The ubiquitous World Wide Web sets banking in its sights

The internet has the financial services industry in its sights. Some recent initiatives show the web...

The internet has the financial services industry in its sights. Some recent initiatives show the web is starting to chew away at some profitable areas of banking. In recent years the internet has hammered the media industry. Newspaper publishers have lost readers who moved over to online versions and blogs. Record labels have had sales wiped out as listeners abandoned compact discs for free downloads. Banking may well be next. The internet hates middlemen, and bankers are quintessential intermediaries. Take a look at some recent start-ups that threaten their trade. Last year, London-base...