
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.

Our expert host, David Barton-Grimley, is joined by a fantastic guest from Totem to continue exploring financial inclusion in the USA.

UBS is buying Credit Suisse in bid to halt banking crisis, FCA warns payment firms over ‘unacceptable risk of harm to customers’, and Stripe now valued at $50B following $6.5B raise – Ross Gallagher and Kate Moody are joined by some great guests to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

David M. Brear is joined by some great guests, from 11:FS, Google, and Weavr, to discuss how cloud services and FinOps as a practice can help financial services in these economically difficult times.

Silicon Valley Bank closed by regulators, HSBC buys Silicon Valley Bank's UK unit for £1, and Succession's Logan Roy comes to the London Stock Exchange – Kate Moody and Benjamin Ensor are joined by some great guests, from Innovate Finance and Fintech Takes, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Abound raises to supercharge AI-powered consumer lending, BaaS platform Griffin secures UK banking licence with restrictions , and people are posting their failed Monzo applications on TikTok –Ross Gallagher and David Barton-Grimley are joined by some great guests to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Kate Moody is joined by some great guests, from Dawn Capital, JP Morgan Chase, and Your Juno, to discuss if financial services is currently doing enough for women.

Natwest’s Rose Review reveals record new firms founded by women, JP Morgan bans ChatGPT, and should you tip your landlord? – Benjamin Ensor is joined by some great guests, from Anthemis, Brite Payment, and Seccl, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

David Barton-Grimley is joined by some great guests, from Ampla, Fiat Republic, and HSBC, to give examples of how embedded finance can find scale and make a profit.

Our expert host, David Barton-Grimley, is joined by a fantastic guest from M-Pesa to continue exploring the world of Super Apps.

Vexi raises to offer young Mexicans lower interest rate credit cards, gig workers denied equal opportunity to financial services, and BMO bank no longer has a den for Hubert the Harris Lion – Kate Moody and Benjamin Ensor are joined by some great guests, from Vexi and Rollee, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

EL. EF. GEE. Today we bring you: a deep dive into web2.5 and our very first case study! On this show, we're taking a closer look at the current state of web 2.5, and the history and impact of WalletConnect on web2.5 and web3 advancements. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

US fintech unicorn Alloy launches in the UK, Britain sets out legislation to regulate buy-now-pay-later credit, and CIBC encourages couples to talk about their finances this Valentine's Day – Benjamin Ensor and Amy Gavin are joined by some great guests, from Alloy, Klarna, and BetaKit, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last seven days.

David M. Brear is joined by some great guests, from Visa, PaySky, and Careem, to really dig into the question: "What is stopping Super Apps from succeeding outside Asia?”

Ross Gallagher and Kate Moody are joined by some great guests, from Atom Bank and Fintech Finance, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days, including: Tech Nation’s shutdown sparks fears for UK fintech, Stripe tells employees it will decide on an IPO within the next year, and 6-year-old boy spends $1k on Grubhub.

Ross Gallagher is joined by some great guests, from 11:FS, Zopa, and Lightyear, to talk about the impact of design in making a fintech product stand out in an increasingly crowded market.
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...

