
The One to Watch award is given to the company with the firmest foundations onto which it can build truly digital services in the next 12 months.

I’ve poked fun at banks and fintechs, but now it’s time to take on the consultancies. Sometimes it can feel like you’re spending your money on bad advice and worse decisions. Sometimes you are.

Last week I spoke to friends of 11:FS to discover the 11 stupidest things banks do. It was more popular than any of us expected. It even compelled 11:FS Co-Founder, Simon Taylor to write a love letter to the big banks telling them how they can do better. Here at 11:FS we felt like maybe we’d been a little harsh on our incumbent friends. So, I decided to write another list, reaching out to both the wider fintech community and all our followers to find out the 11 stupidest things fintechs say and do.

Here at 11:FS we talk a lot about how Digital Banking is only 1% Finished, jobs to be done, and many other topics on how big banks get things wrong. But sometimes just hearing the theory isn’t enough. So I spoke to bankers, insiders, fintechers, associates, customers, and researchers – all anonymously – who have given me swathes of real world examples of the stupid shit banks do. Here’s the 11 best…or worst, depending on how you want to see it. This list took a fair while to compile so if you’ve got something you want to add send me a message and maybe we’ll do a part two.

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she returns to her adventures in the land of appalling customer care.

When the World Bank launched a focus on financial inclusion in 2011, about 2.5-3 billion people lacked access to even the most basic financial services. Since then, dramatic progress has been made. Between 2011 and 2014 an astonishing 700 million people gained bank accounts (twice the population of the US). In the latest World Bank Findex report, it was stated that a further 8% of the world opened an account.

David Brear and Jason Bates were put through their paces when they met Gary Vaynerchuk who gave them one of his famous $100,000 sessions.

In the second quarter of 2017 VC-backed fintechs raised $5.2bn via 251 deals.That brings us to $8bn for the between Q2 2016 and Q2 2017, meaning the industry is well on track to a record breaking year (2015 saw a peak of $14.1bn). If you’ve got a killer idea or you’ve made it to MVP stage, now might be the time to familiarise yourself with the biggest fintech players in the VC world.

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by a panel of guests to talk through the latest and greatest news in the insurance space which are heavily focussed on Covid-19 and the insurance industry this week!

Simon Taylor and Adam Davis are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: 100% backed business loans; big banks results are in and corona is hitting their profit margins hard and even Animal Crossing's Bank of Nook is slashing its interest rates in an unwelcome reflection of the real world.

Sam Maule is joined by some great guests in the US SMB space, to discuss the impact of the coronavirus crisis on US small businesses - at the time in which all the stimulus funding had already been given out.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Libra seeks regulatory approval, China trials its digital yuan and Andreessen Horowitz deepens its commitment to crypto. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Sam Maule and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the biggest global stories of the last 7 days, including: new stimulus funding in the US; new fundraises and valuations for Stripe and Robinhood; and ShackShack give back their $10million stimulus.

11:FS's David Brear, Simon Taylor, Sarah Kocianski and Benjamin Ensor come together to talk about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial services industry.

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by a panel of guests to talk through Covid-19 and what this might mean for the insurance industry going forward! All this and much much more on today's Insurtech Insider!

Sarah Kocianski and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Starling and OakNorth join coronavirus loan programme, US fintechs to help distribute coronavirus aid, and a women-only neobank is coming to Brazil.

In this highly topical episode, Sarah Kocianski and Simon Taylor, dig into the impact COVID-19 is having on SME financing, and their access to government funding. They are joined by expert guests from Coconut, Quotevine and 1pm PLC.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Sila raises $7.7M to wipe out ACH, Ether hits a 28-day high and everybody and their dog wants a CBDC. Simon Taylor hosts and is joined by Olivia VInden and Lex Sokolin. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

David Brear and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: SoFI's $1.2bn takeover of Galileo; Kabbage cuts off its funding and the FCA allow selfies as ID.

Sam Maule is joined by Varo Money COO, Wesley Wright, to talk about how the company came to be, their goals of financial inclusion and their recent FDIC insurance approval.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Digital dollar dropped whilst China gets one step closer, Bitcoin is booming on Cash App, and CFTC announces guidance on the delivery of digital assets. Simon hosts and is joined by All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by some wonderful guests to talk about insurance in the rental market and how COVID-19 might be changing it all. All this and much much more on today's Insurtech Insider!

David Brear and Eric Fulwiler are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: US banks to halt lay-offs, start-ups may be barred from stimulus, and April Fools in the age of coronavirus.
Regulation is essential. It stops banks from going bust or behaving badly.
Lending has been around for thousands of years and is one of the cornerstones of banking.
Mastercard and Visa are the two biggest credit card networks in the world.
We kick off our Decoding: Banks series with a look at the banking landscape today and how we got here.

David M. Brear, our 11:FS CEO, takes us through legacy technology within banks - but of course, with a really cool Lightboard.

There are one billion people globally who can't prove their identity. That's a big problem for accessing financial services.
Inclusive design is a mindset and a process that suggests that you should bring as many people as possible - and the most diverse of voices that you can - into your product design product process, so that you're being truly inclusive. It's designing with people rather that just at them. Charlotte Fereday, Product Director, Ventures, explains what inclusive design is, why it's important, how you can design more inclusively, and answers - how possible is truly inclusive design?
On this episode of Spotlight, 11:FS Crypto Global Strategy Director, Mauricio Magaldi is joined by Ramp Network Co-Founder and CEO, Szymon Sypniewicz. In today's chat, the pair discuss Szymon's career, the current regulatory landscape in crypto, and what the future might hold when it comes to widespread crypto adoption.

The UK banking battlefield has never been more competitive. Customers expectfinancial apps that are personalised, seamless, and that genuinely make a differenc...


The UK banking battlefield has never been more competitive. Customers expectfinancial apps that are personalised, seamless, and that genuinely make a differenc...

