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 need for better, tailored support through the customer experience is clear, but few are accounting for the fundamental shift that financial services has experienced with the introduction of AI.

Loyalty is defined as “a strong feeling of support or allegiance”. However, in the context of financial services, it is more accurately defined as engineered persistence: a series of subconscious cues that steer customers toward familiar choices.

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.

The people using business banking tools don’t necessarily have financial backgrounds. Many smaller businesses can't afford a dedicated finance team. Yet banks keep building products that assume expertise their customers don't have, leaving them to figure things out on their own.

As our financial lives become more complex, there is a growing expectation for banks to offer more support, be more relevant, and generate greater everyday value. One of the clearest places this shift is starting to show up is in subscription banking.

Around the world, people have instant, around-the-clock access to banking apps and their own financial data. So why do so many people still feel uncertain about their financial future?

Most AI deployments so far have focused on AI that “talks”, which can search, summarise, and draft content to support employees. The next wave is different: AI agents that “do” are starting to take bounded actions inside workflows, moving cases forward and coordinating steps end-to-end, with humans kept in control where it matters.
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.

As the industry adjusts to a new digital landscape, players across the spectrum are fighting to muscle their way into the financial epicentre and ‘win’ the salary battle to become the payday home of their customers.

Consumers are evolving, and so are their expectations and demands. As the purchasing power of the younger, digital-native Gen Z and Gen Alpha grows and older generations become more comfortable with the possibilities that AI and other new technologies enable, businesses have to work harder to keep them happy and retain their business.

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

Sarah Kocianski and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Starling and OakNorth join coronavirus loan programme, US fintechs to help distribute coronavirus aid, and a women-only neobank is coming to Brazil.

In this highly topical episode, Sarah Kocianski and Simon Taylor, dig into the impact COVID-19 is having on SME financing, and their access to government funding. They are joined by expert guests from Coconut, Quotevine and 1pm PLC.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Sila raises $7.7M to wipe out ACH, Ether hits a 28-day high and everybody and their dog wants a CBDC. Simon Taylor hosts and is joined by Olivia VInden and Lex Sokolin. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Digital dollar dropped whilst China gets one step closer, Bitcoin is booming on Cash App, and CFTC announces guidance on the delivery of digital assets. Simon hosts and is joined by All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by some wonderful guests to talk about insurance in the rental market and how COVID-19 might be changing it all. All this and much much more on today's Insurtech Insider!

Sam Maule is joined by Nova Credit co-founder and COO, Nicky Goulimis, to talk about underbanked immigrant communities, the changes that come with a global health crisis and the future of credit.

With the move to remote recordings we've had some technical difficulties and, unfortunately, there won't be a Blockchain Insider episode this week. We return next week with more of the latest and greatest in blockchain, crypto and DLT news.

Sarah Kocianski and Leda Glyptis are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Interest rates plummet in the UK and US; contactless limits raised to combat COVID-19; and Bunq goes green all across Europe.

David Brear and Geoff Whitehouse are joined by some great guests to talk about the changing narratives around fintech in the media. Guests on today's show are Emily Nicolle, Tech Editor at City AM and Daniel Lanyon, Managing Editor at Altfi.

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by Aman Kohli and 11:FS' Simon Taylor to explore blockchain in the world of insurance. All this and much much more on today's Insurtech Insider!

David Brear and Jason Bates are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: the financial world responds to coronavirus; UK regulators delay non-critical activity because of coronavirus; and Nationwide opens early to serve the vulnerable.

In a very special edition of Fintech Insider, we bring you the 11th instalment of After Dark, recorded live in London! Returning to our roots, the original 11:FS crew take the stage to talk about some of the most interesting fintech stories of late and have a little rant about the latest fintech trends and topics.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Cash is king once again, the Bank of England releases CBDC white paper, and MakerDAO faces an emergency shutdown. Simon Taylor hosts and is joined by Vinay Gupta, founder and CEO of Mattereum and Obi Nwosu, CEO of Coinfloor. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Ross Gallagher and Sarah Kocianski are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: RBS preps for coronavirus impacts, Standard Chartered detail virtual bank, and Starling joins Team GB!

Sarah Kocianski hosts today and is joined by some wonderful women in fintech to talk about gender, diversity and inclusivity in financial services. Guests on today's show are: Charlotte Crosswell - CEO at Innovate Finance, Wincie Wong - Head of Rose Review Implementation at Natwest, and Evelina Vrabie - CTO at Toucan.

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?

Banks are facing a lot of challenges compared to their fintech rivals.
11:FS CEO David M. Brear takes to the lightboard to give us the full run-down, with examples of companies that are leading the way.

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

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.
On this episode of Spotlight, 11:FS Crypto Global Strategy Director, Mauricio Magaldi is joined by Ramp Network Co-Founder and CEO, Szymon Sypniewicz. In today's chat, the pair discuss Szymon's career, the current regulatory landscape in crypto, and what the future might hold when it comes to widespread crypto adoption.

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...

