#Revolut more than doubled its operating losses in 2017, to 15 mill GBP. Luxembourg hedging against #Brexit https://t.co/KweYuy7Nxb

#Revolut more than doubled its operating losses in 2017, to 15 mill GBP. Luxembourg hedging against #Brexit https://t.co/KweYuy7Nxb

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) September 24, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

#EU failing to curtail #moneylaundering. https://t.co/sB8fa4Jc80

#EU failing to curtail #moneylaundering. https://t.co/sB8fa4Jc80

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) September 20, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

#ferratum strengthens leadership team. https://t.co/QoDVjKjfmh

#ferratum strengthens leadership team. https://t.co/QoDVjKjfmh

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) September 20, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

MoneySavingExpert: “Normally when firms go bust, the fear is diminished competition. Not here. #Wonga’s payday loans were the crack cocaine of debt – unneeded, unwanted, unhelpful, destructive and addictive." https://t.co/YNo3lxgi2c

MoneySavingExpert: “Normally when firms go bust, the fear is diminished competition. Not here. #Wonga’s payday loans were the crack cocaine of debt – unneeded, unwanted, unhelpful, destructive and addictive." https://t.co/YNo3lxgi2c

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) September 11, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

#ING takes big for failing in preventing money laundering. https://t.co/I9vuzyDR7d

#ING takes big for failing in preventing money laundering. https://t.co/I9vuzyDR7d

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) September 10, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

Goldman Sachs is ditching near-term plans to open a bitcoin trading desk, instead focusing on a key business for driving Wall Street investment in crypto

• Goldman Sachs is putting on hold plans to open a desk to trade cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The bank is downgrading the plans as the regulatory landscape for crypto remains uncertain.
• Goldman is instead focusing its energy on a custody product for crypto meant to better service large institutional clients.

 

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Even Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street behemoth that trades in markets' most esoteric assets, can't find a way to trade bitcoin.

The bank is ditching plans to open a desk for trading cryptocurrencies in the foreseeable future, according to people familiar with the matter, as the regulatory framework for crypto remains unclear.

As part of that decision, Goldman has moved plans to open a desk for trading cryptocurrencies further down a list of priorities for how it can participate in cryptocurrency markets, the people said. It may revive these plans later, they added.

But for now, Goldman is focusing on other projects such as a custody product for crypto, which would mean that the bank holds cryptocurrency and, potentially, keeps track of price changes on behalf of large fund clients. Many market observers have said that forlarge institutional firms to get comfortable trading bitcoin, there need to be reputable custody offerings to safeguard holdings.

After months of expectation that Goldman would begin trading bitcoin earlier this summer, the investment bank publicly preached patience as it studied the burgeoning industry. In recent weeks, however, executives have concluded that many steps still need to be taken, most of them outside its control, before a regulated bank would be allowed to trade cryptocurrencies, one of the people said.

"In response to client interest in various digital products, we are exploring how best to serve them in the space," a company spokesman said. "At this point, we have not reached a conclusion on the scope of our digital asset offering."

The firm already makes markets for clients in bitcoin futures as well as contracts for difference, which allow an investor to bet on the price of bitcoin without owning the underlying asset.

Goldman has publicly tried to downplay its ambitions for creating a desk that trades cryptocurrencies, offering statements that it was still exploring the industry and trying to assess how best to serve customers. Over the past year, the price of bitcoin has fluctuated widely, and it now trades at $7,300 a coin, down from a high of more than $20,000.

Goldman's interest first surfaced in October, when reports suggested the firm was beginning to study the industry with a group made up of employees in the currency-trading division as well as its principal strategic investments team.

In December, Bloomberg reported that the bank hoped to have the desk up and running no later than June. It was to be housed in the securities division, where the firm trades everything from stocks to bonds to currencies. And in April, the bank hired Justin Schmidt as the bank's head of digital asset markets.

In May, The New York Times reported that a team at the bank was exploring a trading desk if it could get regulatory approval and come up with a suitable way of dealing with the added risk of holding cryptocurrencies. At the time, the paper said Schmidt was considering trading cash bitcoin if the bank could get regulatory approval from the Federal Reserve and New York state banking authorities.

The news coverage fed into the belief among industry participants that the bank would soon open its own trading desk.

And yet, it's run into a regulatory roadblock, one of the people said. The bank was looking for some regulatory changes that have yet to materialize and would have protected banks like Goldman from some of the risks unique to trading cryptocurrencies, the person said.

Lael Brainard, a Fed governor who has spoken publicly about the opportunities and challenges for virtual currencies, has cited extreme volatility, lack of governance and legal frameworks for protecting consumers, and vulnerability to money laundering as chief concerns. "This combination of a new asset, which is not a liability of any individual or institution, and a new record keeping and transfer technology, which is not maintained by any single individual or institution, illustrates the powerful capabilities of today's technologies," she said in a May 15 speech. "But there are also serious challenges."

As Goldman pivots, it will compete with other firms looking to become the provider of choice for clients looking for custody services. The bitcoin exchange Coinbase and BitGo are two crypto-first firms eyeing custody. Elsewhere, Fidelity, Nomura, and JPMorgan are exploring similar offerings.

 

http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/goldman-sachs-retreats-from-launching-crypto-trading-desk-2018-9/

#Google (#Alphabet) deploying brokering model to provide loans to the masses in #India https://t.co/jcMMyUhktl

#Google (#Alphabet) deploying brokering model to provide loans to the masses in #India https://t.co/jcMMyUhktl

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) August 29, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

A great list ! https://t.co/om1NrP8eTP

A great list ! https://t.co/om1NrP8eTP

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) August 24, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

#Starling joining #Ferratum in offering #BaaS https://t.co/czNn6EYjQU

#Starling joining #Ferratum in offering #BaaS https://t.co/czNn6EYjQU

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) August 7, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

North Korean opening up for commercial banking. https://t.co/jZwnuwWyrZ

North Korean opening up for commercial banking. https://t.co/jZwnuwWyrZ

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) August 6, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

#PayPal gets more competition to serve previous owner #ebay. #ApplePay #Square https://t.co/9uRIYtO9DS

#PayPal gets more competition to serve previous owner #ebay. #ApplePay #Square https://t.co/9uRIYtO9DS

— Hans Hagen (@hanhagen1) August 3, 2018

from Twitter https://twitter.com/hanhagen1

Un micro-crédit rapide pour les fêtes?

Remplir la hotte du Père Noël avec un micro-crédit?
Depuis quelques jours, voire même quelques mois maintenant, vous avez dans l'idée de réaliser un projet qui vous tient à cœur ? Achat d'une nouvelle voiture pour remplacer l'ancienne qui peine à rouler jour après jour, remplacement de votre téléviseur qui a rendu l'âme après tant d'années d'existence, achats des cadeaux de Noël pour toute votre famille, le dernier accessoire iTech pour votre conjoint ou les plus beaux jouets pour vos enfants peut être ? Ou encore le paiement d'une prestation médicale que vous souhaitez engager mais dont vos finances vous interdissent l'accès jusqu'à maintenant ?

Les projets sont nombreux dans le cours d'une vie, mais nous ne pouvons pas toujours les réaliser, faute d'avoir les fonds nécessaires. Et c'est bien en ce point que le bât-blesse : des finances insuffisantes sont autant de barrières à tous vos projets personnels et professionnels, quels qu'ils soient et quel que soit le montant souhaité. Malheureusement, et dans bon nombre de cas, des ménages entiers ne parviennent pas à répondre à leurs envies de projets du quotidien faute d'avoir les finances nécessaires, et les banques ne sont que trop rarement leurs meilleurs alliés.
Et parce que la période s'y prête, il est également important de rappeler que nombre de ménages ne parviennent plus à offrir à leur famille les cadeaux souhaités et ont, pour la plupart, recours au crédit pour les achats de Noël.
Et si une solution s'offrait à vous ? Et s'il vous était enfin possible de souscrire à des micro-crédits, des prêts de faibles sommes d'argent pour réaliser vos projets du quotidien ? A n'en pas douter, Ferratum Bank PLC est la banque qu'il vous faut.

Un principe de fonctionnement on ne peut plus simple

L'idée principale mise en œuvre par Ferratum Bank PLC est on ne peut plus simple à comprendre et, à n'en pas douter, elle risque fort d'aider de nombreuses personnes et de nombreux ménages en France mais également dans le monde entier.

Jusqu'alors, les banques ne s'engageaient pas à prêter de faibles sommes d'argent. Leur objectif était de faire souscrire à leurs clients des contrats de prêt engageant des sommes d'argent souvent très importantes, et ce afin d'obtenir des intérêts chaque fois plus intéressants et juteux. Pour les personnes qui n'avaient pas besoin de ces fortes sommes mais simplement de quelques centaines d'euros pour financer le remplacement d'un téléviseur ou la réalisation d'une prestation médicale, la seule solution possible était de souscrire à un crédit à la consommation, une solution financière onéreuse dont on connaît les vertus, si tant est que l'on puisse parler de vertus dans ce cas. En tout état de cause, l'endettement sur le long terme était la seule issue jusqu'à présent.

Mais aujourd'hui, une solution est enfin arriver, et elle se nomme Ferratum Bank PLC. Grâce à cet établissement, vous pouvez désormais emprunter de petites sommes d'argent pour financer vos projets du quotidien. 100, 200, 500, 600 euros, quel que soit le montant d'argent souhaité, cet établissement de crédit vous propose des solutions très simples à mettre en œuvre et qui répondent à l'ensemble de vos besoins et de vos attentes.

Une souscription entièrement en ligne, simple et efficace

Quel que soit le montant souhaité, il vous suffit de vous rendre sur le site Internet de Ferratum Bank PLC et de souscrire à votre prêt entièrement en ligne, directement sur le site Internet de cet établissement de crédit. C'est on ne peut plus simple et surtout très rapide : en effet, votre demande de prêt peut être acceptée en moins de 10 minutes ! Ferratum Bank PLC s'engage donc à tout mettre en œuvre pour répondre à vos attentes, à vos besoins, et vous pour vous aider à réaliser votre projet actuel. En plus de cette simplicité et de cet accompagnement de tous les instants, les taux d'intérêt sont très faibles. Alors, qu'attendez-vous pour faire confiance à l'un des meilleurs établissements bancaires qui n'en finit pas de susciter l'intérêt et l'attention autour de lui depuis sa création ? Offrez à votre famille tous les cadeaux de Noël espérés grâce aux solutions de crédit Ferratum Bank PLC ! Cliquez ici pour demander votre crédit Ferratum CHRONO et recevoir votre argent sous 24H!

Online shopping in South Africa. Nice infographics

UK SME Card Usage Remains Strong (Source: CPI)

UK SME Card Usage Stays Strong

Publication Date: August 2011

UK SME demand for credit may have eased in recent months, helped by recovering economic fortunes; nevertheless, business credit card usage in the UK remains one of the primary ways of obtaining financing, as Victoria Conroy reports.

With around two million corporate credit and charge cards in the UK and a market well-served by several of the world's leading banks, UK SMEs have no shortage of options when it comes to payment cards. In fact, the UK small business credit card market is one of the strongest in Europe. While the recession severely restricted the availability of credit, which hampered SMEs' expansion plans, economic recovery also means that SMEs' demand for credit has dissipated in the last few months, if recent surveys are anything to go by.

UK Business Lending Trends

As of the end of 2010 there were around four million SMEs in the UK, defined as having fewer than 250 employees. Data from the British Bankers Association (BBA) shows that as of February 2011, there were an estimated 510,000 term loans (within some 3.9 million small business banking relationships), with a total outstanding value of £42.2 billion (US$69.3 billion) and overdraft borrowing standing at £7.6 billion (US$12.4 billion).

The level of total borrowing as of February 2011 (£49.8 billion, or US$81.8 billion) reflects a return to pre-financial crisis levels in 2008, as businesses have paid down debt and built up reserves in response to the financial crisis. The aggregate value of small business current and deposit accounts, restated on the basis of refreshed data from banks up to February 2011, is strong at £56.8 billion (US$93.3 billion), and the first two months of the year saw a continued monthly rate of around 50,000 small businesses establishing new banking relationships by opening their first account from a business product range. The BBA's data shows that lending trends appear stable, although it noted credit demand from small businesses fell sharply in the first quarter of 2011.

In its July 2011 Trends in Lending report, the Bank of England noted that the amount of lending to UK businesses contracted by around £4 billion (US$6.5 billion) in the three months prior to May, although this was partially offset by an increase in April, the first positive monthly figure for net lending since November 2010. However, credit availability remained broadly unchanged for businesses, according to lenders in the Bank of England's 2011 Q2 Credit Conditions survey. As is often the case, larger firms were generally able to access bank lending if required, but opportunities for smaller firms remained more variable.

Card Usage Trends

Despite demand for credit easing off, UK SMEs are still enthusiastic users of business credit cards. Recent surveys about SME business card usage indicate that on the whole, business credit cards are the most widely used financing tool for small and medium-sized businesses. A 2010 study, updated from data published in 2004 and 2008, by Warwick Business School found that UK SMEs spend in excess of £1.8 billion (US$2.9 billion) on business credit cards. The study, which was based on a sample of 2,500 companies, found that 55% of SMEs used business credit cards, 53% had overdrafts, 24% used term loans, and only 3% used equity finance during the period 2001-2004.

Source: Warwick Business School

According to the study, small businesses were generally able to find the financing they needed but often failed to secure the best possible terms for their borrowing. There is also a need for SMEs to have a safety net against short-term problems, reflected by the £4 billion (US$6.5 billion) net positive cash position of SMEs, who were holding £92 billion (US$151.2 billion) in total deposits, compared with £88 billion (US$144.6 billion) that they owed in loans.

Most of the business credit card spending by SMEs is for day-to-day bills, such as travel expenses and raw materials, although 12% of the study's respondents said they used their corporate cards to buy equipment and vehicles. Only a small proportion of the money spent on business credit cards is left outstanding at the end of the month. Businesses using personal credit cards pay off an average of 79% of these debts in full each month. For business credit cards, the proportion is 95%.

Although the UK small business lending market is dominated by the big four banks – HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, which serve a total of 82% of all SME banking customers in England and Wales – UK SMEs are not averse to shopping around for a better deal. Only 2% of SMEs change banks each year, but one in three expressed some dissatisfaction with their bank charges, which are on average £51 (US$83) per month. The average SME has been with their main bank for 15 years. Around 7% were considering changing banks, and 29% said they would move if approached by another financial services provider.

Another survey from Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions, which was published in February 2011 and drew responses from 700 UK SMEs, found that 44% of respondents use credit cards as working capital, despite the relatively high interest rates charged. However, this received a mixed reaction in small business circles, with insolvency practitioners Business Rescue Service describing the finding as "concerning at a time when we are seeing so many cases of company insolvency." According to Business Rescue Service, the problem is not that businesses should never use any form of credit – it's more the consequences of doing so either habitually or on a larger scale as a form of primary funding.

The newly launched SME Finance Monitor from BDRC Continental, published in July 2011, found that around 51% of surveyed SMEs are using external financing and that 19% of SMEs have had a "borrowing event" involving an overdraft and/or loan in the past 12 months. Almost all SMEs said they held some credit balances, either in deposit or current accounts. Based on those giving an answer, two-thirds held small balances of £5,000 (US$8,219) or less (63%), but this was because of the lower credit balances held by smaller SMEs. Among the largest SMEs, half had credit balances in excess of £100,000, or US$164,389.

Overall, 30% of SMEs had used external finance in the past five years and were using something now. Around 2% had used something in the past, but not now, and 21% had not used external finance in the past but were using it now. Almost half (47%) had neither used external finance in the past nor were they using it now, and this ranged from half of one-man bands to just 15% of the largest SMEs.

In relation to financing methods, credit cards ranked behind overdrafts, which were the most popular method of financing, and this was applicable across SMEs of varying sizes.

Source: SME Finance Monitor
na = not available

Only a minority of SMEs had applied for other forms of finance during this time, but most of those that had applied had been successful, with business credit cards receiving a 92% success rate in approvals.

Liquidity and Working Capital Trends

UK SMEs are generally in a healthy state as far as finances are concerned. In their 2010 SME credit and finance survey, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) found that although the refrain "cash is king" was common throughout the recession, it is even more true in the recovery, with cash, liquidity and working capital needs now the main drivers of SMEs' demands for finance. Those with strong cash positions are less likely to need finance and more likely to obtain it if they apply.

The ACCA/CBI survey also found that in line with previous research findings, half of all SMEs surveyed (50%) reported that they had sought new credit or loans on commercial terms, and a larger share (62%) reported they had sought some form of additional finance, trade credit or funds over the last 12 months. Bank overdrafts were the most commonly applied-for type of credit, followed by credit from suppliers and bank term loans.

If anything, these trends mean business credit cards in the UK will face more competition from other forms of financing, including a shift towards trade credit (within agreed terms) and term loans, and away from overdrafts, a move which is already underway. It appears that larger SMEs are more likely to make this shift, which implies a lower amount of working capital, a higher amount of cash, or both.

But UK banks are certainly not being complacent about serving the UK SME market. In April 2011, Barclays announced the acquisition of MBNA Europe 's UK small business credit card portfolio, consisting of approximately 60,000 accounts and £130 million (US$213 million) of outstanding balances as of February 2011. And with this large segment still vastly underpenetrated by payment cards in general, banks in the UK will be ramping up their efforts to recruit more SMEs as card customers in the months to come.

Die Hard: Homegrown Banking Software

Die Hard: Homegrown Banking Software

Banks That Rely On Homegrown Software Are Often More Satisfied With Their Technology Capabilities Than Are Vendor-Dependent Banks.

Boston, September 20, 2011 – A new report from Aite Group examines the current penetration of homegrown technology at banks, globally by region. Based on a Q1 2011 Aite Group survey of 80 large financial institutions across North America, the Asia-Pacific, and Europe and the Middle East, the report provides comparative satisfaction levels with homegrown technology solutions, and explains why homegrown solutions garner such high levels of satisfaction in certain areas while vendor solutions are preferred in others. Some industry observers might find it difficult to believe, but homegrown software continues to be a favored technology option for some banks. In fact, about 16% of banks around the world continue to prefer building software in-house when they have the chance, and homegrown software receives a 65% net satisfaction balance compared with vendor software's 55%. Aite Group attributes this high rate of satisfaction at least in part to custom tailoring. Although homegrown solutions can be more difficult to maintain and upgrade, they may better fit the specific needs of the organization than an off-the-shelf vendor solution. Of course, satisfaction varies by solution type, and vendor solutions receive higher satisfaction marks in certain areas, such as anti-money laundering. "The expansion of the IT services industry is one of the factors behind the resilience of homegrown software development," says Gwenn Bézard, research director with Aite Group and co-author of this report. "The development of a low-cost IT services industry over the past decade, in particular in India and some former Soviet Union countries, has made it easier for institutions to custom-build software at a competitive price." This 22-page Impact Note contains 15 figures. Clients of Aite Group's Retail Banking and Wholesale Banking services can download the report by clicking on the icon to the right.

Trivia from travel: Can someone please...

...tell me why Lufthansa equipped it's planes with ASHtrays in the lavatory of you are not allowed to SMOKE?

(not that I smoke in the first place, but the conflicting messages intrigue me!)

lol