
Four years ago, policymakers in the UK and EU took the first steps to enshrine open banking into law, but now we’re at a turning point for digital adoption and the old ways of working aren’t working anymore.

Each week, Leda Glyptis, CEO of 11:FS Foundry, creates #LedaWrites. This week it's all about a word we've heard and spoken more than any other over the last few months - 'normal'

Awards?! ‘Yay’, I hear you say. But it’s not like this wasn’t a crowded market already, so surely this is nothing new, right? Check out more details on our awards show here.

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, CEO of 11:FS Foundry creates #LedaWrites. This week she returns to the topic of gender.

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.
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Host Laura Watkins, Director of Media & Marketing at 11:FS, is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.

On this week's episode, David M. Brear is joined by some great guests to tack a question on every bank and fintech leader’s mind: is AI redefining consumer-focused banking in 2026?
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In a fresh wave of fintech consolidation and strategic moves, Flutterwave has acquired Mono. JPMorgan has launched its Special Advisory Services initiative to give key clients access to consulting services drawn from the bank’s own practices. PicPay has filed for a U.S. IPO, and Mercury has applied to the OCC for a national bank charter.
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David M. Brear, Group CEO at 11:FS, sits down with two heavyweights in the payments world: Tracy Birdsall, Managing Director and Head of EMEA & APAC, Merchant Services Sales, at J.P. Morgan Payments, and Kristen Morrow-Greven, Vice President and Head of Global Payments at Netflix.
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In this episode, the team is kicking things off with bold predictions for the year ahead, some you might have seen coming and some that might surprise you. They stake their reputations, embrace a bit of friendly ribbing, and share their most daring forecasts for the future of fintech.
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On this week’s final news show of the year, we hear from GoCardless about their exciting acquisition by Mollie. It’s been a big week for Monzo, which has secured an Irish banking licence and acquired UK mortgage brand Habito. We also take a look at Orange Payments and Visa’s new partnership.
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Join our hosts as they break down the year’s most memorable moments. From the fintech feel-good story of the year and the buzziest new term, to the partnership that caught everyone off guard and the glow-up that wowed the industry - we cover it all.
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Host Kate Moody, Customer Strategy Director at 11:FS, is joined by a fantastic panel of guests as we dive into some of the biggest stories from the worlds of fintech, banking, and wider financial services this week.

Banks aren’t just building apps anymore - they’re building digital CFOs. Join Kate Moody in this episode of Fintech Insider as she explores how SMB banking is evolving from simple dashboards to intelligent financial guidance.
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Host David Barton-Grimley, Fintech Strategy Director and Head of Product at 11:FS, is joined by a fantastic panel of guests as we dive into some of the biggest stories from the worlds of fintech, banking, and wider financial services this week.
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With the US GENIUS Act reshaping digital-asset oversight, the EU’s MiCA rules setting a unified standard, and the UK opening the door for stablecoins as an official form of payment, one thing is clear: stablecoins are going mainstream, fast.
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Host Ross Gallagher, Head of Consulting is joined by a fantastic panel of guests as we dive into some of the biggest stories from the worlds of fintech, banking, and wider financial services this week.
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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.
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Live from Paris, David M. Brear steps into the heart of payments transformation - a shift that’s unfolding far beyond the checkout screen and deep within the financial stack.

Host Laura Watkins, Director of Media and Marketing, is joined by a fantastic panel of guests as we dive into some of the biggest stories from the worlds of fintech, banking, and wider financial services this week.
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

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...

