
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.

On the latest episode of Insurtech Insider, Sarah and Nigel are joined by insurtech experts to give you the very latest in travel insurance. Joining our hosts are James Gibson from Revolut, and Oke Elazu, COO at Bought by Many. Sarah also has an insightful interview with Parul Green from Axa

In this week's news episode, Simon Taylor and Ross Gallagher are joined by guests Carrie Osman from Cruxy, Ali Paterson from Fintech Finance, Amelie Arras from Adastra Marketing, and Veronique Constans from 11:FS.

Sara and Sarah sit down with Olivia Vinden, Director at Alpha FMC, Jo Lang, Offering Leader at IBM Blockchain Financial Solutions and Noelle Acheson, Editorial Producer and CFA at CoinDesk to talk about the latest in blockchain news.

In this week’s news episode David M. Brear and Sarah Kocianski are joined by guests Lucy Woolfenden from Yolt and Pol Navarro from TSB. We also have a great interview with Alex Park from Metro Bank.

Sarah, Sara, and Colin discuss the latest in blockchain news and there's an interview with Charles Hoskinson, CEO of Input Output, on the future of Cardano.

On the latest episode of Insurtech Insider, Sarah and Nigel are joined by insurtech insiders to give you the very latest in insurtech. Joining our hosts are Freddy Macnamara, CEO of Cuvva, Tobi Taupitz, CEO and Founder of Laka, and David Williams, Technical Director at AXA.

Sam Maule and Ollie Judge, sit down for dinner with Sheel Mohnot, Partner at 500 Startups, Betsy McCormick from Nova Credit, Michael Casey from the Blockchain and Jason Zaler from Ping An.

We're bringing you something a little bit different this week. In the run up to After Dark San Francisco, Sam and our media team hosted Dan Macklin, Co-Founder of SoFi and Board Member of Chipper, Yuliya Tarasava, Co-Founder and COO of CNote, Divine, CEO and Founder of Blakfintech, and John Waupsh, CIO at Kasasa. Join us in a flat in the Inner Sunset neighbourhood, for dinner drinks and all things fintech.

We’re live from the 11:FS offices in Aldgate Tower to bring you After Dark V live! Simon, Ross, and new host Sarah are joined by Megan Caywood, Liz Lumley, and Richard Davies. The panel talk about the latest weird and wonderful news from the world of fintech.

Simon sits down with Ross Dalzell, Head of Business Banking Product and Propositions at Barclays Bank to discuss the future of fintech, the SME market, and how open banking is set to transform the financial landscape.

Simon and Colin pick out the latest in blockchain news. Looking at what’s happening to Bitcoin’s twitter turkey, is Ripple a security, and Soros surging into cryptocurrency. We also have an interview with Tim Swanson, George Wolfson, and John Collins when Colin met them at the Deconomy conference.

We’re live at Cass Business School Finance Conference with a panel of movers and shakers in the fintech world. Our host Ross Gallagher is joined by a panel well versed in how to break into and excel in the fintech space. What skills you need, when you need to apply them and what the next generation of fintech talent needs to know.

It’s our Second Birthday and we’ve hit 200 episodes! To celebrate this brilliant occasion and totally planned event we’ve got something a little bit different for you. Bringing you the very best in 11:FS talent we have a panel made up of the least camera shy of our staff members. Hosts Simon, Jason, and David are joined by an allstar group of 11:FS staff including: Ross Methven, Co-founder and Research Lead Ross Gallagher - Principal Consultant Jeff Tijssen, Head of Consultancy Ollie Judge, Head of Media Laura Watkins, Head of Content Creation Sophie Theen, HR & Talent Sadly Sam Maule couldn’t make it to London for the show but we have an interview with him to outline the challenges of consulting and making a startup work in the USA.

This episode is a very special Takeover from Hargreaves Lansdown’s brand new tech office in Warsaw! Ross and Pete are head up this "techover" joined by some of the company’s top people: Chris Hill, CEO; David Davies, CIO; Chris Worle, Director of Digital Marketing and Michael Glowinski, HL Tech General Manager. You can find us on Twitter @FintechInsiders or @11FSTeam or find us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram or drop us a line podcasts@11fs.com

Simon and Sara hash out the latest in blockchain news. Whether it’s dodgy words coming from binance or Buterin’s incredible take down of a supposed Satoshi, they’re examining what’s going on in the crypto space and what it means.
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...

