How to manage financial products in Europe, NA, Asia, and beyond.

For most people, the month falls into two phases - before and after payday - when balances jump, debts feel manageable, and financial intentions come back within reach. But in most banking apps, payday is treated as a passive event.

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.

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 UK’s largest digital bank once again beat RBS and NatWest to the top spot in 11:FS Pulse's best of UK banking chart.

For years, banks have relied on OTPs as a second factor for logins and sensitive actions. Sent via SMS, these short codes were designed to add security on top of a password. But they have become one of the weakest and most frustrating parts of the banking experience.

Financial accessibility has long been framed as a matter of compliance or corporate social responsibility. But today, it’s emerging as something much bigger: a competitive advantage.

Saving money and paying bills might not sound exciting - but today’s finance apps are borrowing tricks from video games to change that.

Recap the biggest live show Fintech Insider: After Dark has ever done below. Listen back here or stream below as Jason, Simon and a panel of special guests tackle some of the biggest and silliest stories of the week.

Loyalty is broken. ‘We appreciate your loyalty’ greetings don’t fool anyone. Most of us can recall crappy experiences.

Although they date back to 2014, in 2017 we saw the rapid rise of ‘crypto funds’, or investment funds that invest mainly in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, or other ‘altcoins’. Those offering crypto funds are, in effect, managing digital assets. But what’s the difference between ‘managing digital assets’ and ‘managing assets digitally’? Many asset managers have digitized some analogue processes, but very few asset managers are truly digital in nature. What lessons can we learn from the first few years of those that manage digital assets such as crypto funds?, and how can the end investor benefit?

Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? France’s fintech star is rising. With over 1100 of them based in the capital alone, junior minister Cédric O has promised that Paris will eclipse London as the fintech hotspot in Europe in the near-distant future.

Asking the wrong questions will only ever lead to the wrong solutions. That’s why we lean into Jobs to be Done at 11:FS. It’s based on the notion that there’s no use in asking what the customer wants, because they don’t actually know. 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.

We were lucky enough to catch up with Ben Metz, Head of Digital at Jack Henry. Here, he predicts who’ll come out on top in the banking war: the traditional players or the challengers, and what will decide who wins and loses.

I'm going to start with an unpopular opinion that we proposition design purists like to convince ourselves isn't true: sometimes it's ok to launch a clone.