
It is the nature of finance that, at its core, is risk.

Here at 11:FS we’re big on transparency and letting you know what’s going on in our company. We’ve recently made a huge hire to be our COO and we couldn’t be more excited about it.

I was at a big bank’s conference the other day and was intrigued at how often the subject of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin came up.

Of course, these are our top 3 blogs of 2018. We took a look at the data, talked amongst ourselves about which ones we liked best and came up with the best blogs we’ve put out this year.

Disclaimer: Yes the piece is entirely structured around the lyrics of a Pulp song. Yes, we take requests.

I do not profess to be, as way too many in the tech industry do today, a blockchain guru or subject matter expert. I leave that designation to 11:FS co-founder Simon Taylor. Simon is the MacGyver of the blockchain community. Give him a stapler, a can of Bud Lite, Duct Tape, and a flashlight, and he will somehow concoct a DLT smart contract solution for a client. A solution that can actually be delivered and that addresses a real business case.

Simon Taylor interviewed block.one CEO and CTO Brendan Blumer and Daniel Larimer at Blockchain Live, to find out more about what block.one does and their new project, EOS that achieved $50omillion in fundraising.

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.

a16z to open first international office in London, HSBC builds innovation division from the bones of SVB UK, and Snoop Dogg launches NFT tour pass – Ross Gallagher and Benjamin Ensor 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 Anne Boden, CEO of Starling, in this interview from the archives!

Bank of England plans to reject Revolut's bid for banking licence, Brite Payments launches instant payments network, and Daylight calls it quits – Kate Moody and Ross are joined by some great guests, from Brite Payments and Fifth Third Bank, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Ross Gallagher is joined an all-star panel of Elevens for the first part of a two episode deep-dive into the battle scars picked up when building banks across the globe.

David Barton-Grimley is joined by a fantastic guest, from Wise, to continue exploring the importance of UX to the fintech revolution in Europe.

Smart raises $95 million to take on the pension market, Robinhood launches 24-hour trading, and former UK Chancellor to chair Italian investment firm – Benjamin Ensor and Kate Moody are joined by some great guests, from Anthemis and Smart, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Benjamin Ensor is joined by some great guests, from 11:FS, Molo Finance, Pexa UK, to discuss the possibilities of mortgages services embedded at the point of need.

EL. EF. GEE. Today we bring you: a deep dive into the world of data and AI, and our second case study! On this show, we're taking a closer look at the the history of Dune, and their new LLM announcement, and how AI and blockchain intersect and can help shape the future of the crypto space. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Skipton launches deposit-free mortgage aimed at renters, Apple attracts $1 billion in deposits in a week, and WhatsApp allows Singapore businesses to pay within app – Kate Moody and Ross Gallagher are joined by some great guests, from Thunes and Redpoint Ventures, to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Benjamin Ensor is joined by some great guests, from 11:FS, CAF, and Hummingbird, to talk about the latest developments in Know Your Customer and Know Your Business.

JP Morgan snaps up First Republic Bank, Revolut launches in Brazil, and ChatGPT investment fund "smashes" competition – Kate Moody and Benjamin Ensor are joined by a great guest from Reuters to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days.

Benjamin Ensor is joined by some great guests, from Atom Bank, Coastal Community Bank, and Vexi to talk about the value of trust to financial services.

EL. EF. GEE. Today we bring you: US Congress to introduce new draft bill for stablecoins, Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade is complete, starting new era of staking withdrawals, and EU Parliament approves crypto licensing, funds transfer rules. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

Kate Moody joined by some great guests to talk about the most interesting stories in financial services over the last 7 days, including: Super.com’s $85M raise for a super app for savings; Could First Republic be the next SVB as the US scrambles to save it; and Klarna roll out a suite of AI-enabled personalisation tools for shoppers and merchants.

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.

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...

