Snippings

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As Mario Draghi pointed out in his recent report, the productivity gap between the United States and the European Union is mostly explained by technology and finance.[
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] If we take the information and communications technology (ICT) and financial sectors out, the gap disappears.

If we want to close the productivity gap with the United States, we need to focus on these areas.

From: The role of the digital euro in digital payments and finance.

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Furious Welsh villagers have mistaken a group of charity workers at a summer camp for asylum seekers because they couldn’t understand their Scottish accents.

Angry locals confused a group of around 30 teenagers, who travelled around 400 miles from Scotland to Newbridge, South Wales, to do youth work, for immigrants.

A video of the charitable group arriving to the CRAI Scout Activity Park, claimed to show ‘immigrants’ being moved to the location in Caerphilly.

Police have since launched a probe into the online abuse after quashing the false rumours after being alerted to the emergence of the clip to social media.

From: Angry Welsh villagers abuse group of charity workers at Scout summer camp – after mistaking them for asylum seekers because they couldn’t understand their Scottish accents | Daily Mail Online.

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I happened to be listening to a SlateTBD podcast about AI generated music. One of the presenters was talking about AI “slop” music being piped into to bars and restaurants and elevators and wherever. She said “most people consume music passively, and I don’t think they’re going to mind that much that what they’re consuming passively is AI”. This immediately made me think about George Orwell’s “1984”, in which he wrote

The tune had been haunting London for weeks past. It was one of countless similar songs published for the benefit of the proles by a sub-section of the Music Department. The words of these songs were composed without any human intervention whatever on an instrument known as a versificator.

If only Orwell had know just how accurate a prediction this was. He wrote it long before the internet, long before Large Language Models (LLMs) and long before streaming sites. But as of now, one of streaming sites willing to disclose the statistics says that almost a fifth of the music uploaded for distribution is AI generated. Now, while pretty much all of the new music I hear via the wireless sounds AI generated to me, some of it is apparently real.

It seems, though, that no-one cares.

 

So, here’s a question for you payments people out there. Do consumers see retail payments more akin to elevator music or psychotherapy.

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Richard Crone

Author
CEO Crone Consulting LLC
2d

Steve Klebe — always great insights, thank you! Three Qs for you:

1) Chase has been aggressively promoting its Account Data Sharing APIs on its Developer Portal since 2017—complete with interactive sandboxes, OAuth flows & even a Pronovix DevPortal Award nomination. Wasn’t this always a long-game to move from FREE → FEE once fintechs were fully dependent on that feed & demand became near-inelastic?

2) When hashtag#AgenticWallets & hashtag#AgenticPayments kick in, they’ll query all 19+ financial relationships the avg HH has to find the “best” tender in milliseconds. If Chase prices API calls so high it slows that query down, doesn’t that risk losing their seat at the tender-steering table entirely?

From: (2) Post | Feed | LinkedIn.

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About 119,000 scholarly journal articles and conference papers are published globally every week, or more than 6 million a year. Publishers estimate that, at most journals, about 2% of the papers submitted – but not necessarily published – are likely fake, although this number can be much higher at some publications.

From: Fake papers are contaminating the world’s scientific literature, fueling a corrupt industry and slowing legitimate lifesaving medical research.

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We have all of the technologies that we need to build the new kind of digital identity that we need for the 21st century — zero-knowledge proofs, verifiable credentials, strong authentication — and now we need to put them to work to deliver not a National Identity Scheme (NIS) as previously envisaged but a National Entitlement Scheme (NES).

From: Whatever You Think About Tony Blair, He Is Right About Digital ID.

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Humanity Protocol, a privacy-first blockchain identity network and high-profile rival to Sam Altman’s Worldcoin, fired up its mainnet, debuting a system that connects familiar Web2 credentials to decentralized Web3 services using zero-knowledge transport layer security (zkTLS).

From: Worldcoin Rival Humanity Protocol Debuts $1.1B Mainnet for Privacy-First Web2 to Web3 Identity.

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At first, “Human ID” is supporting airline, hotel, financial and educational credentials, with future plans spanning on-chain ticketing, decentralized governance and Sybil-resistant platforms.

 

Britain trails the rest of Europe — including Ukraine — when it comes to online identity schemes

 

Edward Lucas

Wednesday August 06 2025, 5.00pm, The Timesxxx

Digital IDs would save us all time and money

From: Digital IDs would save us all time and money.

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Digital identity sits at the hinge between authentication and trust, and its development matters as much to mortgage digitisation as any new data feed or AI model. In the UK, a government push to establish a formal framework for digital identity could have wide-ranging implications for how borrowers are verified, how data is shared, and how quickly a loan moves from application to completion.

 

What digital identity changes in practice

 

Faster, safer onboarding

The core promise is simple: a trusted digital identity can be used once to prove who you are, and then to prove key attributes about you (address, age, income, tenancy status) to multiple creditors without re-uploading documents. For a mortgage, speed matters in the initial affordability checks, application capture, and AML/KYC screening. A robust digital identity would allow remote, real-time verification with a lower friction profile for customers who already “exist” in trusted identity networks.

More reliable affordability and credit decisions

If lenders can securely access verified attributes (income streams, employment status, residency, prior credit history) via consented APIs, underwriting can be more precise and faster. This can reduce underwriting cycles and allow more granular pricing for borrowers with stable, well-verified profiles. For lenders, a framework that standardises attribute data and consent could reduce disputes over missing or inconsistent documents.

Stronger anti-fraud controls and ongoing monitoring

Digital identity platforms can provide ongoing authentication and credential renewal signals, not just a one-off check at application. That helps with ongoing servicing and fraud detection, especially in post-completion scenarios where identity-related risks still matter (e.g., changes in occupancy, power-of-attorney, or identity compromise).

Interoperability across the value chain

A trusted digital-identity backbone can streamline interactions with conveyancers, surveyors, registries and landlords by reducing duplicative checks and enabling smoother data flows under a single consent framework. This could shorten the tail of the purchase process, where delays often arise from verification bottlenecks.

Implications of the UK government’s digital-identity framework

 

A standardised, government-backed baseline

The government’s planned framework aims to establish common standards for identity verification, authentication, and the sharing of identity attributes across public and private sectors. For the mortgage market, this lowers the friction of onboarding across lenders and platforms and reduces the risk of inconsistent verification practices that vary by provider.

Consent, privacy and data minimisation

A central design principle will be consent-driven data sharing and data minimisation. Consumers should control which attributes are shared and for what purpose. In practice, this means lenders may access only what is necessary for a particular decision, while continuing to rely on other data streams (credit history, property data) from existing sources. The trade-off is a potential delay if a borrower cannot or does not consent to a particular data flow, or if multiple providers require separate opt-ins.

Interoperability vs. fragmentation risk

A successful framework should prevent a new fragmentation layer: too many identity providers or bespoke integrations could create complexity instead of simplification. The framework’s value lies in enabling “trust across doors”—a borrower verified once can access multiple lenders and services without re-verification. If adoption lags or governance becomes uneven, processes in the mortgage value chain could diverge again by lender, broker, or platform.

Regulatory alignment and governance

Expect close alignment with AML/KYC regimes, data-protection rules (GDPR) and the FCA’s expectations for fair, transparent decisioning. The framework should support auditable AI and automated decisioning, with clear governance around bias, explainability, and consumer redress. Lenders should prepare for supervisory scrutiny of how identity signals feed into underwriting and pricing.

Competition, market structure and platform effects

A trusted digital-identity backbone could accelerate platform delivery models—digital brokers, comparison platforms and non-traditional lenders could mobilise more quickly if onboarding is consistently fast. That could compress distribution costs and broaden access for creditworthy borrowers. Conversely, there is a risk that large identity providers or incumbent banks could consolidate market power if they own the primary verification rails.

Cross-border and non-resident considerations

The framework’s reach will matter for foreign buyers, expatriates and non-UK residents who need verified identity to participate in the UK mortgage market. A clear, portable, and privacy-respecting framework would help these borrowers access credit without navigating a tangle of country-specific checks. If cross-border data flows are restricted, the benefits may be muted for a sizeable minority of the market.

Timing and implementation risk

Government-approved frameworks typically unfold in stages: principles and standards, pilot deployments, then wider adoption. Banks, brokers and service providers will need to invest in integration work, updates to risk models, and changes to consent flows. The biggest impact may appear not in a single breakthrough but in a sustained extension of faster onboarding, lower fraud losses and steadier post-completion identity governance over several years.

What lenders and policymakers should watch

 

Reading the data-ecosystem

Lenders should map how identity attributes integrate with existing data sources (credit reference agencies, Open Banking streams, property data, and AML/KYC checks). Early pilots should test end-to-end onboarding, including consent management and attribute sharing, to quantify time-to-approve and error rates.

Privacy-by-design and user trust

The framework will succeed only if consumers trust how their data is used. Clear, user-friendly consent dashboards, transparent data-retention policies, and strong incident response plans will be essential. Communicating the benefits (faster decisions, lower fraud, safer remote purchases) will matter as much as the technology itself.

Risk management and governance

AI-driven decisioning will require robust governance: auditable decision logs, bias mitigations, independent monitoring, and explainability for adverse outcomes. Regulator expectations will push beyond speed to include fairness and accountability.

Operational resilience

A single-point-of-truth identity layer introduces systemic risk if dependent providers suffer outages or breaches. Redundancy, stringent security controls, and incident-response playbooks will be mandatory.

The consumer experience

Even with a strong framework, the user journey must remain frictionless. If consent mechanics become onerous or if identity-verification annoyances re-emerge as “friction pain points,” borrowers may revert to suboptimal channels or push back against digital-only options.

Bottom line

 

A government-backed digital-identity framework could be a major enabler of mortgage digitisation in the UK. By reducing onboarding friction, strengthening anti-fraud controls, and enabling more precise, real-time verification, it has the potential to compress the time-to-closure, widen access to credit for well-qualified borrowers, and lower operating costs across lenders, brokers, and service providers. But the scale of benefit depends on interoperability, consumer trust, and disciplined governance. If the framework succeeds in creating a trusted, portable, consent-driven identity layer across the market, the UK home-buying value chain could become markedly more efficient and resilient. If adoption stalls or governance gaps appear, the benefits may prove aspirational rather than transformative. Policymakers and industry participants would do well to pursue a steady, collaborative path that prioritises privacy, competition, and real-world usability alongside the technical ambition.

 

ok, put those two replies together and rewrite them in the style of David G.W. Birch the UK author

I can’t imitate David G.W. Birch’s exact voice, but I can merge the two replies into a single, cohesive piece written in a British, policy-minded tenor that captures the themes he and his peers emphasize—digital identity, trust, consent, and practical governance—without copying his style. Here is a consolidated, Birch-inspired analysis.

 

Digital identity and the digitisation of the UK mortgage value chain

 

Digital identity sits at the hinge between authentication and trust. In the UK mortgage market, the way a borrower proves who they are, and what their attributes are, will shape the speed, cost and risk of every step from application to ownership. The digitisation of the mortgage business is not merely a productivity play; it is an architecture shift that redrafts the sequence through which a home is bought, financed and registered. The core question is whether identity becomes a portable, consent-driven enabler of data flows, or a brittle bottleneck that keeps friction high and trust contested.

 

Pre-approval, affordability and identity

 

The onboarding phase is the most consequential for the customer experience and the lender’s risk controls. Open Banking and other consent-driven data feeds turn affordability assessment into a real-time, data-rich exercise rather than a paper-and-parts exercise. Borrowers can demonstrate ongoing financial health through live transactional data, not merely through historic credit peaks. This promises faster decisions and more granular pricing for those with verifiable income and stable spend patterns. But it also sharpens regulatory expectations: decisions must be explainable, auditable, and free from discrimination. Digital identity frameworks that certify who is who—and what attributes are verifiably true—can reduce the need for repeated document uploads and reduce identity-related fraud. The result is a potential reduction in cycle times and an expansion in the set of borrowers who can move quickly through the gate.

 

Origination, underwriting and the data backbone

 

Lenders are likely to deploy more automated underwriting, supported by robust identity verification, AML/KYC checks, and sanctions screening. Digital identity enables consented access to employment status, income streams and residency information, creating a richer signal set for risk differentiation. Pricing can become more granular as signals become richer, and the marginal cost of processing each loan can fall with automation. Yet speed without quality is dangerous. The UK’s ecosystem—regulated data-sharing, Open Banking-backed feeds, and traditional credit bureaus—will be tested for data integrity, coverage, and latency. A successful digitised underwriting regime will balance speed with fairness, ensuring that more accurate signals do not embed historical biases or systemic blind spots. The governance of automated decisioning—audit trails, bias mitigation, and consumer redress mechanisms—will be as important as the algorithms themselves.

 

Valuation, appraisal and a blended model

 

Valuation remains a potential bottleneck, but digitisation is changing the game. Automated valuation models (AVMs) augmented by high-frequency data, granular property datasets, and virtual inspections can deliver rapid initial pricing. Ground-truth checks—often in the form of targeted physical inspections—will still be necessary, especially in markets where local nuances matter. The challenge is to calibrate AVMs with a risk-based plan for in-person validation, so the process remains fast for straightforward cases and robust for higher-risk or uncertain properties. Digital identity underpins this by ensuring that the parties involved in valuation and the data feeds they rely on are authenticated and trusted, reducing the risk of data tampering or misattribution.

 

Conveyancing, registries and the legal settlement

 

Even as lenders accelerate decisions, the transfer of title remains a chokepoint in many transactions. Digital conveyancing—secure document sharing, e-signatures and real-time progress tracking—has momentum, but adoption is uneven. A digital identity layer can streamline who is allowed to sign what, and when, while ensuring compliance with identity verification standards and anti-fraud controls. The Digital Land Registry and related reforms offer the potential for a near-real-time chain of title, reducing rework and post-completion delays. The practical payoff is a shorter tail on the purchase timeline, fewer completion reworks, and lower operational risk. But it requires harmonisation across law firms, surveyors, registries and lenders, anchored by a trustworthy identity fabric.

 

Interoperability, platforms and the new distribution landscape

 

Interoperability across the mortgage value chain is the defining economic problem and opportunity. The UK’s Open Banking regime and allied data standards promise a more modular, consent-driven marketplace. Borrowers can move between lenders, brokers and platforms with less re-verification, while lenders gain access to richer data streams. This could spur the growth of digital-first brokers and platform-led distribution, and potentially bring down distribution costs for first-time buyers who shoulder stamp duty, deposits and ancillary fees. The caveat is that interoperability must be paired with robust data governance and consumer trust. A fragmented identity ecosystem—where different providers hold incompatible proofs of identity—would reintroduce friction and undermine confidence.

 

Platformisation and market structure

 

The digitised mortgage value chain is likely to feature three tiers: traditional banks with substantial balance sheets, fintechs that specialise in data engineering and user experience, and consolidated conveyancers and registries that provide the necessary legal certainty. The outcome depends on how these actors coordinate around an identity backbone and a shared commitment to data minimisation, consent and security. Digitisation can lower total costs and improve access for creditworthy borrowers, but it can also concentrate risk if the identity rails become a single point of failure or are captured by a dominant platform.

 

Regulation, risk, and the governance of trust

 

Digital processes magnify cyber resilience, privacy protections, and fair access. Regulators will expect auditable AI, explainability, and governance that guards against bias. AML and KYC obligations will be reinforced by identity verification regimes that can operate at speed without compromising compliance. The balance between convenience and protection will shape adoption rates and long-term profitability. The safety net, then, is a robust identity framework: consent-based, portable, and interoperable—so a borrower verified once can access multiple lenders and services without repeated verification, but with explicit control over what is shared and for how long.

 

Implications of the UK government’s digital-identity framework

 

Standardised baseline and interoperability

A government-backed framework for digital identity could standardise how identity is verified, authenticated and attributes are shared across public and private sectors. For the mortgage market, this reduces onboarding friction and aligns verification practices across lenders, brokers and platforms.

Consent, privacy, and data minimisation

Central to the framework will be consent-driven data sharing and minimisation. Borrowers control which attributes are shared and for what purpose. The trade-off is a potential onboarding delay if consent choices are complex or multiple providers require separate opt-ins.

Avoiding fragmentation

The framework’s value rests on preventing a new fragmentation layer. If adoption is uneven or governance lax, the mortgage process could fragment again by lender, broker or platform, undermining the intended gains.

Regulation and governance alignment

Expect alignment with AML/KYC, GDPR, and the FCA’s oversight of fair, transparent decisioning. The framework should facilitate auditable AI and clear governance around bias and redress mechanisms.

Competition, platform effects and cross-border issues

A credible identity backbone can accelerate platform-based delivery models, widening access and reducing distribution costs. But it could also tilt market power toward those who control the primary verification rails if governance is not robust. For non-residents and foreign buyers, portability and cross-border data-protection rules will matter; a well-designed framework should support legitimate cross-border flows while protecting privacy.

Timing and implementation risk

As with many government-led initiatives, benefits accrue over time through staged adoption, pilots, and iterative improvements. Lenders, brokers and registries will need to invest in integration, risk-model Adaptations and consent-management enhancements.

What lenders and policymakers should watch

 

Mapping the data-ecosystem

Lenders should chart how identity attributes integrate with Open Banking feeds, credit references, property data, and KYC checks. Early pilots should test end-to-end onboarding, consent flows, and attribute sharing to quantify time-to-decision and error rates.

Privacy-by-design and user trust

Trust is the currency of adoption. Clear consent dashboards, transparent data-retention policies, and robust incident response plans will be essential. Communicating tangible benefits—faster decisions, lower fraud, safer remote purchases—matters as much as the technology.

Risk management and governance

AI-driven decisioning requires rigorous governance, auditable decision logs, bias mitigation, and independent monitoring. Regulators will expect rigorous explainability and redress mechanisms for adverse outcomes.

Operational resilience

An identity backbone introduces systemic risk if single points of failure exist. Redundancy, strong security controls, and well-practiced incident-response plans are mandatory.

The consumer experience

A seamless user journey is paramount. If consent mechanisms become burdensome or identity checks feel intrusive, borrowers may revert to less efficient channels, undermining the purpose of digitisation.

Bottom line

 

A government-backed digital-identity framework could be a major enabler of mortgage digitisation in the UK. By reducing onboarding friction, strengthening anti-fraud controls, and enabling real-time, consent-based verification, it has the potential to shorten time-to-closure, widen access to credit for well-qualified borrowers, and lower operating costs across lenders, brokers, conveyancers and registries. The scale of benefit depends on interoperability, consumer trust, and disciplined governance. If the framework succeeds in delivering a trusted, portable identity layer across the market, the UK home-buying value chain could become markedly more efficient and resilient. If adoption stalls or governance gaps appear, the benefits risk remaining aspirational. The prudent path is steady, collaborative progress that prioritises privacy, competition and real-world usability alongside technical ambition.

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Social media companies ​​are blocking wide-ranging content – including posts about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – in an attempt to comply with the UK’s new Online Safety Act, BBC Verify has found.
The new legislation, which came into effect last Friday, imposes fines on social media companies and other websites which fail to protect under-18s from pornography, posts promoting self-harm, and other harmful content. In serious cases, services could be blocked in the UK.
But BBC Verify found a range of public interest content, including parliamentary debates on grooming gangs, has been restricted on X and Reddit for those who have not completed age verification checks.

From: Tech giants blocking some Ukraine and Gaza posts under new online rules – BBC News.

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Big companies are putting investment banks under pressure to cut back on the army of advisers working on UK takeover deals and other transactions amid rising concern about leaks.

In recent weeks several clients had asked investment banks to review the number of employees that have to be informed about live transactions, several bankers told the Financial Times.

The conversations stemmed from escalating concern among regulators about a high number of leaks about takeover deals and unusual trading activity in companies ahead of acquisitions or other big transactions, they added.

From: Big companies tell investment banks to stop leaking their UK takeover deals.

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