May 20
Artificial Intelligence has rapidly gained prominence in the field of financial services. While it offers numerous benefits, it also poses certain risks that must be carefully considered. One of the key benefits of AI in financial services is its ability to process vast amounts of data quickly and accurately. This enables financial institutions to make …
Apr 29
The Trustee Savings Bank can trace its roots back to the first savings bank founded by Henry Duncan in Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire in 1810. But its recent history has been a roller coaster and banking systems are at the heart of that story. Thirty years ago the Trustee Savings Bank was a up and coming UK bank – …
Apr 03
“Téchnē is a state of capacity to produce with a true logos,” Aristotle defined. Logos was a central notion in Greek philosophy, broadly meaning reason and discourse. Because Téchnē (Art) had its own reasoning and discourse, it was knowledge, as distinct from opinion (doxa) and mere experience. Many arts existed, among others Aristotle cited architecture, …
May 11
For Vehicle Finance, 2013 started quickly with the news on 2nd January that ZipCar, the world’s largest car-sharing network, had been acquired by Avis Budget Group for nearly $500m. At first this would not seem to be of that much immediate impact to funders, but it is a significant step for the whole car industry, …
Mar 03
Will banning working from home stop the decline of Yahoo!? Surely not? See this leading article from the Ecomomist.
Feb 10
I saw a rapidly vanishing scene the other day; a father walking with his family up to the letterbox and the children standing on tiptoe to post the envelopes they had been clutching. It took me back to my childhood reading the Ladybird Book of the Post Man and watching the film of The Night …
Nov 14
The benefits of Mergers and Aquistion are simply economies of scale. But are there limits to growth? – This article in the Economist argues that there are – and that it is common to overestimate the benefits. This article from McKinsey looks at where mergers go wrong. Most buyers routinely overvalue the synergies to be …
Jun 01
My introduction to pan-European finance technology came on the day Europhile Tony Blair became prime minister. After casting my vote, I drove to my companies newly opened Paris office to struggle with installing a French version of Windows 95 from 24 floppy disks. Since then I have become well versed in the benefits and practice …
May 01
Henry Ford is the father of modern mass production. His production lines established Ford as the first global car manufacturer. Yet it was not until 34 years after his death that Ford produced their first global car – the Ford Escort. Ford set out to use common components worldwide, but by the time the Escort …
Jan 01
Despite the relative absence of large new clients, lease software vendors are still investing in their products, particularly their back office functions, reports Nic Evans in January 2010 Leasing Life. Finance Companies are expecting their technology to work harder in these tough times. As many organisations start new budget periods in the new year …