Author: Douglas Warren, MA, CFA

From communications to content, it’s important to write with empathy during difficult times—or maybe not say anything at all

We are all being touched by this pandemic. For some, it’s already causing intense suffering and sorrow, and this will be true for more and more of us. We are suffering illness and loss and we are losing our jobs and our businesses. We are self-isolating and making significant changes to our daily lives.

Your customers may be experiencing fear, uncertainty, sorrow and even anger. And yet they still need to be informed, reassured, entertained and distracted. They will still need products and services.

It’s a difficult environment in which to engage with customers and I’m writing this piece because I’ve seen both inspiring and disappointing attempts in the past weeks. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I hope I can give you something to think about that will help you navigate through these difficult times.

Continue reading “Thoughts on thoughtful messaging during a crisis”

Three tips and five actions that won’t take a lot of time, but can make a big difference to engaging your audience.

You’re not a writer. That doesn’t mean you don’t write well. But it’s not your primary expertise. You’re a portfolio manager, an analyst, a strategist, an economist or some other professional in the financial industry. And yet, you’re called upon to write reports, updates and commentaries—and it’s one of the most important things you do.

Continue reading “3 Tips That Will Increase Engagement With Your Financial Writing”

The application of tech to banking in Africa has the power to change people’s lives and bring them greater access to financial services. In this installment of 3 Things we look at a digital-only bank, the linking of regional payments systems and an AI chatbot.

Nigeria first. Then the world

“It’s Nigeria for right now, but the plan is to build a Pan-African digital-only bank,” declared Kuda Bank co-founder and CEO Babs Ogundeyi. He was speaking to TechCrunch, which reported that the digital-only retail bank raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding.

Continue reading “Spotlight: Banking Tech in Africa”

Singapore is accepting applications for digital banking licences, robots are sorting cash and a central banker proposes a digital reserve currency.

Digital banks wanted. Non-banks may apply

Banks may be screaming “no más” as non-bank players enter the ring. No Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), that is. MAS announced this week that it’s now accepting applications for digital banking licences. These licences will be granted to non-bank organizations and are in addition to the digital operations of existing Singaporean banks.

Continue reading “Robots, Reserves and Retail”

This week we look at how three existing firms are upping their digital services game.

Goldman Sachs: Now hiring

The trading division at Goldman Sachs is hiring. Yes, you read that right. They’re hiring, not firing. But they’re not looking for traditional traders. They’re looking for engineers – 100 of them, in fact – for “tech-related roles on the trading floor,” Bloomberg reported this week.

Continue reading “Computers Are Taking Over: You Can Bank On It”