“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.

 

The global system for combatting financial crime is hugely expensive and largely ineffective

Another bank is preparing to face the music over alleged failings in its efforts to curb flows of dirty money. NatWest, one of the UK’s largest lenders, is set to appear in court in London to respond to charges that it failed to properly scrutinize a gold-dealing client that deposited £365m with the bank—£264m of it in cash.

NatWest (which has said it is co-operating with the investigation) is the latest in a long line of banks to be accused of falling short in the fight against dirty money. 

In 2020 global banks were fined $10.4bn in penalties for money-laundering violations. This is an increase of more than 80% on 2019. 

In January, Capital One, an American bank, was fined $390m for failing to report thousands of suspicious transactions. 

Danske Bank is still dealing with the fallout of a scandal that erupted in 2018. Over $200bn of potentially dirty money was washed through the Danish lender’s small Estonian branch while executives missed or ignored a sea of red flags.

Closer examination suggests that the global anti-money-laundering (AML) system has serious structural flaws, mainly because governments have outsourced to the private sector much of the policing they should have been doing themselves. 

Read the full article on The Economist HERE

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

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

In this weeks selection;

Interesting to know

• bitcoin is dead, long live bitcoin! 
  
• What are the most important Mobile Banking features?
• Post-Pandemic Lessons for Risk Managers
• What Google's multibillion-dollar Supreme Court victory over Oracle means to developers
• How Much Revenue Big Tech Makes Every Minute

Banks & Credit Unions

• Citi hires FinCEN chief to lead compliance in bank's new unit
• The Most Popular Mobile Banking Trends In 2021
• How Much Does it Cost to Develop a Banking App?

Fintech

• Fintech Investments in Banking
• Fintech Chatbots: How AI Chatbots Play A Role In The Fintech Industry
• Eye on fintech: Why the mobile-first banking industry is hot

Payments

• Five Banks To Test FedNow Instant Payments System
• Buy now, pay later moves into professional services
• 6 Payments trends for 2021

Cybersecurity

• How to fix the top 5 cybersecurity vulnerabilities
• After digital payments rush, time to tighten security
• Evolving Cybercrime and Security Challenges: What are CISOs Thinking About?
• When Cybercrime Went from Fun to Financially Driven
• What Are the Different Types of Malware?

Artificial Intelligence

• Here's What AI Will Never Be Able to Do
• A Scientist Taught AI to Generate Pickup Lines. The Results are Chaotic.
• Sorry, Cannot Understand the Language. Wait Chatbots can
• This avocado armchair could be the future of AI

 

Post-Pandemic Lessons for Risk Managers

In the aftermath of COVID-19, what trends will shape the future of the risk management industry? To better identify and address emerging risks, financial institutions will be leaning more and more toward diversity, hybrid modeling, AI, alternative data and tail-risk hunting.

Read the full GARP article HERE

What are the most important Mobile Banking features?

More than three-quarters of Americans who have a smartphone are now mobile banking users.

Mobile banking adoption is now very common among Gen Zers and Millennials (ages 21 to 40) with 88% of each of the two generations accessing their bank accounts using a mobile device.

The adoption rate dips slightly to 78% among Gen Xers (41 to 55 years old), and then drops to 57% of Baby Boomers and 41% of smartphone-owning Seniors.

So, with Mobile Banking's huge and growing popularity what features are folk using?

Well—an overwhelming majority of mobile banking users use the app to check their account balances. Nearly two-thirds transfer money between accounts and pay bills, and roughly four in 10 deposit checks, send money to other people, and view their statements.

Find out more in Ron Shevlin's "The 12 Most Important Mobile Banking Features (And Why No Bank Can Have Them All)" HERE

 

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 1 April)

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

In this weeks selection;

Interesting to know

• How to Regulate Big Tech? Ideas from the BIS
• Digital Payments - US still in the Dark Ages

Banks & Credit Unions

• How the Best in Banking Are Marketing Their Mobile Apps
• 2021 Is the Year Banks Must Take Digital Challengers Seriously
• Marcus: A Digital Bank That Should Keep Rivals Up At Night
• How Open APIs Revolutionize Banking Services

Fintech

• Death by Fintech
• The disruptive trends & companies transforming digital banking services in 2021
• How Gen Z is Reinventing FinTech and Banking
• Nigeria's booming fintech space, and its top 13 players
• Banks or FinTech: who will get the “Ring of Power”?
• Fintech Chatbots: How AI Chatbots Play A Role In The Fintech Industry
• Fintech warning: Banking industry sees light at end of tunnel – an express train headed right at it

Payments

• PayPal launches crypto payment platform
• PayPal Sees No Letup for Online Shopping Even With Reopenings

Cybersecurity

• To Stop Future Hacks, Look to the Past
• CBA slapped with a court-enforceable undertaking after loss of data on 20m customers
• US Misses Two Cyber 'Pearl Harbor' Attacks
• Insurance Giant CNA Hit with Novel Ransomware Attack

Artificial Intelligence

• Using artificial intelligence (AI) in cybersecurity
• Can AI be hypnotized?