Will PSD2 revolutionize banking?

2016-10-23 Fintech

There has been quite a lot of excited commentary about how PSD2 will revolutionize the banking industry, so I thought it was worth a bit of analysis to see what the actual outcome is likely to be.

What is it

PSD2 is a EU directective aimed at

Forcing open API’s on the payments industry to open up competition including ability to deliver cross border direct debit
Increasing security of payments/banking by mandating ‘strong authentication’ based on multiple factors
Better transparency on charges for payments

What are people saying it will mean

A number of commentators are crediting PSD2 with opening up the EU banking market to much more competition from non-banks and between banks. The theory is that these new entrants will use the API’s expose to create new and exciting services that will take marketshare away from banks.

Google Pixel - Initial Review

2016-10-21 Tech

I ordered a Google Pixel when they were released as I needed a new personal Android phone and generally the Nexus line has been very good, so I thought I’d try the Pixel.

Some initial comments

It looks nice, it compares well to my (work) iPhone 6 from a looks point of view
The finger print reader is great, so far much more accurate and quick than my iphone one which seems to be getting slower and slower
The USB cable ‘port your phone’ thing didn’t work at all with my old Android Phone (A Moto X). Instead I had to do it via the cloud
It’s really quick - both apps and data seem faster that my old phone. Data is a bit odd as am in same place with same signal, but it does seem faster (good job I have unlimited data)
The camera is very good (as reported), it won’t be replacing my DSLR for ‘good’ shots, but for quick shots it’s very good.

Overall it looks like a nice phone, I’ll have to use it for a few weeks to see how good it really is!