Ron Delnevo's Blog

We live in a troubled world, one in which democratic freedoms only gained within the last century or so - and yet to spread around the planet - are facing massive challenges. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, there was a surge of hope that deposing of the oppressive regimes of Eastern Europe would see the democratic rights of the West enjoyed by all Europeans. Alas. Twenty years later, the Ara....

In 2010, we were told that austerity was needed because the UK National Debt was out of control. In 2010, the National Debt was £1.2 Trillion. Tomorrow, the Chancellor is seemingly going to announce a "spend, spend, spend" budget. Today, the National Debt is over £2.3 Trillion. The difference? No one now believes the National Debt can be brought under control any time soon - or, i....

On 1st July 2021, the UK Government announced an "Access to Cash Consultation". Legislation is promised on access to cash, with this consultation seeking views on "establishing geographic requirements for the provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities, the designation of firms for meeting these requirements and establishing further regulatory oversight of cash services provision". I ....

You have to understand history to understand the position the UK public find themselves in today in relation to debt. The recent history of cash is closing connected with the changes in Personal Debt. Here's a very simple timeline 1954 - the end of WW2 rationing. The UK government has a choice. Increase wages to allow the public to fund post-rationing aspirations - or allow the public to get int....

In 2013, David Cameron promised that a referendum on the UK's future relationship would be staged if he won the next General Election. Eight years on, my feeling about the intervening years is crystal clear; they have been a total waste of time. Nearly a decade of discussing nonsense. Now, as 2021 begins, as the UK tries to looks forward, the question is to what? * A UK National Debt that is t....

2021. Not a year starting with great optimism, though it could hardly be worse than 2020! What do I expect to be doing in 2021? Firstly, surviving, along with 99.8% of other people! Secondly, continuing working to ensure that Payment Choice is maintained for all! I don't do New Year Resolutions, so that will suffiuce for now. Apart from, I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2021!  ....

There are "experts" who argue that there are only 2 million people in the UK who currently NEED to use cash. These same experts usually contend that the figure has been decreasing for years and that, ultimately, it will tend to zero, through a combination of death and digital innovation. The subtext of this messaging is " ... and what does a group of only 2.1 million matter anyway? They are u....

Frankly, there is too much discussion in the UK - and around Europe - surrounding the precise meaning of the term "Legal Tender". Until recently, the vast majority of UK public believed that the £ had to be accepted for purchases in shops, bars and restaurants.  Then, long before the current pandemic, a few retailers and bars started to refuse cash. This refusal attracted a signi....

My love affair with cash started with my parents. I was born in the 1950s, entering the world just as the UK was finally leaving World War 2 rationing behind. In those far off days, there was plenty of poverty – but little debt. The financial system really didn’t allow the general public to have significant debt. Personal loans from a bank or building society were almost unheard o....

I am mature ( NOT old) enough to remember when there was no "Space Race". I can also recall the moment when Vostok 1, piloted by Yuri Gagarin, completed one orbit of Earth, seemingly demonstrating to the world that the Soviet Union, then a Super Power, held sway over the United States, in those days the only other Super Power, in the rush to conquer Outer Space. I have to state at the outs....

There is much speculation about the extent of the comeback cash will make after the latest pandemic is behind us. To be fair, cash has had a bit of a tough ride.  Lockdowns impacting more than half the worlds population have lured people into the clutches of internet shopping - and, as we all know, paying by cash on the internet is a bit tricky! On top of that, the World Health Organisati....

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), launched with a fanfare of trumpets by the UK government, is only worth a tune on a tin whistle. I said at the outset that it had to include a 100% government guarantee, like a similar scheme run by the German government. Instead, it was launched with a 80% government guarantee. Despite some adjustments to the detailed provisions e....

One of the aspects of the current Coronavirus Pandemic that makes my blood boil is the tendency of the advocates of particular payment methods to claim they are somehow safer for the public to use for in-person payments. Sometimes such claims are supported by "research" findings or even the words of a handy "academic", presumably offering wisdom free of any inducement .... As for ....

As I write this, the world is in the grips of the coronavirus. Thousands of people have died and, tragically, many more deaths seem inevitable. Those who work in health care are under huge strain, as are the facilities in which they carry out their ministering to the ill.  Tens of millions are unable to work, many of whom are effectively confined to their homes. Places of education have bee....

Time to wish a happy 21st Birthday to the ATM installation that changed the face of cash provision in the UK! Yes. That’s right. It is exactly 21 years since the first Independent ATM was installed in this country - and that same ATM was also the very first pay-to-use ATM to be installed in Europe! I was there, at a Spar store in Stone Cross in Birmingham, on the first full day of operati....

I am both delighted and honoured to have been elected the new Chairman of the Cash Learning Partnership - CaLP. The Cash Learning Partnership is a global partnership of humanitarian actors engaged in policy, practice and research within Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA). CaLP currently has over 80 members who collectively deliver the vast majority of Cash and Voucher Assistance in hum....

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) - a trade association which represents 80% of Big Box UK retailers – published some survey data on UK payments last week. Basically, the BRC research estimated that card payments in the UK amounted to £296 Billion and cash payments only £77.7 Billion. If you are an avid devourer of all the anti-cash PR that appears in the UK media almost every day....

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) - a trade association which represents 80% of Big Box UK retailers – published some survey data on UK payments last week. Basically, the BRC research estimated that card payments in the UK amounted to £296 Billion and cash payments only £77.7 Billion. If you are an avid cosumer of all the anti-cash PR that appears in the UK media almost every d....

Much hype surrounds the digitalisation of society.
Here’s the stark reality though – WITHOUT CASH, MANY PEOPLE CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY.
In this interview, Ron Delnevo highlights the all-important role cash continues to have in helping to create genuine financial inclusion.

Crypto Currencies - Bitcoin being the most famous one - have been around for years. For all the publicity about all things crypto , there are almost certainly less than 30 million users on the planet, which is less than 0.5% of the worlds population. Those who support Crypto Currencies speak to the fact they are decentralised and are therefore not subject to the control of governments or the ....

In an era when many banks feel they must cut their costs by closing branches and ATMs, it is time to finally knock down the barriers to entry which are significantly restricting competition in the UK ATM market. In the United States, where barriers to entry are effectively non-existent, there are literally hundreds of ATM operators, some of which have less than 50 ATMs in their estates. ....

In this interview, payment expert Ron Delnevo stresses the importance of having legislation in the UK to compel businesses which accept in-person payments to accept cash. At a minimum, in 2019 the Payment Systems Regulator, Bank of England and/or HM Treasury need to announce they are going to recommend such a law to the government. When this is done, all businesses will start accepting cash again ....

I started scribing this article on July the 4th, so it is perhaps natural that my British mind turned to tea. However, my own brain had no room for thoughts about Boston. No. My Gray Matter was focused on a Street Cafe near to the UK Payment Systems Regulators (PSR) palatial offices in Stratford, London. There I was, readying myself for a meeting with the CEO of the PSR – and badly in....

I am a decisive person. I favour action over endless debate and discussion. Winston Churchill said “Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war.” BUT, certainly in the UK, we “jaw” too much and get too little done. Look at the expansion of Heathrow.... EXACTLY. When I write my book, exposing the failures of others and glorifying myself ( that’s what biograph....

The current definition of "Legal Tender",as set out by the Bank of England, is not fit for purpose. Here's what the Bank of England has to say on their website: "Legal Tender has a narrow technical meaning which has no use in everyday life. It means that if you offer to fully pay off a debt to someone in Legal Tender, they can’t sue you for failing to repay." "No use in everyday li....

People may think I am joking when I say I have written to Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, offering my services (free-to-use, obviously). I am not. Actually, I am a great letter writer. Years ago, when a misguided UK politician tried to destroy Independent ATM Deployers, I wrote to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and the General Secretary of his Party. He knew then h....

I was very disappointed to see in the recent UK Access to Cash Review the headlined assertion  that “cash is expensive”. Even if the figure of £5 Billion quoted in the Review as being the annual cost of cash in the UK is accepted - and many believe it should not be - how can it be judged to be “expensive”? It has to be remembered that Sterling - the £ - is the on....

The Access to Cash Enquiry - funded by the LINK ATM Network but intended to be independent - started with such high hopes, but ended up flawed.
Members of the Enquiry Panel were given the opportunity to safeguard cash as a UK Payment Choice FOREVER, but let it slip away.
Where did it go wrong?
Firstly, with the composition of the Panel. No genuine and knowledgeable supporter of c....

The public EVERYWHERE have a right to expect Payment Choice, the right for every individual to use the payment method that they choose. To allow Payment Choice to be limited by commercial enterprises or governments would erode personal freedoms, as well as being detrimental to the economic interests of society as a whole. Around Europe and elsewhere, we can already see limitations on Payme....

             This morning, the UK Access To Cash Review released Part 1 of their report. The document issued has the title “Is Britain Ready To Go Cashless?” Since the document reveals that 97% of UK residents continue to carry cash and 67% of them still like to pay with cash for small purchases, the answer to the question posed is clearly a resou....

You may be aware that there are on going  discussions in Brussels about Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). If you don’t know what that is, I suggest you do not read more, for fear of being dreadfully bored! Anyway, moving on, in early 2018, the Economic and Financial Committee of the European Union decided that it wanted to see more transparency in relation to DCC offers, on A....

I have been warning UK retailers for years that they badly need cash as an alternative to cards. One reason, of course, is that card schemes go down.  In recent months, we have had several serious failures, including at Visa Europe. Without cash, both retail sales and customer service standards would have collapsed. If you think that the IT underpinning card schemes will ever be 100....

Which? has issued a report that claims the Big 5 Banks in the UK are closing their branches at the rate of 60 a month. If this is true, it will not be the run-rate of closures for long. Barclays,HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS Group and Santander have only around 5000 branches left between them. A 60 per month closure rate implies they will all be gone in around 8 years. Of course, all ba....

If you want to know how banking has changed, read on. In the early 1990's, a business associate and I, working together on a new venture, arranged to meet the manager at the branch of the Bank of Ireland near Victoria Station in London. The manager met us cordially and listened intently to our business proposition. Within half an hour, we left with our £25,000 unsecured loan agreed.....

Last week, the UK government launched a consultation entitled "cash and digital payments in the new economy". You can read the whole, very sad, document here  [link] The tone of this document is decidedly anti-cash. Essentially, the clear implication is that only the poor and criminals "need" to use ca....

I will never forget the occasion. My appearance before the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) in February 2005. The TSC was "investigating" cash machine charges. The Chair, John McFall, had taken a particular interest in this subject, perhaps enjoying the media profile it gave him. Being Labour Member of Parliament for West Dunbartonshire didn't normally make the incumbent a star of stage and screen....

The LINK UK ATM Network announced a few months ago that it planned to reduce ATM interchange by 20% over 4 years. This move stunned many observers because LINK interchange is calculated each year using a transparent cost-recovery formula, which was approved by UK Regulatory Authorities well over a decade ago. The essence of the argument put forward by the LINK Board to justify the massive arbitr....

LINK ATM Network are proposing an arbitrary cut of 20% in ATM interchange fees, phased over a four year period. This is quite simply a recipe for the beginning of the end of convenient access to cash in the UK.  Let me very clear; NO level of arbitrary cut is acceptable, for the irrefutable reason that the first such cut will open the flood gates to further cuts, ultimately leading to all UK ....

Sir Mark Boleat, Chairman of LINK Scheme Holdings Limited ( AKA LINK ATM Network) has informed us, through the media, that it is NOT the Industry Directors at  LINK who are pressing for LINK interchange to be arbitrarily cut by 20%. That, of course, begs the question; what ARE the Industry Directors, from a foreign bank and government-owned RBS, doing?  We await an answer to that questi....

If you live in the UK and don't already know that the LINK UK ATM Network is trying to arbitrarily slash interchange by 20%, you should not read on, because this issue, though vital to the future of the UK Public and economy, is clearly of no interest to you. If you are still with me, you must realise the seriousness of the situation. Despite the fact that the Bank of England recently announced ....

The current arguments threatening to undermine the LINK Free-to-Use ATM Network are bringing to a head issues which have not been properly exposed to scrutiny for 20 years.
Time they were.
Until 1998, ATMs in the UK were solely run by banks and building societies. That year, of the total of 25,000 ATMs in the UK, around 19,000 were located at bank branches. 
In essence, banks ....

I founded Cash-is-Cool way back in 2010. I did so because cash, the worlds favourite payment method, was under threat. The vested interests were already at work, spending $ Millions on advertising campaigns, rubbish cash and promoting the glory of plastic cards. I recall vividly the meetings and telephone calls I had with so many people, trying to get them to join the fight to save cash. I got....

Every time I catch the BBC News and hear pro Brexit speaker, it makes my blood boil. I DISAGREE WITH EVERY ASPECT OF BREXIT. All the talk of compromises is so much hot and foul air. Brexit would lead to a schism between the UK and the rest of Europe. If it goes through -and believe me, it is still a very big IF - an economic and social disaster will be visited on the UK. Economically,....

In an ideal world - one I have never even glimpsed - ATMs would still have the role their inventor envisaged for them. Legend has it that my fellow Scot, John Shepherd- Barron, had his own Eureka moment whilst ruminating in his bath. In a dazzling flash of inspiration, the thought came to him that he would invent a machine which would dispense cash when bank branches were closed. Of cou....

In the last couple of weeks, there have been two revelations in the media purporting to be the findings of worthwhile market research. Cash has been the intended victim on both occasions. Firstly, there were headlines announcing that a survey had found that 10% of young people in the UK use cash only once a month. Cue gasps of amazement, followed by the realisation that cash is truly on t....

Before you get too excited - or happy - about the news that merchants will no longer be able to "surcharge" purchases made using cards, spare a thought for those who use cash, who will now effectively be subsidizing those who live in a plastic-dominated bubble. Here are the costs retailers currently incur per transaction, by payment method. These are figures for 2016, produced by the British Reta....

The investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire will take months.  However, the Government response to support the residents should have been immediate and decisive. It was not. Those who were not injured physically should not have been left to sleep in a Church Hall or other mass accommodation. ALL OF THEM SHOULD HAVE BEEN ACCOMMODATED IN GOOD HOTELS IN THE BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELS....

Question: how many people are registered to vote in the UK? Very easy. Answer: at the end of 2016, 47.3 Million. How many of those voters are economically literate? Very hard ( for almost all of them) Answer: ALMOST NONE. So when those same UK voters are asked in Opinion Polls "what makes you vote for a particular political party?" and they answer "competency to run the economy", the chan....

There are calls in the Sunday Times today for John Griffith-Jones to relinquish his role as Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority. I cannot disagree. Griffith-Jones has definitely NOT been a catalyst of change in Financial Services in the UK.In fact,  the reverse is true. He has been a stout defender of the Status Quo, however obvious it has been to others that change has been vitally n....

I was speaking at the excellent Reconnaissance International "High Security Printing Conference" in Baku earlier this week. It was a great pleasure to speak myself and an even greater pleasure to see wonderful Azerbaijan, but the highlight for me was one of the other presentations at the conference. During the presentation by a representative of Goznak, the State-owned Russian security printer, ....

A few weeks ago,the European Commission issued a document asking anyone interested to comment on whether the European Union needs a 28 nation policy on restricting cash use. The document itself has all the decisiveness of Sergeant Wilson from Dads Army; "Do you mind awfully?Would it be advisable?Really,would it be ok with you, if..." BUT do not be fooled by the sugary language. There is deadly i....

I was very pleased to speak in February at the Westminster Business Forum event "The future for UK payments policy -infrastructure, regulation and consumer priorities." I really enjoyed covering the issue of maintaining and enhancing Payment Choice. I, naturally, emphasized the vital  role cash has to play and how that role can be safeguarded, in the interests of both the UK economy and genera....

Every day, there are reports of the financial strain on Public Services in the UK. The National Health Service is failing patients - and its many heroic staff. Social Services are neglecting those they should be supporting, leaving the old and others desperate for help to fail to cope, on their own, isolated. Charities try in vain to fill the gap left by under funding. Schools can no longer ....

What is something worth? It is simply what you are prepared to pay. A very simple truth and one that has not changed since our distant ancestors hunted to survive on a  very wild planet. Hunting wasn't, of course, solely about trying to catch (and kill) animals. It included battling fellow homo sapiens. Those battles were to do with "possessions" in the widest sense, including access....

I don't do New Year Resolutions. Actually, I don't really do celebrating the New Year. I try to treat every day as a joy. I don't need to leave 364 behind to welcome a new batch. However, I do like looking forward, so here's what I am looking forward to doing in 2017. Firstly, I will be increasing my efforts to ensure that using cash remains an option for all of us, everywhere. This work has ....

Strikes were a thing of the past in the UK - or so we thought. Margaret Thatcher (remember her?) set out to destroy the power of organised labour - and how well she succeeded. The Trade Union movement was left in tatters, losing influence fast and members faster. Such things are nearly always cyclical, however. What goes around comes around. Why? Mainly because winners are usually arrogan....

On 19 May this year I was waiting impatiently at Stockholm Airport for news as to when my early evening flight to Heathrow would be leaving. There had been air traffic control problems that day, so I guessed some delays would be inevitable. Guessing was really all I could do, because there was no information forthcoming from SAS. Indeed, as I and more than a hundred other passengers waited for....

Customer service in the UK is generally appalling. Cost cutting has left most so-called service organizations with fewer staff, who are often lacking in training or motivation - or both. I can give you countless examples. British Airways staff who act as if customers are an irritation, to be fed duff information and poor food, in equal measure. Railway staff who are so accepting of the defi....

George Osborne may have been a supporter of "Remain" in the UK EU Referendum BUT, for him, it was surely a win/win situation. Had the UK sided with Remain, George continues in his job, alongside his great chum David Cameron, ready and waiting to be anointed as Prime Minister, at a time of Dave's choosing. Clearly, that was 1st prize. 2nd prize? The UK opts to "Leave" and then George gets to....

I was speaking earlier this week at the Wincor Nixdorf International Management Seminar in Madrid. My topic was “Cash: A Better Future”. I hope I convinced my audience that there could be one!  Whilst at the Seminar, I was delighted to see an excellent presentation by Mike Power of DBS Bank from Singapore. DBS probably have the busiest ATMs in the world. Just over 1000 machines....

 The Riksbank - the Swedish National Bank - last week called on the Government to take action to improve public access to convenient means for the deposit and withdrawal of cash. I applaud this courageous step by the Riksbank. It is so easy in Sweden to buy-in to the hype of those vested interests seeking to create a  so-called "cashless society". Of course, there never will be any truly c....

The UK Government has  been telling us since 2009 that austerity has been needed to restore the countries finances. I beg to differ. Some gestures towards austerity may have been needed for a year or two, to satisfy the worlds financial power brokers that the UK should not be included in the Financiers "skip" with Ireland, Greece and similar. Actually, even this gesture was probably unnec....

When you listen to George Osborne or read most British newspapers, you would be forgiven for believing the UK public - you and me - are quite spoilt by comparison to our European neighbours. That is why we have to accept austerity, in all its forms. Or so the story goes. The average UK worker has seen his or her wages fall in real terms since 2008. They have been told by George Osborne ....

There are stories on the internet that Swedes are keeping their spare cash in microwave ovens, because they face negative interest rates, if they are lucky enough to find a bank which will take their cash in the first place. Negative interest rates are being foisted on the world by come central bank gurus. They claim to be seeking to get money spent, rather than saved, to generate economic activi....

Jeremy Corbyn is the new Labour leader. Only seven words, but enough to get you committed only six months ago. So the impossible can and does happen. Thirty Five Labour MP's supported his name appearing on the ballot. The fact that many of them do not hold Mr Corbyns views is besides the point. He was given his chance and he seized it with both hands. Most commentators describe Jeremy as a mav....

The sad picture of a 3 year old boy, dead and alone on a beach, provoked a predictable outcry from politicians seeking advantage from publicity that has tugged the heartstrings of their voters.  The general reaction has been " we really MUST let more migrants into Europe from places such as Syria". Craven popularism is never a basis for sound policy. Here is the reality. Eu....

Almost three years ago, I was having what I will just call a disagreement with someone in the United States.  As the disagreement ran its course, I heard that the other party involved wasn't worried about any damage the dispute might do them in the US. Then an article mentioning me appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Actually, the article wasn't just about me.  Half a dozen senior executi....

I have always said voting should be compulsory - BUT I WILL NOT BE VOTING IN MAY. Why? Because I do not believe that any of the political parties has any solutions to the issues that they raise. Firstly, there's the UK National Debt, currently tallying up to a staggering £1.5 Trillion.  All of the parties proclaim the National Debt is a disgrace - yet none of them presents a plan to redu....

I have been involved in the UK payments industry for 15 years or more. During that time, I have worked tirelessly to improve transparency and choice in the Public Interest. I have to say that my work has not been easy. Resistance to change has been strong, with vested interests trying to preserve their own positions, at a price the public cannot afford. In trying to bring about change, I h....

I love Manchester. It is a vibrant City, with some impressive buildings and much excellent redevelopment, especially near the canals. It is also very easy to get around, whether walking, or using public transport. For those who need regular retail therapy, there are many shops to tempt them into another "fix". The only facet of Manchester which is at all disappointing is in relation to eating ....

Had I opted to have a vote in the Scottish Referendum - I could have done so, because I own an apartment in Edinburgh - I would have voted "no". So, as I write this, it is not in the spirit of being a disappointed supporter of independence. Alex Salmond has been portrayed as a broken man, a loser. He is neither. Alex Salmond has spent his life working to give Scotland the opportunity to gain i....

Everything Everywhere is a TERRIBLE name. The clown who thought it up should be painted Orange and forced to walk around the planet forever ( or until his battery runs out; so about three hours, if he talks to himself while he walks). The worst thing about the EE name, of course, is the fact that the company in reality provide Nothing Nowhere. Take the example of today. I have an international....

I travel quite extensively and everywhere I go, I witness the frantic efforts of Visa and other card schemes to persuade the public - you & me - to switch to using cards, rather than cash or any other payment method. So far they haven't succeeded. The full extent of their failure was made obvious a few months ago, when the European Central Bank revealed that 90% of all payments under 20 ....

I am still debating in my own mind whether I can give up the time required to become a member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England. That's the group of worthies who decide on the level of interest rates in the UK. Why the doubts? Well, it is a full half day a month commitment (plus added time for travel and picnic lunches in the Governors private garden).I am a very busy man....

It seems that all over the EC, in almost every one of the 28 Member States, there are large sections of the population who seemingly believe their little bit of rock would be better off if it was chiseled away from the European Mountain. Listening to some of the disenchanted speaking is illuminating. Many seem to "blame" Germany for their misfortunes, as if Germans are doing well at the expens....

Even I, a great lover of cash, was somewhat surprised to learn last week from the European Central Bank that over 90% of all retail payments in the EC under 20 Euros are still made using cash. So all of the hundreds of millions of dollars Visa & MasterCard have spent on hyping payment by card has lead to less than a 10% share of this crucial segment of the payments market.  For "spent", should....

The shocking fact and management of the sacking of David Moyes give a stark insight into the modus operandi of the main shareholders, the Glazer family. It, of course, goes without saying that the Glazers have no interest in the sporting values of one of the Worlds greatest football clubs. They bought what they would simply characterise as a strong "franchise", in the same way that less well-fina....

The search is on for the person who will head up the new Payment Systems Regulator. This is a crucial role. The public interest dictates that this is not an "inside" appointment. It will be a disaster if someone gets the job who has made a career of doing the rounds in the payments sector, attending to the needs of  vested interests as required to secure well-paid personal development.  ....

Some people have had bad experiences in their dealings with UK banks in recent years.Then again,many millions of bank customers have had nothing at all to complain about.They have been quietly content with the service they have received. Complaints are noisy -especally when the media take an interest -whereas satisfaction is normally very quiet.When did you ever see a headline " Millions Happy....

Some years ago, I mounted a campaign to save the Portman Building Society from takeover. I did so because I both admired the Building Society Movement and valued the quality of service provided by the team at the Portman. I failed in my attempt to save the Portman.Over 400,000 members of the Building Society opted to receive a few hundred £s as a pay-off for voting "Yes" to the takeover.I, alo....

The 2014 Budget is a landmark for all of us who hold freedom of choice and independence dear. For many years, pensioners in the UK have been forced to purchase annuities on retirement. With the average pension pot little more than £30,000, annual guaranteed income from an annuity has been pitiful for many pensioners. On the other hand, the companies providing the annuities have been enjoying a....

Business Rates have been a nonsense from the outset. Valuations based on the notional rental values of Hereditaments might have appealed to the scribes of the Domesday Book, but they are now  strangling the life out of local enterprises and the communities which depend on them. The latest body to highlight the inequities of Business Rates is the House of Commons Business,Innovation and Skil....

Looking out of my window this morning,I can see a large body of water. In the UK at the moment,such a view would not be a cause for celebration.More likely,it would bring with it the anxiety that the water might soon be rising and threatening to inundate the viewing platform. Today,however,I have no such concerns.The water in question is a well-contained artificial lake,a threat to no one and cu....

Very good news from the Post Office in the last few days-they will not be closing any more branches. The importance of  Post Offices can hardly be over-stressed.There are 11,500 around the UK, often acting as the beating hearts of the communities which cluster around them. There have of course been many Post Office closures in the last 15 years. There were once nearly 20,000, so about 8000....

The year has started well as far as good news is concerned. First, retailers announced that Christmas 2013 had been the strongest sales-wise for a number of years.The Public-you & me-have got a bit of confidence back and nothing opens a wallet faster than confidence! The next piece of good news to hit the headlines was that the Consumer Price Index only rose by 2% in December.This is the smalles....

I have made the point many times recently that the UK needs a strong, healthy banking sector to play a full role in the growth of our economy. Clearly, mistakes have been made at a senior level in several UK banks.Such mistakes took one or two of the banks to the edge of ruin,whilst at the same time rocking the foundations of the entire economy. It is doubtful if banks have ever been really p....

More stories in the newspapers yesterday about how banks have managed loans/bad debt. Some of the alleged practices have seemingly left a number of bank customers very unhappy as to how they have been treated. Any bank customer with a complaint to pursue has a number of potential routes that can be followed,including legal action.Those customers whose stories featured in the press yesterday a....

Another week, another banking "scandal". The story in sundays UK newspapers was of alleged drug purchases by a former bank chairman. Banks have been made the fall-guys for all the ills of our society. THIS IS BOTH WRONG-HEADED AND DANGEROUS. We need our existing banks-in fact we need more! Banks were not solely responsible for the economic crisis that hit the World 5 years ago.They were a ....

All those years ago when Governments started to sell off UK Utilities, the dangers were easy to see. Wanting the money from the sales and to be free of potential Trade Union action, it all seemed perfect from the Governments viewpoint.Short term gains were the order of the day. The problem of course is that the Public-you and me-have to use the Utilities every day of our lives.We breath ; we dri....

I read an article this morning which highlighted that more and more people are starting their own businesses after retiring from their day jobs. WONDERFUL! I have long been of the view that a deep desire to retire is more often than not a sign that the person involved is in the wrong job.If you hate what you are doing,don't retire: CHANGE YOUR CAREER! A wider issue is that our country simply ca....

I am currently attending a security conference in London. Criminals are always looking for new ways to improve their standard of living. Sometimes they are successful. Where cash is concerned, it has been subject to criminal activity for around 2700 years.Despite this, users love the product so much that they still use it to pay for over 80% of purchases made on our planet. Those who tout cards....

Every year,the British Retail Consortium publishes a survey of members transaction costs.Those members represent 80% of the major retailers in the UK.It is therefore a comprehensive survey with conclusive findings. I am delighted to tell you that each year so far, cash has proven to be by far and away the most cost-effective payment for UK retailers to accept.The latest survey revealed that Debit....

I must first confess myself to be an expert witness. I have been the benificiary of share options. My only defence is that I did not want to be a recipient.When I involved Private Equity in my business,I had dreams only of taking the company public and working in it forever.As has happened to many with such dreams, mine hit the rocks of Private Equity short termism and naked greed. Anyway,tho....

It is particularly ironic that the Government should choose this moment to privatise profitable Royal Mail,just as the debate restarts as to how to protect the Public-you and me-from rampant price inflation at the privatised utilities. WILL WE NEVER LEARN? Privatisations, along with the demutualisation of Building Societies,have left the Public at the mercy of a small number of profit-hungry PLC....

The idea that the Press should be free to print anything they like about politicians-or their fathers- is clearly nonsense. The dads of Cameron, Clegg and Miliband ALL deserve better. Yet that is exactly what UK Government Minister Michael Gove said yesterday evening on Newsnight. In doing so, Mr Gove was supporting the defaming of Ralph Miliband, recognised by many, including former Governm....

I did not agree with the privatisation of utilities. It never made any sense to me to allow shareholders to become more important than the Public-you and me-where water and energy are concerned. However,we are where we are in terms of ownership of UK utilities and I would not advocate the renationalisation of assets. Regulation is a different issue.The current regulatory framework appears not to....

Really good news that the Government has finally started with the disposal of the publics-you and me-shareholding in Lloyds Bank. We have actually made a profit!  The even better news is that our profits are likely to increase. As the disposal by the Government gathers pace, the shares will become of increasing interest to investors. It is quite possible that Lloyds shares could be over....

Whatever opinion polls say today, by the time the next General Election arrives in 2015, I expect the Conservative Party to be in line for victory. The credit for this position will rest with the Chancellor. It was apparently a tough path to take, preaching and, in some ways, practicing austerity. However, in the end it may well have been the only horse in the race and therefore a certain wi....

I have been speaking at a conference this week (and again next week!). At this weeks' conference, I bumped into a number of people I know.  Several asked me what I was working on. The answer: a lot! Apart from speaking at conferences, I am very busy currently in my roles at the ATM Industry Association.  Those roles, which include being Vice President, are very interesting.  I am ....

It is not widely realised that over 40% of all Transport for London (TfL) revenue comes from Central Government Grants. This is a very generous subsidy of a local transport undertaking and one not mirrored in any other town in the UK. As our country's capital, there are of course arguments that can be put forward for giving London a special status. However, one thing is clear. The wholly e....

Financial Services will undergo radical change over the next few years. 

Change is being forced on Banks. 
 
It is no longer considered acceptable or prudent for banks to try to make profits from high risk lending or derivative activity.

Going forward, UK banks will need to be able to make profits from "normal" retail activities.
 

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