I thought I would share with my readers a selection of the points mentioned in the book (modest disclaimer: it is a non-comprehensive, and personal, quick summary that does not replace the reading of the book)
The book is titled "Value Web" by Chris Skinner.
- The author is an independent commentator in the financial industry.
- Summary in a sentence: There is a network transformation of how we exchange value.
- This network transformation is linked to our secure digital identities.
- The author describes the blockchain technology also as an authentication technology.
- He touches also upon the history of money and how farming created money as an instrument to keep value.
- A detail: It was China inventing paper-based money.
- An interesting thought: “Simplification comes from kids and complexity comes from incumbents”
- Clear statement: Banks don’t trust each other anymore.
- Interesting story of an attempt to regulate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitLicense
- The author sees banks more than as money stores as value stores. His stance: value stores need regulation.
- Three different roles played by fintech players in the banking industry: wrappers, replacers and reformers (vis a vis traditional banking).
- How free apps can make money? By creating additional (not currently existing) value and by being relevant.
- The potential to re-invent banking (rather than to disrupt banking)
- However: Let’s be realisitic. In the UK 62% of the population still prefers face to face in a branch as preferred channel to access bank services.
- Banks already require a digital core, a platform. So that channels are replaced by access. In the digital era, they talk about access (to that digital core) and not channels anymore.
The last part of the book includes interviews to key players in this field. My 2 cents. Follow these three names on twitter: @jonmatonis, @brockpierce and @chrislarsensf
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| Happy valueing! |
