
It's a truism that the hardest job in engineering is that of 'Tech Lead'. You're the person who's not only writing code, but simultaneously leading a small group of other engineers and spending large amounts of time talking to stakeholders and the Product Manager (or, ten years ago, *Project* Manager). 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.

As we roll into 2018 thoughts inevitably turn to the big themes that we might expect (and hope) to see for user experience in the financial services industry this year.

Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is a theory. Its main aim is to explain why customers start - and stop - using different products and services in the market. Stripped down to the essentials, it’s a fairly straightforward concept first introduced by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen that can be adapted into a useful tool for product development.

There’s been a huge leak of files from FinCEN, the US-based Financial Crime Enforcement Network. Over 2000 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and hundreds of other documents appear to show how banks have been unable to prevent trillions in money laundering, tax avoidance and criminality over the past decade. But there's a more in-depth story to uncover here.

This is the third instalment of a 6 part series that explores the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) for US SMBs that we identified in our recent research. Each blog post explores one of the jobs and how we examined it with a JTBD canvas. If you missed the first post that explains JTBD and the canvas, check it out before reading this.

David M. Brear interviewed Jonathan Larsen, CIO, Ping An and CEO of their Global Voyager Fund, a $1bn investment fund, specifically for fintech. He tells David all about the fund and the innovations in fintech coming from China and making a huge impact worldwide.

Despite the astronomical price-tag and highly breakable look of early foldable phones, we can confidently predict a future of interesting new design challenges thanks to flexible screens.

At the beginning of 2022, many early-stage investors looked ahead with optimism as we emerged from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, and global economies started to show signs of growth again.

Sharing our stories, our challenges, and the things that truly matter to us. Today we talk to Clouston Mahon who is a UX lead in the 11:FS Pulse team to discuss what makes a great user experience, who is doing it well and looking outside of financial services for inspiration.

In the first part of this series I introduced the story of Frederic Tudor, the American Ice-Block King; and discussed lessons learned from his then new product offering as it relates to blockchain technology. Tudor was able to successfully corner the ice-block shipping market and eventually was shipping blocks of ice to as far away as Calcutta from his home in Boston.

How can community banks remain competitive as large financial institutions gobble up more and more of the market?

How successful have government loan schemes in the UK and US been so far and what’s next?

Guest author Richard Davies gives his thoughts on the importance of scaling agile to all functions of an organisation, and some key factors on how to get there.

11:FS Product Lead Terry Cordeiro reflects on what it’s like to be a new “11” after nearly three months on the job.

You know they say you shouldn’t start a diet and give up smoking at the same time? Or get married and start a new job? Or whatever?

David M. Brear is joined by some great guests, from Visa, Spendesk, and Revolut, to talk about the UX revolution in European fintech.

Benjamin Ensor is joined by some great guests, from Branch, Iwoca, and Treyd, to look at the opportunities and challenges of opportunities of specialised offerings for small and medium-sized businesses.

Benjamin Ensor and Kate Moody are joined by some great guests, Bridge built by Citi and Seattle Bank, to look at the challenges and opportunities for community banks in America.

Crowdcube and Octopus Investments opening up retail investments, Apple Pay Later is finally launching, and Twitter changes logo to Dogecoin cryptocurrency image – Ross Gallagher is joined by some great guests, from Crowdcube, Fintech Business Weekly, and The Fintech Times, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Silicon Valley Bank bought by rival, Klarna plugs ChatGPT into its platform, and Latitude Financial records stolen in cyber attack – David M. Brear and Kate Moody are joined by some great guests, from CFIT and first direct, live on stage in London to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services.

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

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.

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.

Kate Moody is joined by some great guests, from 11:FS, Ramp, and Citi's DX10, to talk about how crucial customer centric design is to building better financial services.

David Barton-Grimley is joined by some great guests, from Pine, Proportunity, and Digital Cat Consultancy, to discuss the current struggles for first-time homebuyers and whether a Super App could ease the whole experience.

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 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.

Kate Moody and Benjamin Ensor are joined by some great guests to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days, including: PayPal and Apple call a truce, Stripe and others make tough layoffs, and Glastonbury festival ticket issues. All this and more on today's show!

Ross Gallagher and Benjamin Ensor are joined by some great guests to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days, including: wIll Goldman Sachs pull the plug on Marcus? PayPal backs away from fining people $2,500 for 'misinformation', and Damien Hirst burns artworks after collectors pick their NFTs instead.
The invention of the computer revolutionised banking in the 1950s.

What does the future hold for lending? Live from Lendit USA 2022.
Will banks exist in 100 years?

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...

