to tweet or not to tweet?

06.04.2009

I am at the point of screaming UNCLE! I can not believe the number of friends and associates who, once they discover I have a blog, want to know if I use Twitter. Many of them can’t even begin to describe what Twitter is, beyond something their children use. Equally I can not ignore the overwhelming advice I receive in blog related “help” publications to integrate with Twitter.

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banking on tomorrow in the US – sole-source policy control

06.02.2009

According to a number of stories in recent media (new an traditional) the US Treasury with support from other concerned interests is about to propose what could amount to paradigm shift for the banking industry. According to reports, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and others will be sponsoring a proposal to Congress for the creation of a new government agency whose responsibility will be as the ultimate and only banking sector regulator.

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I trust my bank – then again, maybe I don’t

05.29.2009

Having made a career in sales and marketing the biggest single competitive advantage I have over the sales people with whom I compete is my trustworthiness and my credibility. Oh, there are other attributes that I believe make me effective in my career, but trust is by far the most important. I work very hard to maintain the trust and confidence of my customers and this hard work has served me well by allowing me to continue in this field where many others have withered.

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when is a note or a coin like a seat on a commercial aircraft?

05.21.2009

I could think of a few cute answers to that question, which surely would not suit this occasion. The relevant answer is that both the seat on the plane and the note/coin, cost someone more than their intrinsic value* to provide for your convenience right when you need it. In other words it is a thing of relatively high value, which we need on demand.

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a song for our times…

05.17.2009

Sometimes you stumble across something so touching or moving or inspirational that you have to pass it along to your neighbor… in this case it came to me from my neighbor… in this case, it is all three – touching, moving and inspirational

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a blast from my blogging past -when is a banknote the same as a tire?

05.11.2009

And the answer is…? When a cash vault is the same as an auto manufacturing plant! OK, Henny Youngman I’m not, but the way I see it is that there is a growing quiet revolution going on in the global cash vault industry. Paper, pencils, note and coin counters spreadsheets, manual GL’s , etc. are being replaced by increasingly complex and pervasive vault management software applications, up-stream and down-stream data integrations, intelligent and multi functional high and mid-speed note and coin sorters and discriminators, auto-generated reporting and datafile transfers and so on.

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making change – two dollars, twenty pesos, 300 renminbi … and swine flu?

05.06.2009

“I got it from my wallet?” – or at least what was in it. According to current research there is some possibility, within a relatively short period of time, that a flu virus could be passed from an infected person to a healthy one via common cash/currency. With the current alerts from the World Health Organization and the commonality of international travel it is no wonder that we have a growing fear that perhaps our money could make us sick.

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economic recovery – the neighborly way!

05.04.2009

Many years ago I worked in the broadcasting industry, spanning media to include both radio and television. A good friend of mine was and is the sole regional source for a smokin’ hot local market retail promotion call the 69 cent dollar. The basic concept is that a group of local retailers sells scrip in the form of a copyright protected scrip ($.069 cent dollar) for which they pay $0.69 but which is worth a full dollar at any participating retailer. In this case a focused marketing effort with creative use of radio, television and/or other guerilla media opportunities. The 69 Cent Dollar promotion is wildly successful in the right kind of market and yet sometimes delivers less benefit than expected in others. There is much science, with liberal doses of marketing voodoo that can be used to define a good target city from a bad one.

Therefore, in the category of “I’ve now almost seen it all” comes a story first passed to me by a mentoring muse and thought-provoking bon-vivant at “big-bank”. Given my past experience I can tell you with some modest amount of confidence that this “promotion” is hardly that and yet has a huge amount of potential for short-term benefit to certain communities that are faced with sector-related economic strife.

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virtual currency – second life and the linden dollar debate

04.29.2009

We all live in a world where hard currency is a basic necessity, notwithstanding the attempts by many alternate payment forms to displace it’s pervasive use. What I find truly fascinating however is the growing on-line use of virtual money. I am sure that most of you are familiar with PayPal as one of the [...]

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fiserv – trouble in left field?

04.27.2009

Financial services giant Fiserv received a nasty surprise last week – well one would hope it was a surprise. A lesser part of their smorgasbord of offerings to financial services companies is an investment advisory unit simply called Fiserv Investment Services and it would appear they just got tainted by the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme.

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bo knows! – banking?

04.24.2009

Athletic superstar of both the NFL and MLB Bo Jackson has decided that this is the perfect time to open a bank. Some of us on the inside might think he and his partners are crazy to try this at a time in history when US banks are as strained and constrained as they have ever been, but… it is still a question of timing.

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world currency – how about linden dollars?

04.22.2009

North America has seen its fair share of debate and argument over the years on the subject of a harmonized currency. I have yet to find anyone other than an economist that is for that idea. So much of a nations identity is defined in the color, size and design of their currency that I can’t imagine any country voluntarily disposing of their notes and coins. Until the Euro came along. Next to the US, I expected Europeans love affairs with their scrip to be so zealous that they would never consider a change – but switch they did, with only the mildest public objections.

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prescription for a solid recovery – stress test the system

04.20.2009

TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner does not see a second wave of banking collapses and the government is ready to support capital-raising when needed, a Japanese newspaper said on Sunday.

In an interview with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Geithner was quoted as saying U.S. authorities were making sure there was steady funding and that banks were able to meet commitments.

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regulation and policy – having the desired effect?

04.17.2009

This is hot off the press from my friends at Bob’s Guide (a great daily newsletter). It would appear that some US institutions are willing to do almost anything to get the government out of their board rooms – well, it was only a matter of time – particularly after the government created legislation to limit remuneration in that same board room…
Press Release
Banks ‘rush to repay Tarp funds’ as rates investigation looms

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do-it-yourself cash

04.16.2009

Utah County officers bust counterfeit money operation
April 14th, 2009 @ 10:00pm
By Sarah Dallof
UTAH COUNTY — Investigators in Utah County have broken up a counterfeit money ring; one they believe has been printing fake bills for as long as six months.

Take a hair dryer, a flat iron, green ink and a printer, and what do you have? According to Lt. Phil Murphy of the Utah County Major Crimes Task force, “You’ve got somebody that was attempting to print $50 bills using cheap, inexpensive methods.”

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ATM Industry History | Diebold celebrates 150th anniversary this week | ATM Marketplace

04.15.2009

Fresh from my friends at ATM Marketplace comes this nifty bit of birthday celebration with some entertaining video – it’s just that I know some folks at De La Rue who might debate the whole “we invented the ATM” issue…

Happy Birthday to you, Diebold!

Diebold celebrates 150th anniversary this week

• 14 Apr 2009
NORTH CANTON, Ohio — This week, Diebold Inc. will celebrate its 150th anniversary, tracing its history from ATMs to bank vaults and bank safes.

As the company reflects, it’s pulled together some interviews from former employees, as well as photographs of products and offerings of the past.

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will government policy bring us through the crisis?

04.15.2009

This morning I came across a speech given by Mr. Donald Kohn, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US). He was speaking at a college forum, which was held to discuss “Great Decisions in the Economic Crisis” – (ed: aren’t those concepts mutually exclusive in the same context?)…

The reason I bring this to your attention is that Mr. Kohn’s speech is another clear indicator that the road to the future for the financial industry and others, is paved with the bricks of regulation and policy.

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when you don’t have it, print your own!

04.14.2009

Task Force Arrests 5, Seizes Printing Presses Used To Print Fake U.S. Currency

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 14, 2009

(CBS) The U.S. Secret Service announced the arrest of five people and the seizure of $8.4 million in counterfeit U.S. currency, as part of a bilateral effort to combat a rise in the spread of fake $100 bills.

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who can afford to do this in today’s world?

04.14.2009

 Man arrested for throwing money around - iol.co.za   April 13 2009 at 02:32PM Taipei – Taiwanese police have arrested a man for throwing banknotes from a taxi on the highway.    Chen Ping-teng, 43, was arrested after he tossed 1&nbsol000 Taiwanese dollar (US$30) notes from the window of a taxi on a highway in central Taiwan. The taxi [...]

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Responding to a Crisis

04.13.2009

Fueled by my last post on this topic, I have been scouring the net for sources of ideas to fix the problem. Of course everyone is watching the US, so why not start with the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve System… First, a little visual preamble…   Ben S Bernanke: The Federal Reserve’s balance [...]

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how nationalized should US banking be?

04.12.2009

For years I have been the brunt of many a joke while in the company of US bankers and others in the industry. You see as rumor would have it Canada only has a handful of financial institutions as proportionately compared with it’s neighbor, because the Canadian government controls all Canadian banks!

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Could Retail “Cash Back” Scheme Be The End of Retail Bank Deposits?

04.12.2009

cashback For quite a few years I have been enjoying the benefits of retailers offering “cash-back” whenever I use my debit card. The benefits to the consumer are obvious as it reduces the number of times I need to visit an ATM machine on a monthly basis. I am sure that the concept of cash-back is [...]

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controlling counterfeit – india

04.12.2009

Bhuvanesh Pandya, a small sweetshop owner in Mumbai’s distant suburb of Mira Road, has just invested in a currency detection machine after his business was hit by a barrage of fake notes. With his local bank impounding the fake currency notes each time, Pandya decided to buy a currency detector, normally used by banks and treasuries. As the economy gets flooded with fakes, these machines are the only saving grace for small businesses like petrol pumps and local corner shops across the country as India reels under the onslaught of fake Indian currency notes.

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printing for hyperinflation

04.11.2009

HARARE – Reserve Bank governor, Gideon Gono has admitted the central bank money printing machines have become overwhelmed by the persistent demand for new bank notes.
Gono said Fidelity Printers, government’s minting company, can only churn out two million notes per day and was thus unable to print lower denomination notes, which are in short supply in Zimbabwe.

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Bermuda Sun – on-line

04.11.2009

Our new ‘sideways’ currency is a real head turner!

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Hello currency world!

04.09.2009

Hello Faithful Readers. If you found this site, then you have been curious about my next move after almost a year of silence. Figuratively speaking I have been with monks in Cupertino studying the sacred blogging arts, under a vow of silence and non-publishing. Contrary to common myth I do not receive any remuneration in [...]

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