Blog

Writing on product, design, technology, and the occasional opinion.

Mar 2026/5 min read

The FCA hasn't told us what to do about AI customer communications. Here's what I think the rules should be.

Firms are already using AI to draft and send customer communications in regulated financial services. The FCA has not issued specific guidance. Here is what I think it should say.

RegulationAIFCARegulationConsumer DutyFinancial Services

Mar 2026/6 min read

What Onboarding 600+ Retailers to a Loan Originations Platform Actually Taught Me

Six hundred retailers, five lenders, one platform. The lessons from building an onboarding process at scale are not what you might expect. Most of them have nothing to do with technology.

Professionalfintechstaxonboardingretail-creditplatform

Mar 2026/6 min read

Scaling a Broker Platform: What Actually Breaks When You Grow Fast

Rapid growth exposes every assumption you made when building your platform. Here is what actually breaks when a broker platform scales, and what you need to have in place before it does.

Technologyfintechscalingtechnologylendingplatform

Feb 2026/7 min read

The Case for Lender Aggregation Platforms in POS Consumer Credit

When a single lender says no, the sale dies. Aggregation platforms change that by routing applications through a panel of lenders in real time. Here is why it matters for retailers, lenders, and consumers.

Financefintechlendingpos-creditaggregationwaterfall-decisioning

Feb 2026/4 min read

The Day Anthropic Put White-Collar Work on Notice

Claude Cowork plugins are reshaping white-collar work. Here's what's actually happening and why it matters.

Technologydigital-transformationfintechtechnologyAI

Feb 2026/6 mins

The FCA's Regulatory Gamble: Why Outcomes-Based Rules Matter (And Why Interpretation Will Be Everything)

The FCA is stepping back from the rulebook and trusting firms to deliver good consumer outcomes. That is progress. But the real question is whether firms and regulators are willing to do the harder work this model demands.

RegulationFCAConsumer DutyConsumer FinanceRegulationRetail FinanceFinTechRegTech

Feb 2026/8 min read

What Could the UK Learn from the Swiss Consumer Credit Market?

Switzerland caps all consumer credit at 10% APR and requires borrowers to repay within 36 months. What can the UK learn from a model built on restraint, and where does the UK still lead?

Financeconsumer-creditregulationfintechopen-bankinglending

Feb 2026/7 min read

Why Most Digital Transformation Projects in Banking Fail (And What Works Instead)

Banks spend billions on digital transformation and still fail at alarming rates. The problem is rarely the technology. Here is what actually goes wrong and what the successful projects do differently.

Technologydigital-transformationbankingchange-managementfintechstrategy

Oct 2024/4 min read

Advances in Retail Credit Strategy: A Quick Look at Currys' Flexpay

Currys' Flexpay product is a useful case study in how traditional retailers are embedding credit into the customer journey. Here is what they are doing well and what it signals for the market.

Financeretail-creditbnplfintechpos-creditembedded-finance

Oct 2024/5 min read

The Growing Convergence of Retail and Credit: A Deep Dive

The boundary between retail and financial services is dissolving. Retailers are becoming lenders, and lenders are becoming embedded in the purchase journey. Here is what is driving it.

Financeretail-creditembedded-financebnplpos-creditfintech

Sept 2024/6 min read

Structuring a Credit Strategy: Using the 3 Ps and a D

A framework for building a coherent credit strategy in retail finance: Product, Pricing, Process, and Decisioning. Four pillars that need to work together or the whole thing falls apart.

Financecredit-strategypos-creditfcacompliancelending

Sept 2024/5 min read

Credit in the Omnichannel World: Seamless Financing Across Digital and Physical Retail

Customers no longer separate online from in-store. Their credit experience should not either. The challenge for retailers and lenders is building a financing journey that works seamlessly across both.

Financeomnichannelretail-creditfintechpos-creditembedded-finance

Sept 2024/5 min read

Maintaining Momentum: How to Keep Your Startup Growing Beyond the Initial Success

Getting your first traction is hard. Sustaining it is harder. The habits and instincts that got you to product-market fit can actively work against you at the next stage.

Professionalstartupsgrowthstrategyentrepreneurshipleadership

Sept 2024/5 min read

Leveraging Data Analytics to Optimise Credit Strategy Across Product Verticals

Data is only as useful as the decisions it informs. Here is how to use analytics to sharpen credit strategy across different product categories without drowning in dashboards.

Financedata-analyticscredit-strategyfintechretail-creditdecisioning

Sept 2024/5 min read

Part 3: From Startup to Scaleup - Building a Sustainable Business in 2024

The third in a series on building a startup. Getting to scaleup is a different challenge from finding your first customer. The systems, culture, and decisions that work at ten people break at fifty.

Professionalstartupsscalingentrepreneurshipstrategyoperations

Sept 2024/5 min read

Unlocking Profitability: The Strategic Role of Point of Sale Credit in Retail Growth

Point of sale credit is not just a payment method. Done properly, it is a growth lever. Here is how retailers are using POS finance to increase basket size, reduce abandonment, and build loyalty.

Financepos-creditretail-creditfintechstrategyembedded-finance

Sept 2024/4 min read

Part 2: Proving Your Market - The Importance of Customer Validation in Today's Startup World

Finding your first customer is one thing. Proving your market is another. The second in a series on building a startup covers how to validate demand before you over-invest in the wrong direction.

Professionalstartupscustomer-validationentrepreneurshipproduct-market-fit

Aug 2024/4 min read

Part 1: Finding Your First Customer - How to Validate Your Startup Idea in 2024

The first in a series on building a startup from scratch. Before you build anything, you need a real customer. Here is a practical approach to finding one and what it tells you.

Professionalstartupscustomer-discoveryentrepreneurshipvalidation

Aug 2024/4 min read

Why Startups Fail: The Case for a Customer-First Approach in 2024

Most startups do not fail because of bad technology or bad luck. They fail because they build something nobody wants. The fix is simpler than most founders think.

Professionalstartupscustomer-developmententrepreneurshipstrategy