A statement about how I blog about mobile banking

I remember when I was a student how I enjoyed the discourse about everything possible. We used to smoke and drink coffee till late at night trying to find answers to the complexities of the world. The most important rule was that everyone was allowed to speak their mind. I do believe that it is these types of interactions that produce quality graduates and not necessarily the formal teachings.

It is this type of honest discourse that I believe is required in growing our industry. It is only if we have an open mind about what is being said that we will truly move forward. Lately, I have frequently been criticized (unfortunately not always in an open forum) about what I say on this blog. I take all comments seriously and have given it some thought. I would like to document some principles on how I blog:

• I will not disclose anything on this blog that I have been told under confidentiality....ever.
• I am specifically not acting as the CEO of Fundamo on this blog. As CEO of Fundamo I have obligations towards clients, my shareholders, my staff and other stake holders which requires a different behaviour. While I would acknowledge that this is not always easy (and that I have failed in this in the past), it is essential that this remains my intention.
• I will always attempt to be controversial or innovative in what I write. It does not make sense to publish the obvious or regurgitate what others have said. Other blogs do a much better job at collecting what has been said in the industry and present it as an aggregated offering, than I could ever do.
• I fundamentally respect people and the pioneers of this industry. I know that a lot of dedication and sacrifice have taken us to this point and I salute this. This does not mean that if I criticize their actions or what they say, that I have lost my respect for them.
  

It is also with gratitude that I receive encouragements for my blog. As can be seen in the quote from a recent e-mail that I received: "Always good to have someone in a pre-eminent position speak his mind publicly. It is a rare virtue nowadays"