My Digital FootPrint

The rational your data should not be in a bank or a vault lies in history. When we centralise value (money for instance), it becomes attractive to rob, pinch, steal or walk off with - and protecting it comes at an every increasing cost. In the old language the rational could be summed up as "dynamite and vault"; in our modern language " very attractive  hacker economics"  The centralied deposit(s) become of great interest to those who want take it, control it, and to some who see it as a way to increase their own value.  Centralised works first for the institutions and second for the consumer.  A more subtle part of the conversation (should we trust banks with our data in a big vault) turns to where modern day value comes from with data and that is in the sharing of data. Data in a vault with no access (other than you with your key) has limited value. There is value if you want the bank to monitise your data on your behalf; but that is a different story/ pos...

This title is enough to excite anyone one. " Digital Transformation in Banking Requires Big Cultural Shakeups "  Source: The Financial Brand by Jim Marous The core argument is that: to succeed, banks and credit unions must support the elimination of silos, be willing to embrace risk, and have an obsessive focus on the needs of the consumer. ----- I have been saying for a while " that the next victim of digital will be the hierarchy " but I am more than every convinced that the first issue we need to address is consistency in data. Let me explain.  Do we trust the CFO for finance.  Yes we do but we verify.  We get and use b/s, p/l and cash flow as tools to help backed by faith in the accounting software and access controls.  We get reporting to the board in reports and use committees for SAP, remuneration and audit, then we have external audit for full verification.  We had consistency in finance and this gave us a culture....

I have been a long term NatWest customer.  A long time ago Barclays, whom I first opened an account with refused to give me a loan for my MBA.  I walked into the next branch and that was NatWest.  A short time later a loan approved and I moved banks.  To keep life easy over time I opted to open business accounts with NatWest as it saved all the time for proofs and documentation.  During the joyous 2008 financial problems, NatWest post government help had to sell on their business banking.  Hence the mess I am now in.  Accounts everywhere.  I have gone from one login, one app, one ID to many apps, many logins including many NatWest versions, which all now don't work as their cookie policy is a mess and leaves all sorts of nasty follow/ remember me stuff.  "have come to love and value incognito"  To aid me in a new decision I had a lovely email this morning.  " We originally planned to do this by setting up a new bank –...