
I’ve been thinking about HENRYs recently. Not the Henry who asked me to marry him - I was 8, he was 5 - although he does cross my mind occasionally. HENRYs, short for ‘High Earners Not Rich Yet’, was coined as a label by Shawn Tully in 2003.

If you listened to the headlines, you'd think the competitive race in financial services is about one thing: building the smartest AI. We think that's the wrong way to look at it.

Embedded banking without strategic intent is expensive theatre. Lots of APIs, lots of partnership announcements, lots of pilots, but not much revenue. And that’s the risk facing corporate banks right now.

AI assistants already help people compare products, check availability and plan purchases. Agentic commerce extends that role to placing the order: a customer sets a budget and a few conditions, then gives the software permission to complete the purchase.

For most people, the month falls into two phases - before and after payday - when balances jump, debts feel manageable, and financial intentions come back within reach. But in most banking apps, payday is treated as a passive event.

Financial institutions are moving quickly into agentic AI. Coding agents, workflow agents, document agents, service agents and operational agents are already entering the enterprise. Many will create useful gains, some of them genuinely impressive. But that is not the real test.
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.

Sarah Kocianski and Ross Gallagher are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Vivid Money launches digital banking services in Germany; the pandemic savings surge forces Goldman to shut Marcus to new UK clients; and Islamic finance startup Wahed closes $25M funding round to grow their Saudi Arabia hub.

Sarah Kocianski is joined by some great guests from Equinix, Mastercard and RTGS to discuss the long-term business transformation and the need for agile infrastructure in financial services organisations in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Leda Glyptis and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Financial services community take a stand in support of Black Lives Matter; Starling and Marqeta’s new raises; and TrueLayer team up with the UK Government on Open Banking.

Adam Davis and Sarah Kocianski are joined by some great guests to discuss open finance - what it is, how is could work and what learnings it could take from open banking, with an expert panel of guests from Plaid, RBS and the OBIE.

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by a panel of guests to talk through the latest news in the insurtech and insurance world including drones for the NHS and some big funding rounds despite COVID-19!

Sam Maule and David Brear are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting US news stories of the last 7 days, including: Shopify’s many new announcements and move into fintech; Bank of America leak exposes business details of PPP relief applicants as applications across the board decline; and Animal Crossing offers new ways for people to make money in lockdown.

Sam Maule is joined by Arlan Hamilton, founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital to talk VC funding, underrepresented founders and her new book It's About Damn Time.

David Brear and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: The challenges facing challenger banks in the current climate, Freetrade’s record-breaking raise and PayPal sees a rise in 'silver tech' as older generations test digital payments for the first time. All this and much more on today's episode!

Jason Bates and Simon Taylor are joined by 3 great guests to talk about digital identity. What do we mean by digital identity, and how does it differ around the world? Listen on to find out!

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by a panel of guests to talk about customer loyalty in insurance and how companies can work to build a lasting relationship with their client base. All this and much much more on today's Insurtech Insider!

Sarah Kocianski and Adam Davis are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: A round up of the pandemic and financial aid stories on both sides of the pond; Sofi and Samsung Pay team up for a debit card; and Mastercard's massive new pledge for financial inclusion.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: a fantastic interview is Yuval Rooz, CEO of Digital Asset and an announcement from host Simon Taylor.

Simon Taylor 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 closes Bó, big banks book $50bn against bad loans in the wake of corona, and a round-up of the more international stories of the week.

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by a panel of guests to talk through the latest and greatest news in the insurance space which are heavily focussed on Covid-19 and the insurance industry this week!

Simon Taylor and Adam Davis are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: 100% backed business loans; big banks results are in and corona is hitting their profit margins hard and even Animal Crossing's Bank of Nook is slashing its interest rates in an unwelcome reflection of the real world.

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...

