Apr 2, 2021Clubhouse lining up for commercialisation (rumours confirmed)UPDATED 6 APRIL 2021 00:20 AM UK time The ability to send payments has been enabled for all. Not all can receive at this time. This will be released in waves. The sender pays the charges of 2.9% + $0.30. These are the fees for Stripe as the payment processor…Clubhouse4 min read
Mar 21, 2021Some early thoughts on the potential impact of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)[In response to another superb piece of thought leadership from Tom Noyes – thank you sir for sharing your well structured thoughts with the world – you are a gentleman and a scholar.] If you haven’t read Tom Noyes’ recent blog on CBDCs, please start there first (see link above)…Cdbc5 min read
Mar 10, 2021Lessons learned building a Top 50 club on 👋Clubhouse — in less than 8 weeksMy perspectives on what it takes to build a successful club from a standing start, and some lessons learned to share with others embarking on their own Clubhouse journey In effect this is a quasi how-to guide for those who want to: Build a better club on Clubhouse Understand how…Clubhouse11 min read
Mar 4, 2019P2P foolishness and how to be a wiser investorI just read this article on p2pfinance news about the bad debt situation facing a number of retail investors on the Crowdstacker marketplace lending platform. Collectively the investors are facing substantial losses of up to £7.5m with the unfortunate demise of BurningNight, a bar and nightclub operator. I remember meeting…Lending3 min read
Feb 10, 2019Doing what I love — or why I choose payments over flying professionallyIf you live or work in one of the major cities of the world, you’ve probably found it difficult to avoid this slogan plastered to the side of a building that’s either being built or remodelled. This banner is inescapable because wework, a company that has taken a relatively simple…Payments9 min read
Jul 31, 2017500 days of tumbleweed — why is the FCA ignoring small businesses?It has now been 500 days since the consultation period closed on 18 March 2016 for FCA Discussion Paper DP15/7 “Our approach to SMEs as users of financial services.” At present, the provision of financial services to small businesses in the UK is largely unregulated. …Banking2 min read
Jun 27, 2017Business finance — the price isn’t right (yet)Business finance providers currently use different ways to represent price, such as X% (per month), or by only showing £ repayment amounts, making it hard to compare costs across different providers. This was an issue I felt strongly amount when I was CEO at Growth Street, the first revolving credit…Finance3 min read
Apr 20, 2017FinTech: what is it, and why now?This post is first in a series navigating the FinTech landscape, with a focus on the UK. This month London played host to a number of large events focused on FinTech. The Innovate Finance Global Summit, “the world’s biggest celebration of achievement in FinTech”, kicked off a government-backed “FinTech Week”…Fintech3 min read
Apr 19, 2017Predicting the UK 2017 General ElectionI’m no Nate Silver, nor do I aspire to be, an albeit fictional, Joey Lucas type. I don’t have access to banks of private polling data. I’m an intrigued amateur who predicted the 2015 result (a Conservative majority) with a 1% (3 seats) margin of error, while most of the…Politics5 min read
Mar 18, 2016Protect the 277: why haven’t TFL communicated or consulted with Hackney residents given the changes…Protect the 277: why haven’t TFL communicated or consulted with Hackney residents given the changes planned at Highbury Corner? I was alerted to this today by the following poster in my local bus stop. …Transportation3 min read