
Chris Skinner
Chris Skinner is known as an independent commentator on the financial markets and fintech through his blog thefinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank and its sequel ValueWeb.
Chris Skinner's videos
What Chris Skinner's clients say
"Chris takes you on an intellectual journey as he methodically thinks through where technology will take us. I greatly enjoyed this rare and refreshing optimistic vision."
"Skinner presents a compelling vision of the future of financial services."
"Chris has a sharp eye for industry trends and cuts through a lot of noise with actionable insights."
"Chris Skinner has the remarkable ability to distil complex issues to their simplest form."
"Any banker the world over would benefit from Chris’ practical clarity about where the evolution of financial services will lead us."
"If you’re a traditional banker, Chris Skinner will feel like a SoulCycle kick-your-butt spin class, but you will walk away healthier."
"Chris Skinner is simply one of the most brilliant minds in banking"
"The Bloomberg TV team is very grateful to have had such an insightful guest in such critical times."
"Chris Skinner – one of the most authoritative voices on Fintech."
"Global payments are ripe for disruptive innovation. Chris Skinner argues, persuasively, that the combined technologies of mobile connectivity and distributed ledgers could deliver just that disruption, for the benefits of billions of citizens."
"Can I just start by SINGING my praises for Mr. Skinner. What a lovely, down-to-earth, intelligent (insert ALL adjectives that apply here) person. When I say it was a pleasure and an honour to meet such a great guy, I mean every word. He was the highlight of the Summit."
"Chris Skinner captures the maturing of fintech."
"Just a quick note to thank you for your contribution in the last 2 days. It's not easy to moderate a 90 minute discussion on risk and follow it up with one on Regulation. As for your presentation … well … that was a REAL eye-opener."
"Over the many years we have worked with Chris Skinner, we have found him to have both a multi-dimensional understanding of the financial services business, as well as unique insights into what the future holds for our industry. Most of all, he is uniquely skilled in articulately painting a clear picture of the dynamics impacting our future to help other financial services executives see what's ahead for them."
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Chris Skinner's 2025 biography
About Chris Skinner
Chris Skinner is a world renowned, award-winning strategist who specialises in the future of business, technology and finance.
Author of more than twenty best-selling titles from Digital Bank to Digital Human, he is famed for delivering powerful keynote speeches and moderating and chairing with lightning-rod insights. His experiences range from everything to do with banking, fintech, technology and the future, with a specific focus upon how cloud computing, mobile and networking, artificial intelligence and machine learning, central bank digital currencies and cryptocurrencies and related changes are shaping the future of our world.
Chris is not a showman. He’s a knowman. Steeped in the industries of business, technology and finance, he has the future of these industries in his DNA. Why? Well, years ago, someone told Chris to tell them something that they don’t know. This went to Chris’s heart as the only thing we don’t know is the future. Having said that, he’s not a futurist. He calls himself a commercial strategist, and defines this as someone who looks to the future to see how to create a strategy for tomorrow to make more money.
But it’s not all about money. As a mature father, Chris also wants to create a secure future and one that is good for his kids. This is why his challenge to you today is: how can we use technology and finance to make money and make the world a better place? He claims to have the answers, which is why you need to choose him as your speaker.
Please let me know if you would like me to arrange a catch up with Chris for next week or the week after. He is around from Friday 10th January.
Chris Skinner's 2025 talks & topics
Intelligent Money: our future is where money thinks for us.
WHO cares about the money of the future? WHY should I care about the money of the future? These questions, and more, are addressed in depth in Intelligent Money. As money becomes digital, it will revolutionise everything. By 2030, digital money will make money personal, individualise currency and its usage, make it secure, enable it to grow automatically to meet our personal goals, manage risk automatically and make life simpler and easier for all. The most critical aspect of this book is HOW money will become intelligent, both digitally and artificially.
The bottom line is that money will soon be embedded, intelligent, invisible and everywhere. It’s a whole new world.
The decentralised smart companies of the future
Everything is becoming smart and connected, from our homes to our cars to our clothes. How does this change business, how we think and how we pay? If everything has GPT in its name, does that mean we have far less people working? If everything is decentralised, who regulates the system? How can you be artificially intelligent if you have dumb data?
This presentation looks at the key technologies coming downstream from artificial intelligence to artificial super intelligence, from cloud computing to quantum computing and from cryptocurrencies to central bank digital currencies. The big question it tries to answer is the role of centralised institutions in a decentralised world.
The past, present and future of banking, finance and technology
Finance has changed massively in the past years thanks to the rise of cloud computing and the mobile network. For the traditional institutions, this means a radical overhaul of the analogue business model. For the new firms of fintech, it has offered a massive opportunity to digitalise the industry. How will this all turn out? What is the future? How should a traditional firm invest and prioritise to be digital? How should a start-up work out their way to success? This presentation takes you through all the nuances of the past, present and future of banking, finance and technology, and how to navigate a way to winning.
How banking and fintech improves society and the planet
This presentation looks at everything from how banking plays a role in the climate emergency through to the FinTech world using technology to overcome issues of inequality and inclusion. The themes include questioning the purpose of banking, and whether it is socially useful; how purpose can impact a bank’s role in the climate emergency; the way in which we can use finance to do good for society and the planet; the latest developments in cryptocurrencies; and more.
After the 2008 financial crisis, banks were described as being socially useless by the UK regulator. How is this changing? Amazingly, through FinTech and digital services, it is changing dramatically. There are now many movements across the network to use financial transactions to be good for society and good for the planet. What’s happening and who is driving this change? What does it mean for banks and what happens when you say you are green when, in fact, you are not? This presentation explores all of these themes in depth and demonstrates that digital transformation and green finance are actually coming together hand-in-hand.
Doing Digital – Lessons from Leaders
There are a small group of banks who are transforming to be digital banks. As we all know, this is incredibly difficult for a long-established bank with thousands of people and millions of customers. What are they doing right? How are they doing it? Why do we think they are digital banks? Is there a way we could all follow their path? Chris Skinner has been travelling the world for years, talking to banks that are doing digital. He selected five to be case studies – JP Morgan Chase, ING, BBVA, DBS and China Merchants Bank. From those interviews and discussions, Chris has found many lessons from banks that are doing digital right, and will share these lessons with the audience.
The decentralised smart companies of the future
Everything is becoming smart and connected, from our homes to our cars to our clothes. How does this change business, how we think and how we pay? If everything has GPT in its name, does that mean we have far less people
working? If everything is decentralised, who regulates the system? How can you be artificially intelligent if you have dumb data?
This presentation looks at the key technologies coming downstream from artificial intelligence to artificial super intelligence, from cloud computing to quantum computing and from cryptocurrencies to central bank digital currencies. The big question it tries to answer is the role of centralised institutions in a decentralised world.
Key takeaways
The presentation aims to answer for the audience the themes of where technology is taking us and what will the companies of the future look like; how they will manage; the structure of future business; and what to do about it.
Specific focus is given to artificial intelligence, spatial and sentient computing and the likely impacts of quantum computing. These are all emerging technologies, but they’ve been emerging for over half of century. The presentation answers questions of the landscape of the next half century of technology developments.
Another takeaway is that there is big friction right now between centralisation and decentralisation of activities, and it is no better illustrated than by governments and regulators trying to manage the libertarian ideals of creating digital money using things like bitcoin. The session will give attendees a great idea of this area of friction and how to solve it.
The past, present and future of banking, finance and technology
Finance has changed massively in the past years thanks to the rise of cloud computing and the mobile network. For the traditional institutions, this means a radical overhaul of the analogue business model. For the new firms of fintech, it has offered a massive opportunity to digitalise the industry. How will this all turn out? What is the future? How should a traditional firm invest and prioritise to be digital? How should a start-up work out their way to success? This presentation takes you through all the nuances of the past, present and future of banking, finance and technology, and how to navigate a way to winning.
Key takeaways
We need banking and will always need banks, but banks are struggling to deal with digitalisation, so how do we do it? A key part of the presentation explains how banks can digitise their operations.
Fintechs are fantastic, but a little naïve. For example, they think we don’t need banks to do banking. A key part of this presentation explains why we need banks to do banking, and where Fintechs fit.
Where all of this is going in the next decade is something no-one knows but, having made correct predictions for over three decades, Mr. Skinner will give you the four most likely scenarios for 2030 and beyond
Doing Digital – Lessons from Leaders
There are a small group of banks who are transforming to be digital banks. As we all know, this is incredibly difficult for a long established bank with thousands of people and millions of customers. What are they doing right? How are they doing it? Why do we think they are digital banks? Is there a way we could all follow their path? Chris Skinner has been travelling the world for years, talking to banks that are doing digital. He selected five to be case studies – JP Morgan Chase, ING, BBVA, DBS and China Merchants Bank. From those interviews and discussions, Chris has found many lessons from banks that are doing digital right, and will share these lessons with the audience.
Key takeaways
Having dealt with business transformation for over thirty years, Mr. Skinner has a wealth of breadth and depth in how to digitalise and change manage major institutions, whether financial or not. This presentation will give you over twenty practical things to take back to the office and implement to ensure success.
Many traditional organisation struggle with digitalisation because the leadership team are ill-equipped for digital skills. This presentation is specifically designed to provide the C-suite with the basics to fully understand how digitalisation can not only be done but, more importantly, done right.
The presentation is specifically designed for large, traditional organisations struggling to change, and gives them the change management skills to ensure future success.
How banking and fintech improves society and the planet
This presentation looks at everything from how banking plays a role in the climate emergency through to the FinTech world using technology to overcome issues of inequality and inclusion. The themes include questioning the purpose of banking, and whether it is socially useful; how purpose can impact a bank’s role in the climate emergency; the
way in which we can use finance to do good for society and the planet; the latest developments in cryptocurrencies; and more.
After the 2008 financial crisis, banks were described as being socially useless by the UK regulator. How is this changing? Amazingly, through FinTech and digital services, it is changing dramatically. There are now many movements across the network to use financial transactions to be good for society and good for the planet. What’s happening and who is driving this change? What does it mean for banks and what happens when you say you are green when, in fact, you are not? This presentation explores all of these themes in depth and demonstrates that digital transformation and green finance are actually coming together hand-in-hand.
Key takeaways
There are numerous examples of how technology and finance are working together to do good for society and our planet. This presentation hand picks a number of these from China to Europe to Africa and the Americas and, through these case studies, gives detailed insights into the best-in-class examples as to how technology and finance are making things better. Based upon these case studies, the presentation helps the audience to internalise what they can do to make the world better.
There is a big difference between talking the talk and walking the walk. Many banks say they are committed to meeting ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals for example, but how do you do this, and how can technology assist? This presentation answers those questions.
Having worked with thought leaders across all major continents, Mr. Skinner shines a light on everything from the role of leadership to impact of activist investors and consumers, even including his experiences to understand Extinction Rebellion. His conclusion is that the more you work with all groups, whether nice or nasty, the more you get to understand and can act. But what actions should you take? This presentation answers this question too!
The future of money, trade and finance
Banking, money, finance, insurance are all terms that are familiar, but these are terms of the last century. They no longer apply in the 21st century. Terms being used by millennials are around ideas, value, exchange, sharing. As the digital age reshapes the whole structure of commerce and trade, what will the outcome look like? How will society and technology rethink money and finance? Will banks and traditional financial firms be relevant in this new world?
Chris Skinner will provide a view of the next decade of change and how it will reshape the structure of financial services globally.
The next major global financial crisis will be in 2045
Regulators have a problem. The problem is that they are always following, never leading. Right now, they are shaping a new financial market that should be robust for decades to come. Yet based upon historical extrapolation, the likelihood is that the next global financial crisis will occur around 2045, thirty-three years from now. What is going to happen? How? Why is this the likely outcome and where will the issues occur?
Chris Skinner, a leading commentator on global financial markets, will explain.
“Capitalism is dead, long live capitalism”
In 2008, capitalism died. Or at least the model of capitalism promoted by the Anglo-Saxon West. What has replaced it? Or rather, what will? The answer can be seen from the developments of social media and NGOs (non-government organisations) who are becoming heavyweight pressure groups for change.
This group is best represented by the Occupy movement, who have already made historic and fundamental changes to the thinking of policymakers. In other words, capitalism has become social. What does that mean for your business?
The greatest opportunities to grow new banking business (and the greatest threats)
Over the next five years, there are significant changes that will take place in the way in which people bank. This is not just technology change, but fundamental change in the way your customers and the corporations who deal with them, transact and exchange commerce. These changes, many of which you will have observed already such as social lending, will create a new financial landscape where some banks will be leaders whilst others will be demoted to just being the dumb pipes that sit behind 21st century commerce. Do you want to be a leader or a dumb pipe?
If the former, then you should attend this workshop by renowned strategist and blogger Chris Skinner. Chris will use the key forces of change – Political, Economic, Social and Technological – to demonstrate how the bank of the future might look and will give a number of key, actionable items for all attendees to take away and apply to their banks tomorrow.
Why banking will disappear but banks will not…well, not all of them
Over the next decade, a radical shift will take place in the role and function of banking. It’s already started and it’s all about BIG DATA. But it’s more than that. It’s to do with the value shift in society from seeing money to seeing virtual money; from seeing technology to seeing social technology; and from seeing government to seeing self-governance. These shifts have been seeded in smartphones, social networks and the global linkage of every person on the planet to wireless media, and this shift will accelerate over the next decade.
What this means for banks is that they will become hybrid keepers of money and data and anything else their customers believe to be of value. They might even be keepers of cloud secure Facebook photo albums … why not? To see the impact of the key political, economic, social and technological forces of the next decade, Chris Skinner will bring together these themes and outline the vision for the bank of 2021.
Are bankers good or bad for society?
In previous ages bankers have sometimes pecked lower in the order of society than lepers. Jesus declared their usurous ways immoral. Amazingly, from this disadvantaged position in society, bankers flourished over the past two centuries before imploding spectacularly both financially and socially in 2008. Bankers now don’t even trust each other.
This illuminating review of the history and future of banking and society explores why these former outcasts from high society are natural problem children and ponders whether they have a social future and, if so, what will it look like?
Digital banking turns traditional banking on its head
Banks were built in the 20th century to handle the physical distribution of paper through a localised branch network; now they are being rebuilt as digital structures for the digital distribution of data through the global internet. What does this mean for the institutions, staff and organisational structure? More importantly, what does it mean for the corporate customers and consumers? And, most important, what does it mean for competition, innovation and regulation?
These areas are only just being understood and therefore the launch of a market leading commentator’s book on the developments is perfect timing. Digital Bank by Chris Skinner, charts the developments of digital banking, with clear case studies and recommendations of what to do and what not to do. Based upon a career of delivering technology to banks, Mr. Skinner will provide a near-term vision of where digital banking will take us over the next decade. It’s going to be challenging, but a great ride, so come along and find out the future of your bank career at the launch of Digital Bank: Strategies to Launch or Become a Digital Bank.
“Our technocharged world is still in the dark ages”
You think that the world is changing and changing fast. It’s not. The world has progressed at the level of a snail so far, and the next decade will prove to be far more interesting. How will the world look in a decade? Who know … but there are ways to find out. This presentation will show you how.
Branchless banking and a cashless society: fact or fiction?
For years, banks and industry pundits have bet that cash and bank branches will disappear, yet they are still as strong as ever. Sure, cash and branches are reducing in number, but cash in circulation is still increasing as are the number of bank branches in some countries. So is a branchless, cashless future a reality or a myth?
Money is meaningless
Since PayPal began, we have seen money being digitised. Now mobile is booming, the whole mechanism of money and customer interaction is being revolutionised. Add to this Facebook credits and other virtual currencies, and you soon realise it’s not about money but it’s about value.
Value management in all its forms – money, knowledge, ideas, time, goods, services, trade – is the critical focus for tomorrow’s institutions. And, as value becomes exchanged in all forms of virtual and physical form, money becomes meaningless. What does it mean for you?
Why the best authentication is you
As usernames and passwords are so regularly compromised, we are rapidly moving to a new form of digital identity authentication. Digital signatures and sign-ons, enabled by mobile and biometrics, are becoming standard, but where does this take us in the longer term? What will the long-term future of trade and commerce look like, and how will the digital age change us?
Chris Skinner will provide a view of the next decade of change from using your DNA for secure access to exchanging an idea as payment, and reviews how all of this will reshape the structure of financial services globally.
Five things you need to know before you start a Digital Bank
Too many banks are investing in the wrong things. They have made assumptions about what customers want, where technology is going, how banking works and how all these things come together as a customer proposition. But many of these assumptions are wrong. As a result many banks will start their Digital Bank operations again from scratch in a few years, writing off millions in investments in the wrong things.
This presentation will tell you the five things you need to know before you start a Digital Bank. If you know these five things, you’ll get it right. Alternatively, go ahead and waste your dollars.
“Why is everyone so hung up on payments when no-one pays for anything ten years from now?”
We grew up thinking that money was important because capitalism ruled. We have all been proven wrong as money becomes meaningless and capitalism is broken. As the world reconstructs itself to be fit for the 2020s, everything is changing and changing fast. The biggest change is that payments have become perfunctory.
No-one ever wakes up thinking ‘today I’ll make a payment, yay!’, but they do pay for things. That is also going to change, as all of the payments processing disappears into the ether. What is 2023 going to look like? How will banking have changed? What will people pay for and how? These are the big ticket questions that Chris Skinner will focus upon … and answer.
The similarities between banks and landmines
Banks are like landmines that explode in economic terms, in a similar way in which landmines explode and blow away people in the real world. Just as landmines blow the legs away from humans, banks blow the legs off economies.
It’s obviously the case that this is true today, what with the Lehmans collapse with Credit Default Swaps creating the first financial crisis; and now sovereign debt in the Eurozone is developing the second. How can such economic landmines exist in a world where we should have cleared them by now, and how can we avoid them in the future?
The bank of 2020
Banks need to focus upon two numbers with huge implications for modern banking: one and 2020, as the bank of 2020 will also be the Bank of One. One person has always had the power to change the world – but in a highly social, highly networked world, that one person no longer needs to be a President or a Nobel Laureate. By way of example, Molly Katchpole was just a 22-year old college graduate working two jobs to make ends meet when Bank of America announced that they would introduce a $5 monthly fee on debit cards.
She started an online protest that resulted in hundreds of thousands of people joining her within days. Result: the bank had to perform a policy U-turn. Molly Katchpole is an example of one person taking a stand through social media, and changing the policy at one of America’s largest banks. There are many others. In this presentation, Chris Skinner talks about how social media is changing banking and how the bank of 2020 will look as a result.