
• How fintech will eat into banks’ business
• Google Pay launches P2P cross-border payments
• Revlon says it has replaced Citi as agent on revolver loan
• Colonial Pipeline disconnects OT systems to silo ransomware IT threat
• Researchers say they've uncovered a massive Facebook bot farm from the 2020 rlection
• Lessons from a Bank Chief Transformation Officer
• Cybersecurity Fosters Competitive Advantage - Security Boulevard
• Artificial Intelligence is the Most Disruptive Technology of the Century
• The Best Malware Removal and Protection Software for 2021
• Cybersecurity: These two basic flaws make it easy for hackers to break into your systems
• How to Accept WhatsApp's New Policy Manually
• BABB Is Building a Mobile Bank on Blockchain Tech — But Sticking With Fiat
• McDonald's Workers Will Strike for $15 an Hour in 15 Cities
• The digital currencies that matter
• 'We cannot stay still': Inside Green Dot's path to BaaS growth
• Traditional banks mirror challengers with new digital offerings
• Pandemic altered consumers' payment patterns; US lags globally in contactless, study finds
• Traditional banks mirror challengers with new digital offerings
• LendingClub Teams With FinTron On Mobile Banking

From our Blog

• Cryptocurrency fuels ransomware payments
• Managing Inflation Risk
• High-Frequency Trading: A Sociologist’s Take
• Robinhood’s Big Gamble

Cryptocurrency fuels ransomware payments

Cryptocurrency fuels ransomware payments and without regulation, it could get much worse. The rapid ascent of crypto, like other emerging technologies before it, has far outpaced the federal government's ability to regulate it.

 

Read the full article HERE.

 

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 7 May)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• DevOps Essential for Digital Innovation in Banking & Financial Services
• Kaspersky spots CIA malware with backdoor capabilities
• WhatsApp Delays Privacy Policy Changes After Confusion Backlash
• Implementing AI in Your Business: What Business Leaders Need to Know
• What happens if threat data isn't shared?
• Undergraduates explore practical applications of artificial intelligence
• UK tools up against China’s intel gathering
• Types of Artificial Intelligence – Weak, Strong and Super AI
• Warning: ‘Hundreds Of Millions At Risk’ From 12-Year-Old Vulnerabilities Lying Deep In Dell PCs
• Combining Three Pillars Of Cybersecurity
• Ransomware is now a national security risk. This group thinks it knows how to defeat it
• Cybersecurity Ignorance Is Dangerous
• 10 Types of Malware in 2021 and How to Spot Them

From our Blog

• Here comes official e-money
• Password managers - a necessary, yet vulnerable, last line of defense
• Bernie Madoff and Jordan Belfort and their criminal financial schemes
  

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 30 April)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, risk management and much more

In this weeks selection;

Top Reads

• 'Open banking' is what 'banking' has rapidly become
• How BofA Grapples With The Increasingly Digital Small Business Market
• Papara: The Evolution of Challenger Banks and Competition
  
• When artificial intelligence learns to attack us
• Apple iOS Privacy Changes Prompt Complaint By German Business Groups
• 6 Ways Digital Is Transforming the Customer Journey In Banking
• Protecting Industrial Control Systems Against Cyberattacks
• Why WhatsApp users in Europe can opt-out of New WhatsApp privacy policy but users in India cannot?
• Gemini partners with Mastercard to launch crypto rewards card
• Why every website wants you to accept its cookies

From our Blog

• Moneyland, Kleptopia & On Corruption - How the corrupt operate
• The likely impact of central bank digital currencies on quantitative easing
• Cybercrime - Was this the most daring bank theft ever attempted?
• Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) – A good investment or a setup for fraud?
• NatWest will not accept corporate customers who deal in cryptocurrencies
• Bernie Madoff - "It was inconceivable that he was a crook"

 

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 23 April)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT and risk management

In this weeks selection;

Interesting to know

• Cybercrime - Was this the most daring bank theft ever attempted?
• NatWest will not accept corporate customers who deal in cryptocurrencies
• 8 Ways to Leverage the Internet of Things in Utilities
• What Can Smart Tech Be Used For?

Banks & Credit Unions

• UK Bank NatWest Bars Businesses That Accept Crypto
• Banks decide their place on the Citi-Goldman spectrum
• Nigerian banks’ dominance of their home turf is virtually unparalleled

Fintech

• Forget the piggy bank, Till Financial’s kids’ spend management app gets Gates’ backing
• Machine learning, explained
• Embedded Fintech Versus Embedded Finance: Jumpstarting New Product Innovation In Banks
• Internet of Things — Leap towards a hyper-connected world
• Top 8 IoT applications and examples in business

Payments

• Is the Coronavirus Killing Off Cash?
• COVID-19 pushed real-time payments to jump 41% in 2020, study finds

Cybersecurity

• 3 ways CISOs can align cybersecurity to business goals
• Marijuana is becoming more accepted. Will cybersecurity employers play along?
• A botnet named after Prometheus jumps is also exploiting Exchange Server flaws
• Nation-state cyber attacks could lead to cyber conflict
• India wants to block WhatsApp's controversial privacy policy update

 

 

 

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 16 April)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT and risk management

In this weeks selection;

Interesting to Know

• The global system for combatting financial crime is hugely expensive and largely ineffective
• Bernie Madoff - "It was inconceivable that he was a crook"
• Why I hate the term ’embedded’
• Post-Pandemic Lessons for Risk Managers
• What are the most important Mobile Banking features?
• Ireland opens GDPR investigation into Facebook leak 

Banks & Credit Unions

• Why Big Banks Can’t Keep Pace With India’s Mobile Payments Revolution
• The digital trends disrupting the banking industry in 2021

Fintech

• ‘Screen scraping is not evil’: Bankers, fintechs, aggregators face off
• Embedded Fintech Versus Embedded Finance: Jumpstarting New Product Innovation In Banks
• Kenyan fintech tech startup secures funding to regionally expand
• FinTechs Targeting Underserved Communities

Payments

• India’s Mobile Payments Revolution Slowed Down by Tech Glitches at Big Banks
• Consumer credit payment patterns shift during pandemic

Cybersecurity

• IRS is probing the dark web to look for cryptocurrency and NFT tax evasion, says IRS commissioner
• Your Customer’s Bank or Credit Card Details Are Being Sold On the Dark Web. What Can You Do to Stop It?
• Would You Buy a Non-fungible Token? You Should Know Exactly What It Is Your Buying (but You Can’t!)
• How marketing principles can be used to enhance cybersecurity training
• 15 Cybersecurity Pitfalls and Fixes for SMBs

Artificial Intelligence

• How AI and Machine Learning Are Helping In Cybersecurity?
• Why every website wants you to accept its cookies

 

Bernie Madoff - "It was inconceivable that he was a crook"

Bernie Madoff died on 14 April 2021 aged 82. He was in the 12th year of his 150 year prison sentence after committing the biggest Ponzi fraud in US financial history.

In this interview "Bernie Madoff: 'The Wizard of Lies' ", first published in September 2017, Diana Henriques drew on her years of financial journalism and extraordinary access to the title character to write the definitive book about Bernie Madoff. It was turned into an HBO movie in early 2017 starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Diana, playing herself. 

This is compelling listening. Hear it rebroadcast on the "Bribe, Swindle or Steal" podcast  HERE.