
At some point for every product, you’ll have gone through an initial period of exciting discovery. 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.

By Michael Douglas, Vice President, Strategy, Galileo

TL;DR None of the challenger banks use blockchain, the guy who’s leading the most popular smart contract platform (Ethereum) say’s it’s a bad idea. So, I mean read on…but. No, don’t use a blockchain or smart contracts for the love of god.

I’d like to start this by stating that Africa is not a monolith and for the purpose of this post, I’ll be zeroing in on the East and West African markets. 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.

It’s been an incredible year for fintech, but one thing’s for sure. 2019 is going to be an even wilder ride.

So about 350 days ago I made some predictions about how 2019 would shape up. Here I’ll break down how accurate, or not, I was. TL:DR - pretty damn accurate.

Niall Cameron joined David Brear on Fintech Insider to discuss HSBC, innovation and partnering with fintechs. We found out his views of how incumbents can best work alongside and partner with fintechs in the changing digital space:

As a uni student, it drove Ollie Purdue crazy that his bank couldn’t provide him with basic info to help manage his financial life. How much money was he likely to have at the end of the month? Could he cut back on work and have more fun – or did he need to increase his hours to pay the bills? At age 20, he founded Loot to create a better banking experience that used data in a smarter way. In episode 232 of FinTech Insider, Ollie, CEO of Loot, shares the story behind his company, including how he got bank execs to talk to him when he was still in school.

The 11:FS research team is in the midst of building out an internal platform that has some elements of gamification (and because we see a lot of products coming through our benchmarking tool 11:FS Pulse which make use of it), I’ve been spending a bit of time considering the topic.

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she turns her attention to careers, indecision and the Venn diagram of doom.

I was recently asked whether digital transformations meant partnerships will become obsolete. In fact, I think quite the opposite - banks who don’t use partnerships will become obsolete.

If you’ve been listening to the news at all in the last few months, you’ve likely run across the term Open Banking – a lot. The internet is awash with articles, thought pieces, blogs, books and podcasts on Open Banking. It’s a full-time job keeping up with the latest trends and following the right people. That’s why at 11: FS we’ve put together the authoritative resource on Open Banking. Whether you’re new to Open Banking or a bonafide guru, we’ve cut through the noise to bring you the go-to guide.

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she turns her attention to Wonder Woman, technology without heart and why love is key to innovation.

If you’re a banker, particularly a retail banker, last year was like the longest pre-fight build up we’ve ever seen. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will know that this year four new challenger banks will finally come to the UK market in the form of Monzo, Atom, Starling, and Tandem. They were the constant drum beat in the background while you were making your roadmaps and planning your transformations; the constant understanding that winter was coming.

Much has been written about how Open Banking has announced itself with more of a whimper than a bang, since going live at the beginning of 2018.

Sarah and Adam are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, and today's panel is all female! (and Adam). Stories include: A remedy for small businesses, a devastating rumour that spread on WhatsApp and what do YOU call your money?

David and Jeff are joined by some great guests to talk about mortgages. What works, what doesn’t and where things could get better. All this started with a tweet put out by Mr Jeff Tijssen himself.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Microsoft makes Decentralised Identity a thing you can use and Facebook keeps warming up to Crypto. Oh yeah, and Bitcoin is mooning!

Sarah and Nigel are joined by some fantastic guests today to talk about Insurtech UK, an alliance of insurtech startups that today's guests are all a part of. This is also our big 4-0, our 40th episode!

David and Simon are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days. Including: OakNorth branch out into mortgages, RBS getting into payments...10 years after leaving and Singapore might follow in HK’s virtual footsteps.

Founder of 86 400, Atom Bank and Metro Bank, Anthony Thomson came on to the Fintech Insider podcast to talk with Simon Taylor about the catalyst for creating challenger banks, the problems he's solving and the financial services gaps in Australia.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Project Libra, regulators ready Ethereum future approval and Bitfinex and Tether continued…

David and Simon are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days. Including, central banks join the Extinction revolution, Amazon takes on India and how to make your own wearables.

We went to the Innovate Finance Global Summit to find out what regulators both home and abroad are expecting to happen in fintech over the next year and much more.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Banking culture hinders Blockchain adoption, CryptoKicks coming soon to a Nike store near you and finally, chickens on a blockchain.

Sarah and Nigel are joined by some fantastic guests to talk about agricultural commodities insurance and the volatility that goes along with it.

David and Simon are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including Paris tries to come for London’s fintech crown, Robin hood applies for a banking charter as T-Mobile tries to get back into banking and Germans hold more gold than Fort Knox.

Ross and Adam are joined by some great guests to talk about financial literacy in children, and the brewing world of innovation in pocket money apps.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Big French Bank does a thing, a very interesting thing, Binance gets Dex’y and Serena Williams invests in Coinbase.

Sarah and Simon are joined by Freddy Kelly, Ben Gleisner and Simon Vans-Colina to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days. Including: US lenders prepare for a recession; Halifax gets slammed for looking a little too like Monzo and Starling in their rebrand and Facebook call time on UK P2P payments.
Ever wanted to know what’s going on behind the scenes every time we make a payment?
Regulation is essential. It stops banks from going bust or behaving badly.
The invention of the computer revolutionised banking in the 1950s.
Lending has been around for thousands of years and is one of the cornerstones of banking.
They're down, but they're not certainly not out.
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.

Fintech Marketing Podcast Season 2: Coming soon

After Dark - Open Finance: fact or fantasy?

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...

