
At some point for every product, you’ll have gone through an initial period of exciting discovery. This is taken from our Unfiltered newsletter. Subscribe now for a no BS, uncensored analysis of fintech news and hot topics delivered to your inbox each fortnight.

By Michael Douglas, Vice President, Strategy, Galileo

TL;DR None of the challenger banks use blockchain, the guy who’s leading the most popular smart contract platform (Ethereum) say’s it’s a bad idea. So, I mean read on…but. No, don’t use a blockchain or smart contracts for the love of god.

I’d like to start this by stating that Africa is not a monolith and for the purpose of this post, I’ll be zeroing in on the East and West African markets. This is taken from our Unfiltered newsletter. Subscribe now for a no BS, uncensored analysis of fintech news and hot topics delivered to your inbox each fortnight.

It’s been an incredible year for fintech, but one thing’s for sure. 2019 is going to be an even wilder ride.

So about 350 days ago I made some predictions about how 2019 would shape up. Here I’ll break down how accurate, or not, I was. TL:DR - pretty damn accurate.

Niall Cameron joined David Brear on Fintech Insider to discuss HSBC, innovation and partnering with fintechs. We found out his views of how incumbents can best work alongside and partner with fintechs in the changing digital space:

As a uni student, it drove Ollie Purdue crazy that his bank couldn’t provide him with basic info to help manage his financial life. How much money was he likely to have at the end of the month? Could he cut back on work and have more fun – or did he need to increase his hours to pay the bills? At age 20, he founded Loot to create a better banking experience that used data in a smarter way. In episode 232 of FinTech Insider, Ollie, CEO of Loot, shares the story behind his company, including how he got bank execs to talk to him when he was still in school.

The 11:FS research team is in the midst of building out an internal platform that has some elements of gamification (and because we see a lot of products coming through our benchmarking tool 11:FS Pulse which make use of it), I’ve been spending a bit of time considering the topic.

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she turns her attention to careers, indecision and the Venn diagram of doom.

I was recently asked whether digital transformations meant partnerships will become obsolete. In fact, I think quite the opposite - banks who don’t use partnerships will become obsolete.

If you’ve been listening to the news at all in the last few months, you’ve likely run across the term Open Banking – a lot. The internet is awash with articles, thought pieces, blogs, books and podcasts on Open Banking. It’s a full-time job keeping up with the latest trends and following the right people. That’s why at 11: FS we’ve put together the authoritative resource on Open Banking. Whether you’re new to Open Banking or a bonafide guru, we’ve cut through the noise to bring you the go-to guide.

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she turns her attention to Wonder Woman, technology without heart and why love is key to innovation.

If you’re a banker, particularly a retail banker, last year was like the longest pre-fight build up we’ve ever seen. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will know that this year four new challenger banks will finally come to the UK market in the form of Monzo, Atom, Starling, and Tandem. They were the constant drum beat in the background while you were making your roadmaps and planning your transformations; the constant understanding that winter was coming.

Much has been written about how Open Banking has announced itself with more of a whimper than a bang, since going live at the beginning of 2018.

David Brear, Will White and Nas Ahmed are joined by some great guests to talk about some financial crime on this insights show!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Santander settles big ethereum bond, Vitalik Buterin does some speaking and the Latest From Europe: Libra You’re not Wanted! All this and much more on today's Blockchain insider!

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by Paul Prendegast from Blink and Alex Rainey from Pluto to talk about everything travel insurance, and how some new interesting players are shaking up the way customers are covered when they travel!

Jason Bates and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Banks get taken by surprise by last-minute PPI claims, China’s richest man steps down from Alibaba and N26 Launch in Switzerland, but they do not support Swiss Francs! All this and much more on todays Fintech Insider!

Sam Maule is joined by motivational speaker and bestselling author Erik Qualman, to chat about his book Socialnomics, transforming technologies and the importance of competition in the financial industries!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Binance to land in the US, BAKKT Launch edges closer and maximalists can’t meme…...apparently. All this, and much more on todays Blockchain Insider.

Sarah Kocianski and David Brear are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Digital banks are set to treble their customer numbers in 2020, Singapore starts accepting their first applications for digital banks and LinkedIn announce their top 25 startups of 2019 - you might recognise some of the names! All this and much more on todays fintech insiders!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Telegram ramp up their crypto efforts, a $1 billion crypto venture and should crypto stay decentralised?

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Telegram ramp up their crypto efforts, a $1 billion crypto venture and should crypto stay decentralised?

Sarah Kocianski is joined by Jude Greer, Reposit and Nick Willis, Wrisk to talk about how insurtech is shaking up the rental market and consumer protection when renting their homes.

Sam Maule is in NYC and joined by Boe Hartman CTO and Partner at Marcus by Goldman Sachs to talk about some great topics, including the origin story of Marcus and what's driven its success to date.

Sam Maule is in NYC and joined by Boe Hartman CTO and Partner at Marcus by Goldman Sachs to talk about some great topics, including the origin story of Marcus and what's driven its success to date.

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: N26’s US launch, Revolut’s big bank new hires, and: CEO’s sneakers - KSwiss’ new range just for CEOs! All this and much more on today's Fintech Insider.

Leda Glyptis and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests on this insights show, where we take a deeper look at payments, specifically cross-border payments and where the innovation is coming from in this space.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: Carney wants reserve currency, Banking licenses for all AND Who’s making money in crypto? All this and much more on today's Blockchain Insider!
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.

Fintech Marketing Podcast Season 2: Coming soon

After Dark - Open Finance: fact or fantasy?

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...

