
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 Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about the most interesting fintech stories of the last 7 days. This week our stories include: Google's offering of checking accounts, Facebook launches Facebook pay, and HSBC and RBS' new digital banking platforms! All this and much more on today's Fintech Insider News!

This week we bring you an episode of the podcast recorded live at Xerocon London 2019! David Brear is joined by a fantastic panel of guests to discuss and debate the importance of cash flow for SMEs in this combined news and insights show!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Bakkt's biggest trading day to date, North Korean crypto money laundering, and Ray Dalio's take on broken financial systems. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Leda Glyptis and Adam Davis are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Robinhood traders find “infinite leverage” glitch, Digital banks grow as fintech funding slows and Westpac announces banking-as-a-service platform! All this and much more on today's Fintech Insider News!

Sam Maule is in San Diego, and is joined by Lee Wetherington, Director of Strategic Insight at Jack Henry and Associates and Ben Metz, Senior Managing Director at Jack Henry & Associates!

We. Are. Here. In New York actually! Today we bring you: China announces new regulatory authority for blockchain and digital payments, Harbor adds SEC license to help security token issuers pay out dividends and association of German banks call for a digital Euro. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider.

Jason Bates is at SIBOS 2019 at the Excel in London where he is joined by Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive at Standard Chartered!

On this weeks episode, Sarah Kocianski is joined by some awesome guests to talk all things how to attract and retain talent in the insurance industry! Where is the talent going? Who has the hang of company culture? All this and much much more on today's Insurtech Insider!

David Brear and Sarah Kocianski are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Revolut teams up with Mastercard to help them launch in the US - weeks after their Visa deal was announced, Santander takes on Goldman in the US deposits market, and EY’s alternative workplace training for women! All this and much more on today's Fintech Insider News!

David Brear, Jason Bates and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests for this very special throwback episode! Today we are doing the news as if it were 2008, specifically focussing on the news from the week of the financial crash, including: Lehman Brothers files for Bankruptcy, Madoff Jailed over $50bn Fraud and - Note to self: Don’t slag your bank off…...in your online banking password! All this and much much more on today's Fintech Insider News - as if it were 2008!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Marcus makes Stablecoin Claim, Poloniex spun out by Circle and - Has bitcoin failed? All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Sarah Kocianski and Adam Davies are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Pensions bank rolling start ups, Robinhood tries again at a savings account and the UK just rolled out a payment card made from solid gold, and worth $23,000!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Attack of the Ten TON Regulator, Libra’s last legs and Zuck’s a sitting duck, later this month! All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

On this weeks episode, Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by some awesome guests to talk all things SME insurance! What are the risks? Where are the opportunities? Why is this such an underserved market? All this and much much more on today's Insurtech Insider!

David Brear and Will White bring you this news show recorded in our new offices in New York! As always, they are not alone but joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Samsung Pay launches International payments in the US, Credit Karma moves into savings as Brex moves into cash management and Financial jargon brings people out in a sweat and they think investing is as scary as skydiving!

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...

