The brave new world of Web 2.0 will require a brave new approach from banks if they are to keep their customers, writes Joshua Weinberger.

In the first of our quarterly 2015 series, The Banker takes a look at what retail banking will look like in eight years’ time. Stephen Timewell explains who the winners and losers will be.

Corporates that create supply chains with highly flexible supply routes will find they are part of larger global chains and reap
the economic advantages, says Dan Barnes.

Dan Barnes canvasses the views of senior technologists within the banking industry on the innovation challenges they are preparing for during the remainder of this year.

According to a report by the Pelorus Group, payment volumes for contactless, mobile and biometric payments will rise to $400bn by 2011 from today’s measly $27bn. This misses the real point, which is that traditional payment mechanisms are rapidly becoming obsolete.

The use of mobile phones for banking and payments is growing worldwide, nowhere more so than in the rural areas of countries untouched by traditional banking channels. Stephen Timewell and Wendy Atkins report.

Why is the record for innovation so bad among banks? Karina Robinson investigates.

The Code of Conduct for Clearing and Settlement is being hailed as an important step in pulling down the barriers to cost-effective, cross-border clearing and settlement in Europe.

Given that Europe’s exchanges are now run for profit – an ethos that may be compounded by prospective mergers with expansionist US exchanges – users complain that their needs have become secondary and are threatening to set up their own pan-continental multilateral trading facilities. Dan Barnes explains.

“Phishing” attacks and improvements in ID fraud prevention were the two key topics discussed at The Banker’s Identity Fraud Round Table in London on 5 December, chaired by Contributing Editor Michael Imeson.