Snippings

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Mapping the IT landscape of a large organisation is probably not an easy task and Rabobank is attempting to resolve this via the construction of a 3D model of its own structure and supporting IT systems.

From Rabobank builds 3D model of its own IT landscape » Banking Technology

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Another aspect of working with a chatbot in Facebook Messenger that makes bankers nervous is allowing Facebook itself to see customer data.

From How TD Ameritrade tackles security in Facebook Messenger chatbot | American Banker

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U.S. investigators uncovered a global financial network run by a senior Islamic State official that funneled money to an alleged ISIS operative in the U.S. through fake eBay transactions, according to a recently unsealed FBI affidavit.

From FBI Says ISIS Used eBay to Send Terror Cash to U.S. – WSJ

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The top 10 accounts that innovators follow are:

1. Richard Branson (@richardbranson), founder of Virgin Group

2. Marc Andreessen (@pmarca), entrepreneur, investor and software engineer

3. Benedict Evans (@benedictevans), partner at Andreessen Horowitz

4. Glen Gilmore (@GlenGilmore), attorney and principle of Gilmore Business Network

5. Scott Kirsner (@ScottKirsner), Boston Globe columnist, and editor of Innovation Leader

6. Henry Blodget (@hblodget), editor, founder and CEO of Business Insider

7. Bill Gates (@BillGates), co-founder of Microsoft

8. Andrew McAfee (@amcafee), director of the Center for Digital Business at MIT’s Sloan School of Management

9. Sam Maule (@sammaule), manager at Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group and chief inspiration officer at Digital Finance Institute

10. David Birch (@dgwbirch), author and Consult Hyperion’s director

The top 10 publications from which innovators share content include YouTube, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, TechCrunch, The New York Times, Instagram, LinkedIn, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and Twitter.

From Study: What inspires innovators on Twitter | Articles | Home

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When a book comes along with glowing praise on its sleeve from Kenneth Rogoff and an introduction by Andrew Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England, you know you’ve got something hot on your hands. This analysis of money by one of the world’s leading experts on the subject does not disappoint…

Birch is brilliant at bringing together these disparate historical strands, through the birth of the great European trading centres, up to the present day. The central insight of all this is that money is essentially a technology, just like any other and that technologies change—and improve—over time. In other words, money is not fixed. And it is certainly not just coins and notes.

And what of the future of money—will it be characterised by a drive towards a small number of unified currencies, or towards a multitude? Birch opts for the latter. In future, communities will develop their own stores of value, Birch says, independent of governments and central banks. The growing popularity of crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin suggests that he may have as good a handle on the future as he does on the past.

From What actually is money? A new book examines early civilisations to find out | Prospect Magazine

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According to the People’s Bank of China, at the end of the first quarter, China had 6.3 billion bank cards in circulation, up 11% from a year earlier.

In that first quarter, the value of swiping plastic rose to 15.2 trillion yuan, up 14%.

From Visa applies for direct bank-card clearing access in China

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There were just under 1.4 billion card payments in the UK in June, a monthly record. And with the number of card transactions up 12% in 12 months, UK cards have enjoyed their highest annual rate of growth since June 2008… [a significant] factor was the increase in the use of contactless card payments, which soared by 143%. Contactless payments accounted for 34% of all card transactions

From UK enjoys Summer of Love for contactless cards | Euromoney

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Consumers and businesses made 15.4 billion cash payments in 2016 – down from 17.2 billion in 2015, according to figures released by UK Finance. However despite the decline, cash was still used 25% more often than the second most frequently-used method; debit cards (11.6 billion).

During 2016, cash represented almost half (44%) of all payments made by consumers – the second year in a row where consumers used cash for fewer than 50% of all payments. During the same period, cash payments reached £240 billion, accounting for 15% of the total value of consumer spending, a decline of five percent compared to the previous year.

More than one in four (26%) consumer cash payments were for a value of £1 or less, and more than three in five (61%) were for a value of £5 or less.

From Uneasy sits the crown as cash use continues decline

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“In that time, the network structure has remained remarkably constant. In 2013 each wallet was connected on average to 3.12 others. In 2016 that number was 3.53.”

Here’s the Biggest Security Threat to the World’s Third-Largest Cryptocurrency – MIT Technology Review

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“once they found a seller they trusted, only 30 percent shopped around”

Fake negative reviews are a cheap way to screw up darknet drug marketplaces / Boing Boing

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