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The Money Hackers: How a Group of Misfits Took on Wall Street and Changed Finance Forever
Every day, businesses, investors, and consumers are grappling with the seismic changes technology has brought to the banking and finance industry. The Money Hackers is the dramatic story of fintech’s major players and explores how these disruptions are transforming even money itself.
Whether you’ve heard of fintech or not, it’s already changing your life. Have you ever “Venmoed” someone? Do you think of investing in Bitcoin--even though you can’t quite explain what it is? If you’ve deposited a check using your iPhone, that’s fintech. And if you’ve gone to a bank branch and discovered it has been closed and shuttered for good, odds are that’s because of fintech too.
The Money Hackers focuses on some of fintech’s most powerful disruptors--a ragtag collection of financial outsiders and savants--and uses their incredible stories to explain not just how the technology works, but how the Silicon Valley thinking behind the technology, ideas like friction, hedonic adaptation, democratization, and disintermediation, is having a drastic effect on the entire banking and finance industry. Turn to this remarkable new guide to:
Feel empowered with the knowledge needed to spot the opportunities the next wave of fintech disruptions will bring.
Understand the critical pain points that fintech is resolving, through a profile of the major finsurgents behind the disruption. Topic areas include Friction (featuring founders of Venmo), Aggregate and Automate (featuring Adam Dell, founder of Open Table and brother of Michael Dell), and Rise of the Machines (featuring Jon Stein, founder of robo-advisor Betterment).
Learn about some of the larger-than-life characters behind the fintech movement.
The Money Hackers tells the fascinating story of fintech--how it began, and where it is likely taking us.
Whether you’ve heard of fintech or not, it’s already changing your life. Have you ever “Venmoed” someone? Do you think of investing in Bitcoin--even though you can’t quite explain what it is? If you’ve deposited a check using your iPhone, that’s fintech. And if you’ve gone to a bank branch and discovered it has been closed and shuttered for good, odds are that’s because of fintech too.
The Money Hackers focuses on some of fintech’s most powerful disruptors--a ragtag collection of financial outsiders and savants--and uses their incredible stories to explain not just how the technology works, but how the Silicon Valley thinking behind the technology, ideas like friction, hedonic adaptation, democratization, and disintermediation, is having a drastic effect on the entire banking and finance industry. Turn to this remarkable new guide to:
Feel empowered with the knowledge needed to spot the opportunities the next wave of fintech disruptions will bring.
Understand the critical pain points that fintech is resolving, through a profile of the major finsurgents behind the disruption. Topic areas include Friction (featuring founders of Venmo), Aggregate and Automate (featuring Adam Dell, founder of Open Table and brother of Michael Dell), and Rise of the Machines (featuring Jon Stein, founder of robo-advisor Betterment).
Learn about some of the larger-than-life characters behind the fintech movement.
The Money Hackers tells the fascinating story of fintech--how it began, and where it is likely taking us.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published April 14, 2020
210 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
February 26, 2021
A mediocre overview of FinTech over the past 20 years.
There were some interesting tidbits, but most of it is just PR speak and tech entrepreneur idolization. After the first two companies I became a bit nauseous with the, “oh wow look how great this technology is“ while missing any critical or even thoughtful analysis. One can only take so much lauding of Goldman Sachs before you develop the overwhelming desire to pillage various financial markets. You can DM me if you’d like to buy some questionably priced bonds.
As an example, at one point the author closes a chapter (ch 3) by talking about how great Marcus by Goldman Sachs is, praising their buyout of Clarity as a “way to stay ahead of the curve on shifting banking paradigms.” And then literally a sentence later, at the beginning of the next chapter (ch 4), he talks about how the financial crisis of 2008 was pushing those same paradigm shifts. This completely misses the fact that Goldman, and their securitization of mortgages, was one of the prime movers in that finuncular fiasco. And there’s no way this guy misses it because he talks intelligently about the 2008 financial crisis in other parts of the book. So whatever this guy is smoking, it’s quality and I want some.
A second hilarious example, in chapter 7, the author starts talking about bitcoin and economic policy. He does so by profiling this guy who who’s super into Bitcoin. A guy who made a bunch of money by running one of those daily deals websites. To pay for his college tuition this guy would collect a bunch of orders for an item of the day, turn to a supplier and negotiate a bulk price, and then take profits on the difference. The guy starts talking about Keynesian Economics, and with what I’m led to believe is a straight face says, “I don’t like middlemen. Whatever it pertains to, I don’t like middleman.” Hes obviously talking about ‘The Guberment’ (cue gasp) but he goes on to found a fucking Bitcoin exchange. Himself becoming a middleman in the whole bitcoin process. This dude is so flexible mentally he could be one of those vaudeville traveling circus acts. And I think it’s unintentionally a really good example of what people mean when they talk about deregulation and getting “the government out of things.“ They want to get the government out of things so they can profit off the role that the government was previously playing in whatever market they’re trying to deregulate.
And since no one‘s going to read this review anyways, the whole idea of LassizFiare Economics is shite. And it only really works under the tortured assumption that markets are somewhat rational. Which I mean no, they’re not. Suck it Greenspan.
You’re probably better off reading the Wikipedia pages of the companies mentioned. At least then you won’t have to sift through quite as much happy-shiny bullshit PR talk and pro Goldman propaganda.
There were some interesting tidbits, but most of it is just PR speak and tech entrepreneur idolization. After the first two companies I became a bit nauseous with the, “oh wow look how great this technology is“ while missing any critical or even thoughtful analysis. One can only take so much lauding of Goldman Sachs before you develop the overwhelming desire to pillage various financial markets. You can DM me if you’d like to buy some questionably priced bonds.
As an example, at one point the author closes a chapter (ch 3) by talking about how great Marcus by Goldman Sachs is, praising their buyout of Clarity as a “way to stay ahead of the curve on shifting banking paradigms.” And then literally a sentence later, at the beginning of the next chapter (ch 4), he talks about how the financial crisis of 2008 was pushing those same paradigm shifts. This completely misses the fact that Goldman, and their securitization of mortgages, was one of the prime movers in that finuncular fiasco. And there’s no way this guy misses it because he talks intelligently about the 2008 financial crisis in other parts of the book. So whatever this guy is smoking, it’s quality and I want some.
A second hilarious example, in chapter 7, the author starts talking about bitcoin and economic policy. He does so by profiling this guy who who’s super into Bitcoin. A guy who made a bunch of money by running one of those daily deals websites. To pay for his college tuition this guy would collect a bunch of orders for an item of the day, turn to a supplier and negotiate a bulk price, and then take profits on the difference. The guy starts talking about Keynesian Economics, and with what I’m led to believe is a straight face says, “I don’t like middlemen. Whatever it pertains to, I don’t like middleman.” Hes obviously talking about ‘The Guberment’ (cue gasp) but he goes on to found a fucking Bitcoin exchange. Himself becoming a middleman in the whole bitcoin process. This dude is so flexible mentally he could be one of those vaudeville traveling circus acts. And I think it’s unintentionally a really good example of what people mean when they talk about deregulation and getting “the government out of things.“ They want to get the government out of things so they can profit off the role that the government was previously playing in whatever market they’re trying to deregulate.
And since no one‘s going to read this review anyways, the whole idea of LassizFiare Economics is shite. And it only really works under the tortured assumption that markets are somewhat rational. Which I mean no, they’re not. Suck it Greenspan.
You’re probably better off reading the Wikipedia pages of the companies mentioned. At least then you won’t have to sift through quite as much happy-shiny bullshit PR talk and pro Goldman propaganda.
July 13, 2020
This book is a good read if you are interested in the intersection of information technology and the financial industry. There was lot of innovation in the area of electronic payments and building phone apps to manage these personal transactions like Venmo and Google pay. If you work in this field, you would probably find this book interesting.
October 6, 2021
Really interesting book on the FinTech industry. I guess as a baby boomer I’m late to the FinTech revolution so found this both informative and interesting.
The book can be divided into two main sections with the first covering the stories behind a variety of new FinTech companies and the back section on the evolution of Bitcoin and Blockchain. I liked the first section better as a learned of the origins of Venmo (that I use) and Clarity, Betterment, LendingTree, WorldRemit, and Mint. Very interesting how the financial collapse of 2008 and the Great Recession created the conditions that, when combined with broadband and smart phones, allowed FinTech companies to take off.
We read about the people behind the Apps, the background on how the opportunity was identified, and its ultimate development.
The second section was okay. I really don’t know much about Bitcoin or Blockchain technology so it was interesting just not as exciting to me. Blockchain technology should continue to evolve and penetrate our lives. It provides both the means to secure transactions but also to protect privacy. Daniel Simon did a nice job of separating private activities from secret with Blockchain allowing us to conduct anonymous transactions.
He did a nice job connecting that security to Big Data, showing what WeChat does in China and paralleling it to Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. Data, its ownership and control, is what WeChat has in China including financial transactions which is one direction these four technologies giants are evolving towards. He didn’t explore this avenue in detail but laid it out in the epilogue. Likewise, he alluded that Blockchain use could allow us as individuals to own our data rather than concede it to these technology companies.
That thought isn’t explicit but was one conclusion I drew from the book. I’ve read other books on how we, as a society, have given away our personal data. (See books by Yuval Noah Harari or Shoshana Zuboff for a more in depth discussion on the topic.) Can Blockchain technology help us take back that control? Who, and how, can that App be written?
As I said, a really interesting book, but in part because of gaps in my knowledge. A solid 4 star Goodread rating but hard to give it 5, however, I’d encourage others with interest in FinTech to take a look at this book.
The book can be divided into two main sections with the first covering the stories behind a variety of new FinTech companies and the back section on the evolution of Bitcoin and Blockchain. I liked the first section better as a learned of the origins of Venmo (that I use) and Clarity, Betterment, LendingTree, WorldRemit, and Mint. Very interesting how the financial collapse of 2008 and the Great Recession created the conditions that, when combined with broadband and smart phones, allowed FinTech companies to take off.
We read about the people behind the Apps, the background on how the opportunity was identified, and its ultimate development.
The second section was okay. I really don’t know much about Bitcoin or Blockchain technology so it was interesting just not as exciting to me. Blockchain technology should continue to evolve and penetrate our lives. It provides both the means to secure transactions but also to protect privacy. Daniel Simon did a nice job of separating private activities from secret with Blockchain allowing us to conduct anonymous transactions.
He did a nice job connecting that security to Big Data, showing what WeChat does in China and paralleling it to Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. Data, its ownership and control, is what WeChat has in China including financial transactions which is one direction these four technologies giants are evolving towards. He didn’t explore this avenue in detail but laid it out in the epilogue. Likewise, he alluded that Blockchain use could allow us as individuals to own our data rather than concede it to these technology companies.
That thought isn’t explicit but was one conclusion I drew from the book. I’ve read other books on how we, as a society, have given away our personal data. (See books by Yuval Noah Harari or Shoshana Zuboff for a more in depth discussion on the topic.) Can Blockchain technology help us take back that control? Who, and how, can that App be written?
As I said, a really interesting book, but in part because of gaps in my knowledge. A solid 4 star Goodread rating but hard to give it 5, however, I’d encourage others with interest in FinTech to take a look at this book.
November 17, 2021
This was an interesting sweep across the growth of Fintech stateside. The first 2/3rds of the book goes through various Fintech sectors, talking about their origins and growth. I could see each one of these being an extended article on Techcrunch. The last 2/3 talks about bitcoin and blockchain, and the integration of fintech into traditional banking institutions (now that they’ve realized they need to catch up).
There’s big emphasis here on how the rise in technological capabilities, combined with the loss of trust in financial institutions post 2008 financial crisis, paved the way for the growth of these companies. The phrase “I was thinking about Moore’s Law” is repeated at least three times by three different founders. We cover the histories of Mint, Zelle, Yodlee, Clarity, Betterment, Acorn and Green Dot and Bitcoin, to name a few. Some sections (peer to peer payments, remittance, digital currencies) were more interesting than others (peer to peer lending, neobanks).
I thought this provided a really interesting overview, accessible for somebody that knows very little about Fintech. However, because of the wide breadth of topics, nothing is super in depth. It did help me realize that I want to read an entire book based on Bitcoin and Blockchain, since I found those sections fascinating. It did feel kind of odd that Simon went out of the US to talk about WorldRemit (everything else is an American company), yet chose to only bring up China's WeChat in the Epilogue? I think China's combination of Big Tech x Finance definitely should have been its own chapter.
The only other things I’d note are 1) the author sure has a lot of good things to say about Goldman Sachs and 2) the cover makes my eyes hurt.
There’s big emphasis here on how the rise in technological capabilities, combined with the loss of trust in financial institutions post 2008 financial crisis, paved the way for the growth of these companies. The phrase “I was thinking about Moore’s Law” is repeated at least three times by three different founders. We cover the histories of Mint, Zelle, Yodlee, Clarity, Betterment, Acorn and Green Dot and Bitcoin, to name a few. Some sections (peer to peer payments, remittance, digital currencies) were more interesting than others (peer to peer lending, neobanks).
I thought this provided a really interesting overview, accessible for somebody that knows very little about Fintech. However, because of the wide breadth of topics, nothing is super in depth. It did help me realize that I want to read an entire book based on Bitcoin and Blockchain, since I found those sections fascinating. It did feel kind of odd that Simon went out of the US to talk about WorldRemit (everything else is an American company), yet chose to only bring up China's WeChat in the Epilogue? I think China's combination of Big Tech x Finance definitely should have been its own chapter.
The only other things I’d note are 1) the author sure has a lot of good things to say about Goldman Sachs and 2) the cover makes my eyes hurt.
June 6, 2025
Very interesting, but historical at this point
April 21, 2021
A good explanation of various fintech technologies and their growing niche in the banking ecosystem
A methodical walk through various fin technologies, using one or two examples in each category to explain the idea, and its origins and position in the ecosystem. Starting with Mint and analysis, Venmo and Braintree and payments, Green Spot, prepaid cards and banking for the unbanked and underbanked populations, and on to Bitcoin, and crypto currencies in general, and then a specific dive into blockchain and Ethereum. His description of Bitcoin, and then blockchain as a distinct technology, was perhaps the best simple analysis I’ve read, and really made the ideas clear. Finally on to how fintechs compete with banks and Big Tech (GAFA), how banks struggle with innovation and regulation, and a prediction that Big Tech is well placed to take on banking, but is adverse to inviting regulatory scrutiny. But since the regulators are inevitably coming for big tech anyway, likely they work give banks a challenge.
Concise and compelling read.
A methodical walk through various fin technologies, using one or two examples in each category to explain the idea, and its origins and position in the ecosystem. Starting with Mint and analysis, Venmo and Braintree and payments, Green Spot, prepaid cards and banking for the unbanked and underbanked populations, and on to Bitcoin, and crypto currencies in general, and then a specific dive into blockchain and Ethereum. His description of Bitcoin, and then blockchain as a distinct technology, was perhaps the best simple analysis I’ve read, and really made the ideas clear. Finally on to how fintechs compete with banks and Big Tech (GAFA), how banks struggle with innovation and regulation, and a prediction that Big Tech is well placed to take on banking, but is adverse to inviting regulatory scrutiny. But since the regulators are inevitably coming for big tech anyway, likely they work give banks a challenge.
Concise and compelling read.
September 29, 2022
Daniel Simon adalah penulis dan pakar komunikasi finansial yang mengamati perkembangan fintech dari awal. Membaca buku ini langsung terpikir "Orang ini beneran paham seluk beluknya", karena dia bisa menjelaskan konsep-konsep dunia finansial dengan bahasa yang sangat mudah dimengerti. So simple, bahkan saya yang sangat awam (dan agak alergi dengan topik ekonomi) bisa menangkapnya.
Buku ini enak sekali dibaca. Dibuka dengan ilustrasi timeline perubahan fintech sejak kemunculan Amazon e-commerce tahun 1994, jadi bisa lebih mengerti kejadian-kejadian yang diceritakan di bab-bab selanjutnya seperti krisis ekonomi 2008. Lalu Simon juga menggunakan analogi-analogi untuk menjelaskan konsep tertentu, misalnya dengan menceritakan tokoh bankir George Bailey di film It's A Wonderful Life untuk menjelaskan proses perbankan. Atau ketika menjelaskan mengapa layanan WorldRemit perlu mengurus lisensi di 30 negara sebelum meluncurkan produknya, itu seperti membangun rel dulu sebelum kereta bisa dijalankan.
Produk-produk fintech pendobrak sistem finansial tradisional yang dibahas di buku ini antara lain Venmo (mobile transfer); Braintree (plug & play shopping cart); Yodlee (banking API); LendingClub, Kabbage (peer-to-peer lending); CreditKarma (credit monitoring); Mint, Clarity Money (personal finance management); Betterment, Acorn (small scale stock investment); GreenDot (mobile bank); M-Pesa, WorldRemit (overseas transfer); Bitcoin, Ethereum (blockchain, cryptocurrency).
Inovasi-inovasi ini membongkar model layanan perbankan tradisional dan memotongnya menjadi bagian-bagian kecil yang lebih mudah (dan murah) dijangkau publik.
Dari semua yang diceritakan di sini, ada beberapa hal yang menarik:
1. Para inovator fintech ini rata-rata diawali oleh niat memudahkan konsumen, terutama mereka yang tidak punya banyak uang. Disrupsi para inovator ini menjadikan sistem finansial lebih demokratis, tidak dikuasai bank-bank raksasa dan orang-orang kaya, serta membebaskan publik dari biaya layanan yang tinggi.
2. Mereka yang datang dari luar sistem, bisa melihat problem dari sudut pandang berbeda yang tidak terlihat dari dalam sistem.
Era digital tidak bisa dibendung, teknologi akan semakin maju, semakin banyak inovasi yang akan muncul. Mereka yang kepala batu dan tidak mau berubah akan tertinggal dengan sendirinya. Model perbankan tradisional harus siap berubah jika tidak mau menjadi barang usang di masa depan.
Sekali lagi, buku ini enak sekali dibaca, betah bacanya berjam-jam sampai selesai in one sitting.
-dydy-
Buku ini enak sekali dibaca. Dibuka dengan ilustrasi timeline perubahan fintech sejak kemunculan Amazon e-commerce tahun 1994, jadi bisa lebih mengerti kejadian-kejadian yang diceritakan di bab-bab selanjutnya seperti krisis ekonomi 2008. Lalu Simon juga menggunakan analogi-analogi untuk menjelaskan konsep tertentu, misalnya dengan menceritakan tokoh bankir George Bailey di film It's A Wonderful Life untuk menjelaskan proses perbankan. Atau ketika menjelaskan mengapa layanan WorldRemit perlu mengurus lisensi di 30 negara sebelum meluncurkan produknya, itu seperti membangun rel dulu sebelum kereta bisa dijalankan.
Produk-produk fintech pendobrak sistem finansial tradisional yang dibahas di buku ini antara lain Venmo (mobile transfer); Braintree (plug & play shopping cart); Yodlee (banking API); LendingClub, Kabbage (peer-to-peer lending); CreditKarma (credit monitoring); Mint, Clarity Money (personal finance management); Betterment, Acorn (small scale stock investment); GreenDot (mobile bank); M-Pesa, WorldRemit (overseas transfer); Bitcoin, Ethereum (blockchain, cryptocurrency).
Inovasi-inovasi ini membongkar model layanan perbankan tradisional dan memotongnya menjadi bagian-bagian kecil yang lebih mudah (dan murah) dijangkau publik.
Dari semua yang diceritakan di sini, ada beberapa hal yang menarik:
1. Para inovator fintech ini rata-rata diawali oleh niat memudahkan konsumen, terutama mereka yang tidak punya banyak uang. Disrupsi para inovator ini menjadikan sistem finansial lebih demokratis, tidak dikuasai bank-bank raksasa dan orang-orang kaya, serta membebaskan publik dari biaya layanan yang tinggi.
2. Mereka yang datang dari luar sistem, bisa melihat problem dari sudut pandang berbeda yang tidak terlihat dari dalam sistem.
Era digital tidak bisa dibendung, teknologi akan semakin maju, semakin banyak inovasi yang akan muncul. Mereka yang kepala batu dan tidak mau berubah akan tertinggal dengan sendirinya. Model perbankan tradisional harus siap berubah jika tidak mau menjadi barang usang di masa depan.
Sekali lagi, buku ini enak sekali dibaca, betah bacanya berjam-jam sampai selesai in one sitting.
-dydy-
June 2, 2020
The book is fairly light, easy and quick read/ listen. It reviews the evolution of the financial world, shaken by technology and the birth of the so popular Fintech - rival of traditional banks. The book reviews the financial world (and market mainly in USA) for the last 30 years or so: from peer-to-peer lending, financial markets and bot or app advisors for it, debit cards, money transfers to latest hot topics of crypto and blockchain. It discusses many interesting stories of different popular disruptors and why they matter. Among some of the mentioned popular products/ companies and how they changed the game are: iPhone (and Apple and how they enabled finance on mobile), Venmo, Zelle, Yodlee, Clarity Money, Kabbage, Mint, Betterment, Akorn, Lending Club, Green Dot (and the creation of debit cards), Western Union (improved money transfers), Wechat (and having one app for everything - chatting, sharing pics, paying, etc). The invention of peer-to-peer lending was very interesting chapter to me because I had no idea about the struggles and "unbanked" people and the variety of reasons for them. The book's last chapters review Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology. It ends with examples of how the old finance giants like Goldman and JP Morgan tried to innovate and protect against the raise of Fintech. And gives final thoughts about the Fintech future.
April 14, 2020
This book premise is to describe different stars and business in the Fintech world. You ask what is Fintech it is the combination of two worlds which are financial and technology and this combination produces better faster services which maybe just a sliver of business model but makes it better. This covers company like Venemo, Kabbage, Lending Club and there founders definitely with special skill and drive. These developers have the forth sight as technology expands and at times because their own need in a situation come with solutions streamline banking and investing they had the long range view of people handling many task with their phone.
This goes into the financial crises and subprime collapse in 2008 and 2009 in away that is easy to understand and the same can be said later in the book when it covers the history of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain. This is a well written in formative book that is easy to understand.
I received an ARC from Netgalley and Harper Collins for a fair and honest review.
This goes into the financial crises and subprime collapse in 2008 and 2009 in away that is easy to understand and the same can be said later in the book when it covers the history of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain. This is a well written in formative book that is easy to understand.
I received an ARC from Netgalley and Harper Collins for a fair and honest review.
May 22, 2021
This is a good book for someone interested in the world of fintech. It gives you a very good roadmap into how companies like Venmo, Lending Club, Yodlee, and countless others were created. The idea behind Bitcoin and its wanted purpose. Not to mention how their inventions have spawned other fintech ideas and startups. The book does profile the creators from several different industry disruptors, though the author does say he would've had more if they actually responded to his request for an interview. Even with those missing creators, it still provided a very good view into how peer-to-peer networks were created and left the banks searching for a way to fight back.
If there is one issue, it's the fact the final chapter was kind of a throwaway. Mainly because it was trying to present a certain idea of a comeback, but unlike the other profiles, where you could see a true invention, you were left thinking there isn't a fix, it's still a system that isn't going to be fixed or made better.
If there is one issue, it's the fact the final chapter was kind of a throwaway. Mainly because it was trying to present a certain idea of a comeback, but unlike the other profiles, where you could see a true invention, you were left thinking there isn't a fix, it's still a system that isn't going to be fixed or made better.
September 9, 2021
A concise and engaging book about an emerging field
The author’s storytelling is smooth and not boring despite the subject having the potential to get complicated and boring easily. In a concise and consistent flow, the book covers both the history and emergence of the fintech industry and how the fintech industry brings together finance and technology, and how it differs from these two industries (and the culture clash that comes with contradictory backgrounds of finance and technology, finance sector trying to minimize the risk due to being heavily regulated, rejecting change and tech sector trying to disrupt various industries). Specific companies and individuals that are included in the book are well chosen and representative of the industry. Above all, the entire material is very easy to understand and truly a pleasure to read.
The author’s storytelling is smooth and not boring despite the subject having the potential to get complicated and boring easily. In a concise and consistent flow, the book covers both the history and emergence of the fintech industry and how the fintech industry brings together finance and technology, and how it differs from these two industries (and the culture clash that comes with contradictory backgrounds of finance and technology, finance sector trying to minimize the risk due to being heavily regulated, rejecting change and tech sector trying to disrupt various industries). Specific companies and individuals that are included in the book are well chosen and representative of the industry. Above all, the entire material is very easy to understand and truly a pleasure to read.
September 28, 2021
Overall, the book is a pretty big letdown.
It is mostly quite shallow, never really going much deeper than a newspaper article. It is also quite narrow in scope by being extremely US centric. Author writes a chapter about integrating the underbanked, and focuses on the US instead of dozens of countries that have much more impressive stories to tell in that regards. Also, how can you write about massive changed in the financial ecosystem and only really mention WeChat Pay and Alipay in passing in the epilogue. It is by now also a bit outdated. CBDCs and decentralised finance isn't really covered in the book and just look how well that touted success "LendingClub" is doing.
There is nothing really factually wrong with the book (at the times of writing), but I don't recommend it to anybody for the reasons listed above.
It is mostly quite shallow, never really going much deeper than a newspaper article. It is also quite narrow in scope by being extremely US centric. Author writes a chapter about integrating the underbanked, and focuses on the US instead of dozens of countries that have much more impressive stories to tell in that regards. Also, how can you write about massive changed in the financial ecosystem and only really mention WeChat Pay and Alipay in passing in the epilogue. It is by now also a bit outdated. CBDCs and decentralised finance isn't really covered in the book and just look how well that touted success "LendingClub" is doing.
There is nothing really factually wrong with the book (at the times of writing), but I don't recommend it to anybody for the reasons listed above.
April 19, 2021
I picked up this book knowing nothing about the merger of finance and technology; even the term FinTech was new to me. It’s a very accessible introduction to the field, with engaging stories about the people who started the companies. I also appreciated the explanation of the culture clash in FinTech: the finance people want to minimize risk as much as possible; the Tech people want to "move fast and break things", as Mark Zuckerberg is quoted saying. Even the explanation of bitcoin and blockchain technology was easy to follow, which is an accomplishment. I’m now interested in learning more about some of the new products and services, so this introductory book has done its job.
April 14, 2020
I was able to read an advanced copy of this book and am grateful I had the opportunity to do so. In The Money Hackers, Simon provides an overview of the fintech revolution and its impact on the economy today. Beginning with the invention of the iPhone and continuing onto Venmo and other finance-focused apps, Simon paints a clear picture of how drastically our financial lives have changed in the last decade. I strongly recommend to anyone interested in the intersection between finance and technology.
May 11, 2021
This is by far the worst self-serving, employee reviewed, PR exercise that i have ever come across.
Incredible to think that he is a self-proclaimed financial expert - and that companies would pay him for this expertise. Wholeheartedly agree with some of the other reviewers below, who recommend just checking the wikipedia pages of the companies that he writes about - more insightful, analytical and rigorous.
PS: I just started googling some of the names of the 5 star reviewers below and 'GASP' they are indeed his employees.
What a joke.
Incredible to think that he is a self-proclaimed financial expert - and that companies would pay him for this expertise. Wholeheartedly agree with some of the other reviewers below, who recommend just checking the wikipedia pages of the companies that he writes about - more insightful, analytical and rigorous.
PS: I just started googling some of the names of the 5 star reviewers below and 'GASP' they are indeed his employees.
What a joke.
June 16, 2021
Well written with an extremely nice flow, making this as easy to read as fiction. This could have been the textbook we used in my graduate fintech class - it would have covered the same material as the four HBS cases we read instead, though it would have missed some of the details in the bitcoin book.
I particularly enjoyed the proposed theory that fintech, as we look at it today, really came out of the mortgage crisis in 2008. This was well-supported within the book, but not something I had really considered before.
I particularly enjoyed the proposed theory that fintech, as we look at it today, really came out of the mortgage crisis in 2008. This was well-supported within the book, but not something I had really considered before.
August 23, 2023
I work in financial communications and found this a helpful summary of the breadth within the industry. It's a tasting menu, not exceptionally deep in any one topic and notably US-centric, but the author explains complex things very simply. Despite the fact that it's a bit time-bound to its publishing date, it should be required reading for those studying finance or the psychology of money, or storytelling within this industry. Given the tasting menu approach, my one critique is that I wish there were "further/suggested reading" outlined for each topic.
April 8, 2020
I read an advanced copy of this book and really enjoyed it. I expected the book, which is about financial technology, to be a bit dry but it actually tells some pretty compelling stories. It's easy to get interested in the "human side" of these companies and technologies that we all use. It's a fairly quick read and I thought it was very engaging and entertaining. I feel a bit smarter for having read it.
April 19, 2021
Okay For Understanding Online World of Finance
The author provides a pretty good review of how mobile finance and cryptocurrency developed and is changing how the world of banking and finances are changing. Overall it was pretty good but the reader needs to have an interest in the subject. The author did a good job keeping it concise so it doesn’t take long to read.
The author provides a pretty good review of how mobile finance and cryptocurrency developed and is changing how the world of banking and finances are changing. Overall it was pretty good but the reader needs to have an interest in the subject. The author did a good job keeping it concise so it doesn’t take long to read.
April 14, 2020
I received an early copy of this book and loved it. We use these apps every day or see ads for it, so it was interesting to see the story behind the founders and motivates them to leave their jobs to build something totally new. Overall, an easy read - highly recommend.
June 13, 2021
Compliance technology with finances.
Easy to understand writing. Seems to be more knowledgeable on the finance side as compared to the technology side. Looking forward to his next book.
Easy to understand writing. Seems to be more knowledgeable on the finance side as compared to the technology side. Looking forward to his next book.
March 9, 2024
A review on how technology disrupts the use of money since the past decade. Though it's just a short read, the author provides clear perspectives on the changes and what we can expect to see in the coming future. Disruption no doubt..
August 13, 2020
I loved this one! A really good read.
February 11, 2021
Great intro to financial technology companies and innovators...if you're into that.
May 29, 2021
Good decade overview of fin tech from 2008-2018.
Otherwise not significant depth to any one development.
Otherwise not significant depth to any one development.
September 2, 2021
Some interesting information such as ways various FINTECH apps.
November 27, 2021
Nice summary of the recent past
Well written summary of the recent past in technology an banking. Fintech is here to stay and this is a cool intro into this world
Well written summary of the recent past in technology an banking. Fintech is here to stay and this is a cool intro into this world
February 26, 2022
I enjoyed this book. It was very interesting to see how a lot of Fintech services and applications was conceptualized and their impact.
November 10, 2022
Money tugs at your emotions,
Lends itself to innovation.
Lends itself to innovation.
July 25, 2023
Technology is reforming the whole finance topology, and we are on the way of either witnessing or participating.
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