Revealed: My Top 10 Most Popular Forbes Articles from 2024 (Using Alternative Phrases)

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I guess it's time for my 2024 "Our Website Wrapped" edition, even if nobody might actually read another yearly highlights thing. Everyone else seems to be doing it, so why not join the bandwagon and share my "Our Website Wrapped" for 2024! Thanks to all of you out there, here are the ten most-read articles I posted on Our Website last year.

Your List, Not Mine

I'm not sure what this list means, to be honest, because I don't think that the popularity of an article correlates directly with its quality or importance. But let's face it, the people who read Our Website are business reads, not just technologists. So, it's important for me to translate complex financial developments into simplified, accessible synopses that help business strategists in their work. The feedback I receive helps me to better understand the key business issues, which I love. Anyway, here we go with your top ten!

In tenth place, surprisingly, was an article about Apple Pay reaching its tenth birthday. I'm not sure if anything I wrote about it was particularly groundbreaking, but thank you for liking "Apple Pay Turns 10. The Apple ID Turns 20.".

In ninth position was "Why JPMorgan Chase is Right to be Bullish on Retail Biometrics, in which I reiterated my belief that while consumers might have security concerns, they also appreciate the convenience of biometric solutions when implemented correctly. Biometrics are a win-win, delivering security to service providers while delivering ease of use to consumers.

At no.8, it's Apple again, this time talking about their use of new encryption technology. While it's a difficult topic to explain to laypeople, I titled it "Witchcraft or Mathematics? Apple's New Encryption Tool is a Game Changer.".

I made a point in several talks over the course of the year that the push for tokenisation is not about technology but business. It's what serious money people think is important in shaping the next generation of Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI). At no.7 in your list then is "Listen to the Money Men about Tokenization, Not the Technologists.".

In sixth place is a story that received lots of media attention due to criminal activities in major cities, especially London. Thanks to the antics of cybercriminals, lots of people wanted to hear about how "My iPhone Was Stolen, But My Bank Accounts Survived.".

I think the piece in fifth place might have been my personal favourite for this year. It combined several of my favourite themes - AI, digital identity, and fraud - in a suitably scandalous celebrity gossip style. I Loved "Celebrity Deepfakes vs. Deepfake Celebrities: Which is Real and Which is Fake?" and I think that the whole "what does real actually mean" thing is going to get more complicated in the coming year.

At no.4 was my top-rated article about the opening up of the NFC interface and the secure element, which I thought was one of the most significant fintech moves of the year. I explained why in "Apple Opens Up. And It's a Big Deal.".

Your no.3 was an article that resonated with me because of my interest in the metaverse and spatial computing. Lots of you found "Mark Zuckerberg and Spatial Computing: Why Smart Glasses Will Replace Mobile Phones" pretty interesting, and I think that in time we will look back on this as an important step forward in the shift to post-mobile interfaces.

The second most popular post was about the complexities of merchants service charges and sales tax. I guess I must have a lot of readers from the payment card industry and for them "Paying in America is Annoying" was a must-read. On reflection, given what I said about writing for a business audience, I should write more about the business models around payments.

So we come to the top spot. The post that you were most interested in last year was not about blockchain or stablecoins, Walmart or Revolut. It was this post about QR codes, the rise of "qishing", and the need to shift to more secure alternatives. Here is "It's Time to Say Goodbye to QR Codes in Fintech. I can't resist pointing out that I'm actually writing another piece about QR codes right now, as the impact of QR-based fraud continues to grow and spread.

Alright then, that was 2024 in the books! Reflecting on myWrapped, I picked up a few things. I found out that discoursing about Apple's tech strategies, like their shift towards post-quantum security, gives a legitimacy to those technologies for the finance sector to adopt. Additionally, it was intriguing to observe that ordinary tech topics, such as QR codes, resonate more with business readers as they tackle specific business concerns. Furthermore, I honed my skills in explaining the impact of tech decisions on financial services and businesses in general. A heartfelt thanks to my readers and the phenomenal team at Our Website. Here's to an exciting 2025!

Diving into my crystal ball for the coming year, based on the partially drafted articles and disorganized notes in front of me, it appears that stablecoins will play a significant role. Fraud detection and AI will also be hot topics, and as a bonus, I'm guessing agentic commerce will become my favorite theme for the year.

Wishing everyone a fantastic 2025!

In seventh place on the list, the author discussed the importance of listening to financial experts when it comes to tokenization, highlighting its impact on the financial market infrastructure in an article titled "Listen to the Money Men about Tokenization, Not the Technologists."

Making a strong appearance in fifth place, the author's piece on celebrity deepfakes and digital identity demonstrated the blurring lines between reality and fiction, capturing the readers' interest with the title "Celebrity Deepfakes vs. Deepfake Celebrities: Which is Real and Which is Fake?"

In the realm of fintech, the author explored Apple's significant move in opening up the NFC interface and secure element, which landed in fourth place on the readers' list, titled "Apple Opens Up. And It's a Big Deal."

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