
There’s a reason counties often refer to their tech hubs as “the Silicon Valley of [insert country name here].” The Bay Area is the proud birthplace of some of the world’s biggest technological triumphs, home to global powerhouses like Apple and Visa. Every year the Valley also attracts a host of fintech start-ups - such as Credit Karma, Chime and Varo Bank, to name a few. But it’s not just California driving the future of financial services. We’ve done our research to see which companies across the 50 states are leading the fintech charge. (Did you miss our first blog? See who’s doing awesome things on the other side of the pond with our list of the hottest European fintechs.)

Back at the end of 2019, we dived into the perfect fintech storm that was brewing in the Middle East. Diversification had already started in the region, but financial inclusion was reluctant to follow. So where are we now? It’s 2020, and things have been hotting up in the region with opportunities continuing to surface. But what does the region hold for fintech and why is the Middle East where the real gold lies?

Cyber attacks are hardly new, so why are banks putting renewed energy into combating them? 11:FS Market Research Analyst Joanne Kumire explains.

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.

London’s been at the centre of the fintech bubble for over a decade now, and the rest of Europe isn’t far behind. One of the few silver linings of the coronavirus pandemic could be that it might act as a catalyst for a tonne of investment into fintech, as more and more people recognise the need to go digital. Despite the trend for falling investments in 2020, the UK fintech sector is still looking flush thanks to investments of over $1.84 billion. To give you a heads up on the next big companies on the scene, we’ve rounded up the hottest startups on our watch list 🔥

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.

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.

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.

What is Facebook coin / Libra? Is this a game-changing moment and what should we do about it?

EL. EF. GEE. Today we bring you: a case study on all things smart tokens. What are they? How do they work? What do they mean for web3? All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Buy Now Pay Later regulation shelved in UK, Thunes pockets $72M, and Farage accuses Coutts of closing account over ‘values’ – Ross Gallagher and Nas Ahmad 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 Plaid, Payments Solved, and The Payments Association EU, to look at the potential impact of Payment Services Directive 3 on Open Banking.

David M. Brear is joined by some great guests, from Citi and JP Morgan, to delve into the developments, friction, and potential future of cross-border payments.

David M. Brear is joined by some great guests, from Clearbank, Mastercard, and Thredd, to discuss the relationship between Silicon Valley giants and the payments space.

a16z to open first international office in London, HSBC builds innovation division from the bones of SVB UK, and Snoop Dogg launches NFT tour pass – 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.

Bank of England plans to reject Revolut's bid for banking licence, Brite Payments launches instant payments network, and Daylight calls it quits – Kate Moody and Ross are joined by some great guests, from Brite Payments and Fifth Third Bank, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Skipton launches deposit-free mortgage aimed at renters, Apple attracts $1 billion in deposits in a week, and WhatsApp allows Singapore businesses to pay within app – Kate Moody and Ross Gallagher are joined by some great guests, from Thunes and Redpoint Ventures, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Benjamin Ensor is joined by some great guests, from 11:FS, CAF, and Hummingbird, to talk about the latest developments in Know Your Customer and Know Your Business.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: a deep-dive into Nigeria's crypto scene, the challenges it faces from regulators, and why crypto is "heaven-sent" for Africa's economy. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

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.

EL. EF. GEE. Today, Mauricio Magaldi joins David M. Brear and some great guests, from Chamber of Progress and the House of Lords, for this Fintech insider and Blockchain Insider crossover episode!

David M. Brear and Mauricio Magaldi are joined by some great guests, from Chamber of Progress and the House of Lords, for this Fintech insider and Blockchain Insider crossover episode!

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.

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

In this episode of 11:FS Explores, Adam Davis picks apart Open Finance, and what we have to look forward to if this technology became a reality.

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...

