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.

EL. EF. GEE. Today we bring you: A look into the growing prevalence of chatbots in the crypto industry and how that could look in the future. All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!

European banks are putting "AI" in 30% of their job ads, Majority bank opens community meeting space for new migrants, and Gen Z need lessons on how to behave in the corporate world – Benjamin Ensor and Ross Gallagher 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 Clearbank, Mastercard, and Thredd, to discuss the relationship between Silicon Valley giants and the payments space.

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.

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?
It's not just a buzzword.
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.

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...

