The future of money is here and it's in our hands

The Future of money project started out as a blog post, a few weeks prior to this year's Sibos. It was a post that galvanised small businesses with a vision for the future of trasaction, payments and new economic models, to not only donate their time but their money to build this vision for the future. This is a vision that cuts out the banks and relies on communities to find ways and means to build new transactional models.

The Future of Money from KS12 on Vimeo.

I'm fascinated to see where this goes next. It feels like it's created amazing connection across the world. This is the start of the money revolution keep your eyes peeled.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

Anyone who saw Sir Ken Robinson's first Ted talk in 2006, will be pleased that he returned this year in a follow up to the talk that persuaded TED's organisers that they might just be on to something.

The first talk is absolute essential viewing

The second is just as engaging.

 

Human augmentation and human restoration

Via RWW this morning I was taking a look at the 2010 Gartner hype cycle as below.

It's pretty fascinating stuff. However there was one tag right at the bottom of the cycle that I knew very little about, i.e. human augmentation. A quick search bought up the video posted below. It's frankly quite amazing stuff. It's over an hour long, but if you have the time it'll be worthwhile. I haven't finished watching yet - work and that - but really it's astounding from the off.

 

There's more info from MIT World and additional resources here.

 

 

 

ASB opens first Facebook bank branch in the world

Three weeks ago ASB in New Zealand opened the doors (or whatever you term the online equivalent, launched I guess) to Facebook's first online bank branch. On my company site I blogged some months back about the potential for Facebook to become a major player in banking services and what ASB have done is recognise that potential and faced it head on, moving their services on to the social network. It's a brave move in the FS industry, but one that was inevitable.

Last week I tried the branch out. It's a very simple service. At its heart it's an online chat interface built directly into Facebook. There are a selection of advisers to choose to talk to, all of whom are named and photographed individuals, to increase the person to person appeal that is the hallmark of social networking and you are able to choose from those available to chat.

I spoke to Elysse to find out how the launch was going? She was friendly, personable and very knowledgable and stated there had been considerable interest in the service. Although ASB are at present unable to offer services to those overseas, she said they had had considerable contact from New Zealand travellers who were able to sort out their issues quickly and easily through Facebook.

I then went on to have a brief Twitter chat with Anna Curzon the General Manager, Internet Banking for ASB who confirmed the interest




That second statement really underlines the point of introducing this branch concept in to Facebook. In a time impoverished and globalised environment brands need to be in the places their customers are. Financial services brands are definitely behind the curve in following that trend, but ASB has made a huge step forward.

While the services through the ASB Facebook branch are currently limited the mere fact that they are there speaks volumes for their foresight and ambition. This is a bold first move and we’re sure it will be the first of many. I'm keping a firm eye on whether ASB benefits from first mover advantage.