The one and only

Flicking through The Indie yesterday I came across an Orange ad with the heading: Pay for things with the Samsung Galaxy S III, only on Orange.

It went on to mention that this is the only phone that lets you make contactless payments (no doubt with a nod to the previous week's announcement that the new iPhone would not be NFC-enabled).

Thought for the day: with one phone on the market, it's hardly surprising that mobile payments have yet to take off, is it?

Not your typical bank statement

I'm liking the Tesco Bank 'Not your typical bank statement' advertisement which has been doing the rounds this week.

If you haven't seen it, click here.

'Nuff said.

On the subject of retail banking, I'm just about to start work on our November/December issue (last issue of the year already. Eep! Time does fly) which includes a retail banking supplement. Features on branch banking, mobile banking and the future of retail banking. If any of these features tickle your fancy, drop me a line. Contact details can be found on the FStech website.

Have a good weekend!

The iPhone 5...bigger, better but...

...No NFC or mobile wallet. When asked why Apple chose not to include NFC, Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, commented: "It's not clear that NFC is the solution to any current problem."

I'm not sure I disagree. How about you guys? On that subject, Martin Cox – Bell ID’s Global Head of Sales, has posted an interesting blog entitled 'Has Apple signalled the demise of NFC?’

You can read it here.

FStech Awards: FAQs

Following on from my blog post of last week, flagging up the launch of the 2013 FStech Awards...

Every year, I receive a number of emails and calls from companies who want to enter but have one or two queries. So I've decided to list a few FAQs. Hope this helps. If your query isn't covered, feel free to drop me a line. My contact details can be found here.

The nominated project should have been launched or come to fruition in 2012/2013.

The awards recognise excellence and innovation in the field of information technology within the UK and EMEA financial services sector. The nominated organisation doesn't have to be based in the UK or EMEA, but they must have a presence there.

It’s free to enter and you can put your organisation forward in as many as categories as you wish.

We welcome nominations from anyone who has responsibility for information technology management or strategy within a financial institution, or from technology suppliers, press officers, PRs or consultants representing them.

A previous winning entry can be found here. Look to use this as a style guide for submissions.

If you're interested in being part of the judging panel, that's great, get in touch, although please note that we look for people from financial institutions, consultants and analysts, not tech vendors.

Thanks and best of luck to all those who enter this time around.

2013 FStech Awards open for entries

Quick plug for our 2013 awards. The website has just been launched and we're now inviting entries.

The event, now into its thirteenth year, recognises excellence and innovation in the field of information technology within the UK and EMEA financial services sector. It will be held at the London Lancaster Hotel on Thursday, 28 March.

New categories this year include Best use of Social Media and Data Governance Project of the Year. Deadline for entries is 30 November. It’s free to enter and you can put your organisation forward in as many as categories as you wish. 

The website can be found here.