How Do You Measure Up?
The Fifth‑Year Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking and Payments Global Report uses a peer‑based, real‑time benchmarking survey to evaluate how banks and payments firms are meeting corporate customer expectations. It covers real‑time and cross‑border payments, ISO 20022, SaaS migration, compliance, cash positioning, fraud monitoring and verification. Survey results show banks increasingly aligning strategies with corporate needs, emphasizing cash‑flow visibility, AI‑driven fraud prevention and instant payments. Executives view this shift as moving from transactional services to strategic, customer‑centric partnerships.
Friday Focus with Payments:Unpacked
In this unannounced Friday Focus live session, the host reviews the rapid decline of paper checks in the UK and globally, the Bank of England's plan to extend CHAPS settlement hours, and the Swedish central bank's advice to keep cash...
Unlocking the Benefits of Account Switching
The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) recorded a record 350,114 account switches in Q4 2025, bringing its 2025 total to 1.05 million and 12.4 million since launch. Speed remains a hallmark, with 99.2% of moves completed within the guaranteed seven‑day window. Customer sentiment...
Major Settlement Overhaul for CHAPS
The Bank of England will extend CHAPS operating hours, introducing a voluntary early‑morning settlement window that begins at 01:30 GMT instead of the current 06:00 start. The change takes effect in September 2027 and is designed to enable earlier sterling...
Understanding Certainty of Fate in Faster Payments
The episode explains Certainty of Fate (CoF) – the need for clear, timely confirmation of success or failure for UK account‑to‑account (A2A) payments – and why it’s vital for merchants, consumers and payment providers. It outlines key challenges, including legacy...
Falling in Love with a Safer Way to Pay
The episode commemorates the 20‑year anniversary of mandatory CHIP and PIN in the UK, explaining how the shift from signature to chip‑and‑PIN cards dramatically cut fraud and set a global benchmark for secure payments. It highlights the liability shift that...
The First Banking Disruptor?
The episode examines Midland Bank's 1984 decision to eliminate fees for cheques, statements, and standing orders, effectively making personal banking free in the UK. It explores how this bold move reshaped the competitive landscape, prompting other banks to adopt similar...
Their Role Wasn’t to Question Customers, Just as a Sewage Company Doesn’t Ask What You Ate for Dinner
The episode examines how U.S. Congressman Wright Patman reshaped banking regulation, turning banks from passive cash conduits into active gatekeepers tasked with monitoring and reporting suspicious activity. It contrasts the pre‑Patman view of banks as mere plumbing with the post‑Patman...
Tom Ilube CBE Appointed Chair of LINK
The episode announces Tom Ilube CBE as the new Chair of LINK, the UK’s cash access and ATM network, highlighting his extensive background in technology, finance, education, and philanthropy. Ilube emphasizes the importance of maintaining cash access for millions as...
Regulators at the Heart of the National Payments Vision
In his keynote at the Payments Regulation and Innovation Summit, David Geale, MD of the Payment Systems Regulator, outlined how the FCA and PSR are steering the National Payments Vision by focusing on system trust, resilience through choice, and upcoming...
The Evolution of Direct Debit
In this episode, host Mike Chambers sits down with Richard Ransom of Bottomline and Mike Hutchinson of The Regular Payments Marketing Company to trace the half‑century history of direct debit, examining current transaction volumes, value trends, and the evolving supply...
From Electrum to Sterling: A Brief History of Money
The episode traces the evolution of money from the first electrum coins minted in Lydia around 640 BC, through the early experiments with paper money in China and Sweden, to the rise of national central banks that backed notes with government...