Technology could take the bankers out of banking, says BoE policmaker Andy Haldane Speaking in New York, Andy Haldane, executive director of financial stability at the Bank of England, argued that the failure of information and risk management systems contributed to the financial crisis and that new technology to prevent a repeat of past mistakes could make "banking middle men ... surplus links in the chain." Banks have already been "disintermediated" in certain areas. In Kenya, "banks have been forced to lower significantly their payment costs" after a mobile phone operator launched a rival payment service. In the UK, Zopa and FundingCircle are developing "commercial peer-to-peer lending" that links lenders directly with borrowers through the internet. "At present, these companies are tiny," Mr Haldane said. But so, a decade and a half ago, was Google. Mr Haldane said action is already being taken to improve the systems that support banking. Global regulators are developing proposals to tag both banks and financial products with unique "barcodes" to make it easier to assess risk exposures in the future. According to Mr Haldane, tags could revolutionise banking. "The experience of global supply chains and the web tell us there is no technological constraint on real-time measurement and management of financial inventories by even the largest firms," he said. Where Wal-Mart has led, Wall Street could follow. Tagging could make markets safer and allow faster risk assessment while potentially boosting competition in banking, he added. If product markets and the internet are any guide, a common financial language could help lower barriers to market entry. Drawing comparisons with the music and publishing industries, he said the traditional "lengthy supply chain ... created a significant barrier to entry." The digital revolution has put authors and musicians closer to their customers. The incumbent middle men have found their lunch devoured in one sitting. In effect, they have been disintermediated by technology," Mr Haldane said. With open access to borrower information, held centrally and virtually, there is no reason why end-savers and end-investors cannot connect directly. The banking middle men may in time become the surplus links in the chain. Where music and publishing have led, finance could follow.