Articles

Do you remember where you were when you first spotted that hot coral card in the queue at a coffee shop? For me, it was early 2016. A short while after they’d changed their name from ‘Mondo’ but still early enough to feel like I was an ‘early adopter’. This is taken from our Unfiltered newsletter. Subscribe now for a no BS, uncensored analysis of fintech news and hot topics delivered to your inbox each fortnight.

11:FS CEO David M. Brear reached out to his followers on LinkedIn to ask for their thoughts on the following conundrum: what do you think the future operating model looks like for financial services and why?

Death. It's inevitable. It's also a financial nightmare most don't see coming. But what if you could save tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars during this grim process?

The landscape for fintech and banking is evolving more rapidly than ever, and in case you weren’t aware, there’s a war going on for your customers. With challengers attacking from left, right, and centre, it’s never been more important to stay on top of the latest and greatest UX innovation. Pssst – click here to go straight to the goods and request a demo of 11:FS Pulse.

The opportunity to change the way we deliver financial services is changing as new channels, products and partnerships are being explored. Banking as a Platform (BaaP) is one of the alternatives.By me, David M. Brear, CEO and Co Founder at 11:FS and Pascal Bouvier, Venture Partner at Santander InnoVentures

While 2015 was just awesome on nearly all fronts, I think the close of the year has left us with a cliff hanger that George RR Martin would be rather proud of. For the curious among you, the question remains what’s next? What will 2016 bring? Across the actors and audiences, we feel there are the 9 questions we need to answer to be able to gauge who the winners and losers in 2016 banking will be. To get to the bottom of these questions, we have given our opinion, have asked a panel for their inputs and have asked a few expert friends of Think Different Group also for theirs.

“Hey Siri – Are you the bank of the future?”… “No comment, David” – Sometimes when someone says no comment that means no but when the thing saying it is a computer assistant then “no comment” means someone has taken the time to think about it and decide upon a snarky comment rather than nothing at all! For years AI has been a good idea without real world application or the processing power, connectivity or interface intelligence to maximize the opportunity. In the last 6 months, and ever increasingly, those restrictions are being removed unlocking huge potential.

Our CEO, David Brear, talks everything PSD 2 for HotTopics. Legislation is usually brought in to reduce stupidity amongst individuals, or groups exhibiting behaviors that may cause harm. PSD 2 is no different in terms of its purpose and overall need to exist. The European Commission has tried to foster innovation and filter banks toward more inclusive ways of working. PSD, miData and a number of other “carrots” meant to foster innovation have been used with limited success. Banks have treated all of these as purely compliance driven; tick box exercises, and tend to deliver the bare minimum to meet legislation. With regulators and governments now losing patience with banks, we now have the “go to your room” moment; PSD 2.

We asked some of the 11:Mamas what they think we do. Here's how that went.

As consumers order the new Apple Watch, could this eventually be the missing piece of banking’s ‘branch of the future’? With secure digital payments, facilitated through the iPhone and Apple Watch, is this the potential game changer everyone has been waiting for? This article was first published on the Financial Brand in April 2015.

It’s all very quiet. Almost too quiet for my liking. The UK banking system is under more stresses and strains than it has ever faced, but yet it is seemingly business as usual for many. The time is now upon us. Fundamentally, the decisions banks make in the next 24 months and the changes they implement in the next five years will define the industry’s winners and losers—period.

Legacy banking organizations are filled with career bankers who are set in their ways and naturally resist change. These managers can stifle the creativity and innovative spirit of others, impacting the ability for the organization to make needed transitions and remain competitive. What type of banker are you? Banks have been talking about a legacy holding them back for decades, but usually this discussion revolves around IT, core banking systems, distribution channels and traditional operation processes. This article was first published on the Financial Brand in July 2015.