Charmaine Oak Co-Founder/Director at Shift Thought Ltd
Over more than a decade now we have seen the launch of mobile wallets and prepaid cards, the high hopes for them and an often lukewarm response from the customer, followed by a phased withdrawal. I have myself been involved in a number of launches, in roles at many different parts of the payments, banking and money transfer ecosystem. There have b...
02 January 2018 /payments Innovation in Financial Services
Both openness and certainty are important to establishing what is termed as an “enabling” financial services(FS) regulatory environment. Firstly, what is an enabling regulatory environment? Just as plants would struggle to grow and survive without the right soil, climate and care, businesses too require the right mix to grow and thrive. For familie...
21 November 2016 /regulation
As I report that Amazon has been making further inroads into the UK online shopping market, I realise it is probably an under-statement. As it was our go-to provider long before the holiday season it is no wonder we availed of the great selection of offers during November/December. Free home delivery, the peace-of-mind from trouble-free returns an...
20 January 2016 /payments Innovation in Financial Services
It is easy to find fault in company launches, but as a former product manager I fully understand the courage it takes to get there in the face of uncertainty, and the myriad factors that stand between you and success. So I invite you to take a few minutes to reflect with me on some of the things that went right last year. This is by no means a c
03 January 2016 /payments Innovation in Financial Services
I had an opportunity to catch up with Nitish Asthana of First Data who provided a fascinating account of how the fast moving payments scene in India is changing the very fabric of daily life. As 900 million mobile phones become potential new payment instruments for the 1.2 billion population, this has a potential to transform not just consumer paym...
21 July 2015 /payments Innovation in Financial Services
Today Apple Pay launched in the UK - signalling the start of a new era. Since Apple Pay launched in USA last October, a UK launch has been expected, to mark the start of a new level of use of mobile phones for contactless payment. UK is the country that is arguably the most contactless-ready in the world, with the largest number of contactless c...
14 July 2015 /payments Innovation in Financial Services
This weekend as we joined in wishing our American friends and family around the world a wonderful Independence Day, my thoughts turned to how Payment Systems are changing in historic ways in America, in many ways setting off a chain reaction that will transform the way we transfer value, not just in the US but world-wide. The danger was that the l...
06 July 2015 /payments Innovation in Financial Services
In honour of Canada Day today, I fell to thinking about how mobile payments may be able to help folk lead happier lives, for instance by providing more opportunities to enjoy things exactly the way we like them, through the great things technology can now do for us. Chances are if you live in Canada you will probably already be waving you card to ...
01 July 2015 /payments Innovation in Financial Services
Curious to understand where mobile payments has actually got to in Europe, I recently caught up with Christian von Hammel-Bonten, EVP at Wirecard AG, to gain insights from the recent launches Wirecard is involved in across Europe. Things changed for NFC in 2014-2015 As a region, Europe has arguably the longest history of pursuit of mobile payments...
26 June 2015 Innovation in Financial Services
Today as fitbit prepares to float on the New York Stock exchange, after which it could reportedly be worth an estimated $4.1bn, I thought I'd reflect on the further convergence happening between the health and wealth markets and the need for greater wisdom that these trends entail. Health: Mobile Health, Wearables I first started monitoring the co...
18 June 2015 Innovation in Financial Services
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