
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 and Will White are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Apple Card Launches For Everyone, Global fintech investment falls sharply and NatWest hid a data breach from customers. All this and much more on today's Fintech Insider News.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: When Bakkt? September actually, Barclays ends partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and Crypto Exchange Binance Announces New Stablecoin Initiative. All this, and so much more on todays Blockchain Insider.

Nigel Walsh is joined by a host of fantastic guests to talk about the latest and greatest news in the insurtech sphere!

Simon Taylor and Sarah Kocianski are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: Remedies Pool C winners are revealed, Goldman Sachs dips into subprime lending with the Apple Card and NatWest trials voice banking with Google Home! All this and so much more on today's Fintech Insider News.

David Brear is joined by Nick Ogden, fintech "founding father" and co-founder of Worldpay, to talk about some great topics, including the businesses Nick's founded and run, where he sees fintech in 5 years, what are the most important things he's learnt during his successful career and so much more!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: China’s Digital Currency, Mastercard make more blockchain moves, Kakao go Cuckoo for Crypto, and so much more!

Jason Bates and Sarah Kocianski are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days, including: America to get real-time payments by 2024, Klarna’s multi-billion dollar valuation, and Taiwan joins Asia's digital banking push with three new virtual licenses!

Today's host, Ryan Garner is joined by some expert guests to bring you the latest episode of Fintech Insider Insights! Today we'll be focusing on everything JTBD, with insights from guests that know all about this space.

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: A $120m ‘Digital IPO,' Crypto Catches Mastercard’s Eye, 98% of Bitcoin is used for legal things, and so much more!

Sarah Kocianski and Nigel Walsh are joined by 11:FS newly appointed Chairman, Shaun Meadows to talk about the newly published report Quarterly InsurTech Briefing Q2 2019!

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: Nubank’s $400 MILLION mega-round pushes their valuation to $10 billion, US women pay 18% more in banking fees than men and noel edmonds reaches compensation deal with Lloyds over scam! All this, and so much more on today's episode!

In today’s show, Sam Maule is joined by some awesome guests from Fifth Third Bank in their offices in Cincinnati to talk about all things digital transformation in the US!

We. Are. Here. Today we bring you: The IRS are coming for your crypto, Russian Bitcoin Thief Sued, Could China Rival Facebook’s Libra, and so much more!

David Brear and Simon Taylor are joined by some great guests to talk about some of the most interesting stories of the last 7 days. Including: Robinhood’s 7x unicorn valuation following a new funding round, Alibaba eyes US domination, how do you tally up your gold and so much more!

In this weeks episode, David Brear and Leda Glyptis are joined by Atom Bank, and their Strategic Board Advisor, will.i.am, for a takeover show. They talk about all things Atom, AI, trust and data as commodities, as well as so much more!
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...

