Disqus - Latest Comments for sdjohns

Re: Transparency issues in the music industry to be solved by blockchain technology » Brave New Coin

sdjohns — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 03:31:51 -0000

Great piece, thank you - tough to keep up with every initiative but fabulous to see so many seeking to deliver transparency (and remuneration!) to creative artists, instead of inventing the next high frequency trading platform. Interested to read more on the practicalities and next steps the various stakeholders need to take. Seems we will see at least one ledger per creative community, with interoperability evolving.

Re: Thieves Launder Money by Crowdfunding Themselves | Motherboard

sdjohns — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 07:17:27 -0000

As @Noel has pointed out, this is credit card fraud, not someone handling money that has already been received by them as a result of some unlawful activity ('money laundering'). Good that the activity was detected after only $488.15 had passed through these accounts - and presumably they've been suspended/terminated in accordance with user terms. Of course, basic anti-money laundering procedures, like ID checking and monitoring for suspicious activity are also helpful in minimising fraud. But it's important not to confuse the two as they are different types of activity that have different causes/consequences and need to be handled differently.

Re: Banks will protect your reputation in the online market

sdjohns — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:01:04 -0000

I'm afraid I disagree. We discussed this issue at the CSFI and concluded banks are not well-placed to fulfill this additional role, even if they understood the opportunity and wanted to take it - which is doubtful. They don't have much useful data about their customers, let alone in accessible formats/systems. We over-estimate their technological capabilities (as we do Telcos). Recent outages show they are struggling to maintain legacy systems and, ironically, weak KYC/AML controls have earned them big fines in recent years. What static ID data they do have basically comes from credit reference agencies, so they add no value in having it. The final nail in banks' coffins is we actually don't 'trust' them to look after our money, even in basic savings accounts.
That's why the government had to increase the Financial Services
Compensation Scheme coverage for deposits in the recent crisis.

The challenge here is that identity, privacy, reputation and so on are part of a complex dynamic that varies by context and many other variables that are generating new data all the time, as the WEF process for 'rethinking personal data' has identified. Institutions like banks and telcos can't empower us in this environment because they are organised to view this world through their own products, rather than in terms of customers' end-to-end activities. Facilitators like Google, Amazon and Facebook and many more have an unassailable cultural and organisational lead in this respect.

No point flogging a dead horse ;-)

Re: Lex2011tweetup: All the leading tweeting lawyers in a bar. How could it not be fun?

sdjohns — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:22:20 -0000

Sorry to miss it!

Re: The “like, er, lie” economy

sdjohns — Mon, 24 May 2010 04:42:23 -0000

What next, **irony warning** icons?

Re: Community Capitalism: increasing your wealth with community currencies

sdjohns — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:34:57 -0000

Seems an idea that it is in the interests of local chambers of commerce, rotary clubs and municipal authorities to promote

Re: What would be the iPod of Financial Services?

sdjohns — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:01:03 -0000

Indeed, that's how GE Capital got going in the '80s, and I guess GMAC. But it's interesting to see where such manufacturer initiatives have ended up - the expansion beyond financing the sale of own products into direct retail credit, mortgage and insurance appears not to be sustainable. The finance piece becomes too unwieldy - at scale, success risks the group being valued as financial institution, and a credit risk or insurance disaster could put the whole group at risk. Nice ride while it lasts, though.

Re: What would be the iPod of Financial Services?

sdjohns — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:58:37 -0000

Yes, it turns out banks do give us a false sense of security. If you panned back from those laughing retirees on their yacht, it would probably show a reef looming dead ahead. So they won't get away with positioning themselves as, say, sonar equipment to help you navigate the reef ahead. And any claims of 'transparency' won't cut it either.

As a prediction for 2008 (following the demise of Northern Wreck in '07) I blogged that banks will only be the back office, not the front office of financial services 2.0. Too many other retailers command customer loyalty now, and the banks' last value claim - safety - has vapourised. Instead, consumer finance and other payment services will become fully integrated step in whatever retail or P2P activity you're engaged in. There'll be no need for all the murderous fees that banks charge or other profiteering, because the finance/payments piece will be only one small part of the retailers' overall volume equation and tied up in the value proposition to consumers. That's not to say that I was being particularly prescient, I was merely highlighting an emerging trend. But it's interesting to see it play out, with Tesco's purchase of its JV with Royal Bank of Scotland, as a significant example. Extending the retailer's brand to investment and other products, like share trading, will follow. The retailers will have a vested interest in keeping the bank service providers "honest", to protect their much broader, higher value customer relationship.

Re: What would be the iPod of Financial Services?

sdjohns — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:17:10 -0000

Interesting - I guess it's like being a "trustafarian", with a trustee basically in charge of your affairs. Enough people supplying "all" their data might also improve the predictive quality of consumer credit reference data. But the devil is in this concept of "complete peace of mind". What does it mean in practice? Do you really want it? If set up appropriately or prudently, the service might merely bring you a dull sense of certainty, or even doom. It could make you "feel" you're in a straightjacket from the start. Will it tolerate discussion or override, or will it present you with decisions or restraint. "Yes, sir or madam, I know that on a three year outlook you can afford a Maserati, but on our five year view of your affairs we're thinking more the Prius". "Sorry, old boy, Asian stocks are about to tank, we're auctioning the Bentley at 3pm". And how sympathetically will this trusted entity really be able to treat you when your circumstances change over time, e.g. unemployment, divorce, illness, death in the family and so on? I'm all for a more personalised financial experience, but the all-knowing trusted entity could present us with a pretty joyless life experience, even if financially it achieves a "better" result.

Re: A bank’s payment strategy in 3 words: Convenience, Convenience, Convenience

sdjohns — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:53:40 -0000

Thanks for the market intelligence, Guillaume. You might also check out Wigadoo, which enables people to contribute their share of the cost of a group event to a pre-paid card.

Best wishes,
SDJ