Ouida Taaffe introduces the February issue, which focuses on fintech. There are articles on why fintechs haven’t displaced retail banks; what digital financial assistants might mean; how AI could impact on financial advice; and the power of the smartphone spy in your pocket, among others

Digital financial assistants are coming to a bank near you, but developing bots that know the right thing to say at the right time and can run all your financial affairs for you will be much harder than some suggest, reports Ouida Taaffe

What does your smartphone know about you and who does it tell? Adriana Hamacher delves into the data goldmine in your pocket and raises some concerns

Natasha de Terán explores whether fintechs are really disrupting financial services and taking on the banking incumbents or whether the problems they face are proving too challenging

Can Islamic fintechs help the financial sector hit the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals? There is growing optimism but the industry is divided, Justin Cash reports

Does the re-election of Donald Trump mean a new dawn for cryptocurrencies and a fresh setback for the idea of a central bank digital currency? Christopher Alkan examines the evidence

Joy Macknight looks at the multibank initiative that aims to demonstrate the potential value of BIS’s ‘unified ledger’ model for making cross-border payments faster and cheaper

The proposed takeover of Germany’s Commerzbank by the Italian bank UniCredit is proving controversial. Hanno Mußler looks at the reasons behind the move and at who stands to gain the most from the deal

Paul Wallace examines whether the UK government’s pledge to ease the housing crisis by building hundreds of thousands of new homes can actually be put into practice

Frances Coppola looks at whether the government should, or could, try to reduce house prices to help young people to afford to buy their own homes

Richard Northedge discusses whether Pisces, the share exchange system that the Treasury is launching this year to try to the bridge the gap between private and public markets, will really boost investment in UK growth businessesnet zero

UK fintech RTGS.global says its ‘atomic settlement’ concept can bring instant payment to the sluggish cross-border transfer space. Can it? And why is the firm turning its attention from larger banks to neo-banks and PSPs? Tim Green reports

Will Generative AI close the ‘advice gap’, or will regulation tip the scales toward human intervention? Ouida Taaffe examines the issues

Marie Chevalley and Emmanuel Rondeau explain why double materiality is much more than just an element of CSRD reporting, how it will have a lasting and positive impact on business analysis, and show how it can help build a sustainable future

Sarah Butcher examines how the bar for ‘fitness and propriety’ is being raised for both individuals and firms as the FCA prepares to update its policy on non-financial misconduct

Deborah Sabalot examines why regulation can fall foul of the law and why the current legal fights around the payment of motor finance fees and commission could have an impact on other intermediated business models

David Birch asks how retailers, banks, airlines and everyone else will deal with customers who are suddenly 1,000 times smarter, fully informed, show no loyalty and are laser-focused on getting the best possible deal

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