
One of the biggest challenges when building new digital financial services is creating a winning feature set. Spending categorisation, budgeting tools, carbon footprint-tracking — these features are everywhere in the financial services apps that we use every day.

Sarah Kocianski sits down with the CEO of Oakam, Frederic Nze to talk about financial inclusion, tackling financial exclusion, the alternative to doorstep lending, and the underbanked.Listen to the full interview here or click play below, otherwise read on for a quick take on what was said.

In a beautiful flat on the edge of San Francisco’s sun-kissed Inner Sunset neighbourhood, the inimitable Sam Maule invited a plethora of fintech experts over for dinner. Across two evenings in the run up to our After Dark San Francisco show, Sam serves up chilli, tacos, and foodie fintech insights. You can listen to them here and here. Disclaimer: The food was actually cooked by Ollie Judge, Head of Media at 11:FS.

At 11:FS, we spend a lot of time looking at next-generation mobile trends and technology. Every now and again we come across a product or feature that just blows us away. It can be as simple as a smart integration with another product or as complicated as a whole app that’s powered by bleeding edge technology.

“Thank you to the Academy…” Sure. Classic Oscar speech energy.But do you know what hits harder than a polite golf clap from a panel of judges? Winning when your actual customers vote. And that’s what happened at the 2025 British Bank Awards, where 11:FS was named Consultancy of the Year. Again! 2019. 2020. 2021. 2023. And now 2025.

In her latest column for Forbes, 11:FS Head of Research Sarah Kocianski examines the new set of authentication procedures and how they are being implemented by UK banks.

11:FS are pleased to announce that Lisa Gansky joined us as a Non-Executive Director, on 3rd July 2017.

As a designer, it’s an all too familiar scenario: you’re about to undertake work on an exciting new digital product or service. It has the potential to have it all, only for you to be handed what all product designers dread - the existing constraints of a rigid and outdated brand playbook. It can certainly feel like a crushing blow. But approached in the correct manner, these constraints can be transformed into an opportunity to take both the product and the brand to the next level.

Digital Banking is only 1% Finished. That’s our motto at 11:FS. You can see it plastered across everything we do, we talk about it at events, and it’s in all of our client work. Taking a paper statement to the telephone, to a website and then a mobile app isn’t where digital banking ends; it’s where it begins. Digital Banking having 99% to go is a statement of optimism, of opportunity and its how you differentiate, as consumer expectations will only grow in the coming years.

On 1st August at approximately 12:20 UTC, the cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin formally began a process to fork – or split into two- creating Bitcoin Cash, a new currency. It is unclear exactly what the implications of this will be in the long term but here’s a summary of what we know so far:

It’s about trust. Why do banks insist on having everything? Because they think if they only insist on some, they’ll never get the rest.

Fintech is technology used in the financial services industry, insurtech is technology used in a subset of that industry, insurance. And yet while one is typically considered fascinating, worthy of pages of mainstream media coverage, mention of the other is often greeted with eye-rolling outside of specialist circles.

Sam Maule joins 11:FS as Managing Partner, Americas

This week I had the super-smart Mariano Belinky tell me that the current crop of challenger banks are really just ‘better mousetraps’.

A few weeks ago, I outlined the problems with the financial products that supposedly address small and medium sized businesses’ (SMBs) needs, and how they are chronically underserved by incumbent financial institutions (FIs) across all sectors. Since then, we’ve explored how things are changing in the SMB insurance space and delved into the developments in the areas of bank account opening, payments and loans in our podcasts. I’ve also been busy trying to discover, articulate and demonstrate what “best in class” in this industry looks like in my latest research report.

Benjamin Ensor is joined by some great guests, from Branch, Iwoca, and Treyd, to look at the opportunities and challenges of opportunities of specialised offerings for small and medium-sized businesses.

Apple launches savings account, JROC lays out Open Banking roadmap, and Game of Thrones stars challenge big banks over fossil fuel links – Ross Gallagher and Benjamin Ensor are joined by some great guests, from Yonder and Open Finance Association, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Benjamin Ensor and Kate Moody are joined by some great guests, Bridge built by Citi and Seattle Bank, to look at the challenges and opportunities for community banks in America.

Love Island's Sharon Gaffka teams up with FCA in clampdown on influencers, Visa partners PayPal for interoperable P2P payments, and Verto picks up a quarter of Silicon Valley Bank customers in Africa – Ross Gallagher and Benjamin Ensor are joined by some great guests, from Verto and CCG Catalyst, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Ross Gallagher is joined by some great guests, from the Aspen Institute, GoCardless, and Lowell, to discuss how innovations can improve the reputation of the industry of debt.

EL. EF. GEE. Today we bring you: First zkEVM goes live on Ethereum, a recap on USDC/SVB, and Coinbase’s SEC Wells notice. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Crowdcube and Octopus Investments opening up retail investments, Apple Pay Later is finally launching, and Twitter changes logo to Dogecoin cryptocurrency image – Ross Gallagher is joined by some great guests, from Crowdcube, Fintech Business Weekly, and The Fintech Times, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Benjamin Ensor is joined by some great guests, from Global Ventures, Novo, OakNorth Bank, and Spiralem, to look at the business banking options and challenges for small and medium-sized businesses across the world.

Silicon Valley Bank bought by rival, Klarna plugs ChatGPT into its platform, and Latitude Financial records stolen in cyber attack – David M. Brear and Kate Moody are joined by some great guests, from CFIT and first direct, live on stage in London to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services.

David M. Brear is joined by some great guests, from Stonehaven LLC, National Bank of Canada, and Anthemis, to discuss the various funding options for fintechs and startups.

UBS is buying Credit Suisse in bid to halt banking crisis, FCA warns payment firms over ‘unacceptable risk of harm to customers’, and Stripe now valued at $50B following $6.5B raise – Ross Gallagher and Kate Moody are joined by some great guests to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

David M. Brear is joined by some great guests, from 11:FS, Google, and Weavr, to discuss how cloud services and FinOps as a practice can help financial services in these economically difficult times.

EL. EF. GEE. Today we bring you: a closer look at the global state of crypto, exploring how the past few years have shaped this sector, what developments are currently fostering adoption, and as always - what we hope to see in the near future!. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Silicon Valley Bank closed by regulators, HSBC buys Silicon Valley Bank's UK unit for £1, and Succession's Logan Roy comes to the London Stock Exchange – Kate Moody and Benjamin Ensor are joined by some great guests, from Innovate Finance and Fintech Takes, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Hey, banks! This might sting a bit. You’re getting loyalty all wrong - and it’s costing you customers. But all is not lost!
The entire world is buzzing about AI, and that ain't changing anytime soon. But as AI becomes more integrated into our daily lives, what impact will it have on financial services and how people interact with them?
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.

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...

