
I’ve been thinking about HENRYs recently. Not the Henry who asked me to marry him - I was 8, he was 5 - although he does cross my mind occasionally. HENRYs, short for ‘High Earners Not Rich Yet’, was coined as a label by Shawn Tully in 2003.
US Bank has taken the top spot in the first 11:FS Pulse ranking of US mobile banking apps, scoring 94 out of 100.

Banks are borrowing from the digital wellness playbook: health checks diagnose, personalised insights track, automated tools build habits, and AI assistants are beginning to coach.
Over the last 18 months, UK credit card borrowing has accelerated, outstanding balances have surpassed pre-pandemic highs, and some of the UK’s largest fintechs are making increasingly aggressive moves into lending.

If you listened to the headlines, you'd think the competitive race in financial services is about one thing: building the smartest AI. We think that's the wrong way to look at it.
Barclays is acquiring the UK arm of GoHenry, a money app for 6 to 18-year olds. With a reported price tag of £180 million for around 500,000 active accounts, £360 per head is a chunky investment.

Financial services should be designing products and services that help buyers understand all of the costs involved in their end-to-end financial journey before committing.

For the past decade, the banking industry has been focused on developing frictionless interfaces. Financial institutions have prioritised seamless transactions, instant gratification, and engaging gamified features in a bid to build the ultimate digital financial experience.

The need for better, tailored support through the customer experience is clear, but few are accounting for the fundamental shift that financial services has experienced with the introduction of AI.
As the Saudi fintech market matures, a new challenge is emerging. Most fintech interactions, whether payments, BNPL, or other services, remain fundamentally transactional.

When a customer reaches checkout today, they may get a choice to pay now, split the cost, or move it into credit. That is a very different starting point from the old model of applying for credit in advance.

Loyalty is defined as “a strong feeling of support or allegiance”. However, in the context of financial services, it is more accurately defined as engineered persistence: a series of subconscious cues that steer customers toward familiar choices.

The people using business banking tools don’t necessarily have financial backgrounds. Many smaller businesses can't afford a dedicated finance team. Yet banks keep building products that assume expertise their customers don't have, leaving them to figure things out on their own.

As AI becomes another interface between customers and their money, could banks lose their place at the centre of the financial relationship?

About this episode: US banking customers have more choice than ever. But does more choice mean better banking? Host Benjamin Ensor is joined by Joe Colchester, Head of Product at 11:FS Pulse, and Oliwia Wasik, Product Manager and Benchmar

About this episode: Moving countries has never been easier. But what happens when your financial identity doesn’t move with you? Host Benjamin Ensor is joined by Merusha Naidu, Global Head of Partnerships at Paymentology, Ibrahim Oladele

Subscription banking is growing – but what makes customers willing to pay for something they’ve traditionally expected for free?

Gen Z is often told it needs to get better with money. But with younger people facing a very different economic reality, does Gen Z really have a financial literacy problem — or does financial services have a Gen Z problem?

About this episode: For many founders, selling a company is seen as the finish line. But some of the biggest financial decisions around an exit happen long before the deal is done - so why does wealth management so often arrive too late?

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions most people will ever make. Yet despite years of digital innovation, the experience remains fragmented, stressful and surprisingly analogue.

For years, neobanks competed by offering better banking experiences. Now, the biggest players are expanding into investing, AI-powered financial guidance, wealth management and premium services—areas once dominated by private banks.
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In this episode, we're exploring what it takes to build modern banking technology from the ground up. Host Ross Gallagher - Head of Consulting at 11:FS - joined by Sam Everington, CEO of Engine by Starling, and Jody Bhagat, President of North America at Engine by Starling.

Advice is regulated and personalised. Guidance is broader and safer - but that line is starting to blur.
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What does customer loyalty really mean in financial services - and has it ever been real? In this episode of Fintech Insider Insights, Kate Moody is joined by Rosie Lee, Jas Shah, and Alex Johnson to unpack the shifting nature of loyalty in a world where switching is easier than ever.
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On this week’s episode, in partnership with Pleo, host Benjamin Ensor is joined by Jeppe Rindom, Co-Founder and CEO of Pleo; Søren Westh Lonning, CFO at Pleo; and Megan Cooper, CEO of Caywood, to explore how the role of finance has evolved over the past decade - and what it will take for finance teams to win the next 10 years.
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In this special episode David M. Brear digs into what it really takes to succeed as a fintech startup in the Middle East alongside some special guests.
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Our expert host, David M. Brear, and co-host, Kate Moody, present Fintech Insider News live from Village Underground in London, joined by some fantastic guests to discuss the biggest fintech and financial services stories of the week.
It's not just a buzzword.
11:FS CEO David M. Brear takes to the lightboard to give us the full run-down, with examples of companies that are leading the way.

There’s no one-size-fits-all design proposition for the Middle-East. While emergent markets such as Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain are all seeking to diversify their economies...
Just what is going on with Buy Now, Pay Later right now?

There are one billion people globally who can't prove their identity. That's a big problem for accessing financial services.

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...

