Snippings

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AI Outcomes report shows mixed results for how fifty major banks are using GenAI and Agentic AI to generate value and shows that “innovation theater” is rampant.

The report’s findings show that banks are full of use cases but trying to use GenAI in a way that won’t “break the bank.”

This means 85% of the use cases focus on internal use of GenAI rather than setting it loose on the more risky task of working with clients.

From: (7) Innovation Theater is Alive and Well in Banking AI Deployment.

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“A new boss is someone that we don’t question. We don’t want to be seen rocking the boat”, explains Elisabeth Carter, criminologist at Kingston University and host of BBC Radio 4’s Scam Secrets podcast.

From: Spear phishing: the ‘boss scam’ that targets new starters.

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According to the FCA report, 12.5 million consumers need support in saving for retirement, and 38% of the working-age population are under-saving for the future. Last year, 59% of adults did not use financial advice on investments, savings, pension, and retirement plans and only 9% received regulated financial advice.

From: FCA’s targeted support proposal sparks debate on advice boundaries and consumer access.

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Simon Harrington, head of public affairs at PIMFA, detailed: “The distinction between targeted support and regulated advice must be made crystal clear

From: FCA’s targeted support proposal sparks debate on advice boundaries and consumer access.

I agree. And one way of doing it might be to disingush between what an AI can to, which is to provide (cheap targeted support, and what a person can do, which is to provide (expensive) financial advice.

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A conman who was locked up for posing as a doctor in a bid to buy a £2million home went on to escape prison – by faking his get-out-of-jail letter.

Junead Ahmed, 36, was found guilty for his 2023 crime and awaiting sentence when the fraudster managed to hoodwink prison bosses into releasing him.

In audacious escape, conman Ahmed tricked officials at HMP Chelmsford with a fake High Court letter claiming he had been approved for release.

From: ‘Catch Me If You Can’ conman who posed as a doctor to rent a £2million home escapes prison – by faking his own get-out-of-jail letter | Daily Mail Online.

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The European Union’s eIDAS Regulation set to take effect in 2026 encourages Member States to integrate privacy-enhancing technologies like ZKP into the European Digital Identity Wallet (“EUDI Wallet”). With our commitment to making these ZKP tools openly available, Member States can integrate this into their future EUDI Wallets, accelerating their development.

https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/opening-up-zero-knowledge-proof-technology-to-promote-privacy-in-age-assurance/

I read an interesting piece on cashlessness in “The Grocer” recently. While the article mentioned why it is that retailers are going cashless (for example, Gail’s the bakery chain stopped accepting cash last year, citing reduced environmental impact and reduced risk of crime as reasons) it also includes some case studies f people who want to see cash accepted everywhere. One of those quotes a UK consumer as saying

“I live in a rural village and there have been several occasions where the local shop’s card machine was broken for days. Without cash, I’ve had to go without essentials such as food, gas and electricity. I’ve noticed that a lot of cash machines are broken. Certainly the one in our village breaks down quite a lot.”

If I ran the little shop in the village where my sister lives out in the Cotswolds I think I might be tempted to leep my mobile phone with me. Since almost all card payments are contactless in the UK, using my mobile as a softPOS to step in when the card machine breaks down would seem to be a practical interim. I’m surprised that chains like Gail’s don’t give their managers an app to use for when their internet goes down or the card machine gets jam in it.

Anyway, my point is that the idea the csh is the ultimate backup is wrong. In the village shop. the shopkeeper knows who 99% of the customers are and can easily give them food on credit, or write down their card numbers for manual entry when the machine is back on line.

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You can go start a small claim lawsuit today in minutes. That’s not the finish line, it’s the starting point for http://pettylawsuit.com

The bigger play is lawfare as a platform

From: (1) Buildsumn on X: “Wild how fast this flipped. Sam tossed out an idea, and in a week and a half we actually shipped it. (Running on 18 hour days ofc 🫠) You can go start a small claim lawsuit today in minutes. That’s not the finish line, it’s the starting point for https://t.co/tuBBQPWZai The” / X.

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Many phones sold in the U.S. now come only with eSIMs, including those from Apple. But Chinese telecom companies don’t support eSIMs due to the need of carriers to verify the personal identity of each user, The Information previously reported.

From: Apple’s iPhone Air Faces Problems in China — The Information.

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Since Chinese banks can and do transact outside swift, the yuan’s role in international payments is probably being undercounted, says Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council, an American think-tank.
More than 1,700 banks have signed up to cips across the globe, up by a third since before the war in Ukraine. Transaction volumes rose faster than ever in 2024, up by 43% to 175trn yuan ($24trn). Clearing banks to settle yuan payments (almost all of which are operated by Chinese institutions) have been set up in 33 markets.

From: China is ditching the dollar, fast.

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