Posts tagged as:

confidence

Cash Makes A Comeback

03.11.2010
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For all the stories of the cashless society, Web 2.0 currency revolutions, etc. cash might be making a quiet comeback as the preferred payment method for many of us. In a recent article published in American Banker, the author postulates that recent bank bailouts might be the driver for consumers increased use of cash.

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It Just Feels Funny

03.05.2010
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Having been involved in the currency handling business for many years and having experience in many countries means that I have had the opportunity to handle many different kinds of “paper” money. I placed the word paper in parentheses for a reason, because in today’s world not all currency is made of paper. Australia started the trend away from paper/cotton based currency a few years ago. They were followed by Mexico and a handful of other countries. Now Canada is joining the ranks.

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Currency Supply Chain Optimization and Yield Management

01.26.2010
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To tie the concepts of optimization and yield together as it refers to currency we need to understand the need for money. Without some form of money we would have no way to trade. Without trade we would have no commerce and without commerce we would have no way to better our station in life. Betterment of our situation is as fundamental to the human condition as breathing – we all want to succeed and make a better life for our communities (communities of family, friends, neighbours, countrymen, etc.). Therefore the faster we can make money move the more opportunity we have to profit from that movement.

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Overdraft Reform – who wins and who loses?

11.18.2009
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The news hit the wire late last week and now it is official. For those of you who don’t live in the US, a little background before we start. There has been great discussion and debate at the Federal Reserve Bank about changing some of the service fee allowances that financial institutions are allowed to levy their customers. Like other countries (Australia for one, regarding ATM interchange fees) the United States banking regulators have seen the need to start regulating how customers are charged for some of their banking services.

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BAI Retail Delivery Show – an exhibitor’s perspective

11.12.2009

The subject of this post is a little misleading. For the record I want to state officially that I am neither an exhibitor myself nor do I own a company that exhibits at this event. I work for a company that exhibits at this event and as a result of my employment I have found myself attending the 2008 and 2009 events in Orlando and Boston respectively.

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if the recession is over can we go back to normal?

10.01.2009

I have heard and seen editorials in the past few weeks warning of the complacency that comes with narrowly escaping an economic depression. These same editorialists are asking the same questions – mostly of our leaders – why are they not warning us of not heeding the lessons we apparently just learned. If this recession was so quick to fix (I said quick, not inexpensive), then why can’t we just continue with our cavalier ways. If it happens again the governments and central banks will just bail us out again, right?

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the recession is over, now get back to work!

09.16.2009

I guess it must be official, if Ben said it. Today at 10:56:40AM Eastern Time MarketWatch started spreading the news, “Fed Chief Bernanke: The Recession is Likely Over”. Watch your words here folks, the vocabulary is littered with exception traps! Here’s another classic, directly quoted from the closing lines of their newsflash, “Bernanke noted that many economists now expect the labor market to recover slowly. But he said this was only a forecast and might be wrong”.

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is cash becoming king again?

09.09.2009

Has the consumer learned their credit-aversion lesson yet? Ask this question of any cash manager at a bank – whether in retail (Branch and ATM) or in vaults and their answer is likely to be in the affirmative. I have not heard from any of my cash management network that the demand for cash has started to fall off in recent months. In fact anecdotal evidence would seem to support the idea that we are all using our cash – and only cash – as a simple yet effective way to control our spending and consequently bolster our meager savings.

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defining and regulating systemically important institutions

08.12.2009

As readers will know I have noted with interest the gestation of proposed financial institution regulatory and policy changes. First was the question of Who would be made responsible; would it be just one government department?; more than one?; would non-government bodies be involved? After that question was settled we moved on to What were they going to do, to Whom and How? These are the threatening three questions that (in my humble opinion) still cause affected professionals to lose much sleep.

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bidding for my bucks

07.24.2009

Imagine my surprise (and delight at the timely irony) when I discovered the business model that is unfolding as a type of eBay for cash. In this scenario, you register an account with the likes of Licuro.com, Moneyaisle.com or Spaarbod.nl (brush up on your dutch before visiting that last site!) and put your cash up for auction.

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banking on the basics with SmartyPig

07.15.2009

There are few people in the developed world who have not been affected in some way by the economic meltdown that started in ernest last year. One of the fundamental shifts that I see occurring is the real skepticism we now approach our financial services with.

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the new single regulator for banks

06.17.2009

Don’t hold your breath just yet, but I think the US Administration may be getting ready to announce the new primary regulator for the banking industry – the Federal Reserve! There are also a few more moves being telegraphed ahead of tomorrow’s announcement.

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can customer data be protected?

06.16.2009

A headline from Finextra caught my attention this week – “Financial institutions have lost battle to protect customer data”. Lost the battle? As in past tense? Oh-oh!!

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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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