
For many large financial institutions, cloud is, increasingly, the answer. Not that they’re necessarily sure what the question is, but the answer is definitely cloud.

When news broke a week or so ago that, Swedish payment fintech, iZettle planned to IPO this year, I pondered whether it would be the first of a flood of European fintech IPOs. We now know it won’t.

In her latest column for Forbes, 11:FS Head of Research Sarah Kocianski examines the new set of authentication requirements and asks if consumers and their bank are prepared.

Biggest nothing-statement of the year: onboarding is important. As I recently covered here, over 50% of digital retail banking customers got bored and switched off before they’d finished in 2020. Not a great stat.

I think we’re all agreed that innovation is crucial to the continuing success of any organisation. But what does innovation really mean?

This year we’ve made a true commitment to double down on our D&I efforts across 11:FS, starting with a company-wide discovery phase led by Elysian, looking into the current makeup of the business and piloting a survey to dive deeper into the thoughts and opinions of our Elevens. 💭

InsurTech is an industry that’s really taken off in the last few years with many different tech and AI developments and new challengers springing up, as talent breaks away from incumbents to go it alone. We thought it was the perfect time to discuss all the new developments in a brand new podcast.

Despite attempts to portray the opposite, traditional financial organisations are struggling to innovate. In fact in many cases they are having to spend a fortune simply to stand still. As we highlighted in our recent report, this is due to three principal reasons:

Picking apart the week on the Fintech Insider News show alongside hosts Sarah Kocianski and David M. Brear are Lucy Woolfenden, Marketing Director at Yolt and Pol Navarro, Digital Innovation Director at TSB. Sarah also catches up with Alex Park, Digital Director at Metro Bank for a one to one interview. Listen here for the episode in full, stream it below or read on for extra insights.

Long-time supporter signs as lead sponsor for the expanded second season of the Fintech League.

Omnichannel is the king of the buzzwords in retail banking. It’s the idea that “customers should receive a consistent seamless service across all channels.” In this utopia the branch, phone, web, and mobile app all come together as one. But if you’re a fan of omnichannel, you might want to sit down, because I’ve got some bad news.

Our third After Dark event was a our 2017 wrap up Christmas Special – a festive fintech event, looking back on the last year in the industry, and looking forward to 2018, with some very special guests, and the return of the Fintech Wall of Emoji!

11:FS is pleased to announce that today we are launching the beginner’s guide to Open Banking! It’s a hot topic in the fintech space at the moment and users need to know what they’re getting themselves into.

Simon Taylor interviewed Mike Kelly, CEO and founder of Curl for Fintech Insider, a new payments network. They discuss Curl’s origin story, their payments network and how Open Banking is going to make a huge difference. Listen to the interview in full on the podcast here or stream it below or catch the highlights on YouTube.

When the World Bank launched a focus on financial inclusion in 2011, about 2.5-3 billion people lacked access to even the most basic financial services. Since then, dramatic progress has been made. Between 2011 and 2014 an astonishing 700 million people gained bank accounts (twice the population of the US). In the latest World Bank Findex report, it was stated that a further 8% of the world opened an account.
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On this week’s episode, in partnership with Pleo, host Benjamin Ensor is joined by Jeppe Rindom, Co-Founder and CEO of Pleo; Søren Westh Lonning, CFO at Pleo; and Megan Cooper, CEO of Caywood, to explore how the role of finance has evolved over the past decade - and what it will take for finance teams to win the next 10 years.
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Host Kate Moody, Customer Strategy Director at 11:FS, is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.
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On this week’s episode, host David Barton-Grimley is joined by Matt Weaver, Head of Solutions for EMEA at OpenAI, to explore the impact OpenAI is having on the financial services industry - and the meaningful collaborations taking place between the sector and the AI innovation giant.
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Host Laura Watkins, Director of Media & Marketing at 11:FS, is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.

On this week's episode, David M. Brear is joined by some great guests to tack a question on every bank and fintech leader’s mind: is AI redefining consumer-focused banking in 2026?
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In a fresh wave of fintech consolidation and strategic moves, Flutterwave has acquired Mono. JPMorgan has launched its Special Advisory Services initiative to give key clients access to consulting services drawn from the bank’s own practices. PicPay has filed for a U.S. IPO, and Mercury has applied to the OCC for a national bank charter.
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David M. Brear, Group CEO at 11:FS, sits down with two heavyweights in the payments world: Tracy Birdsall, Managing Director and Head of EMEA & APAC, Merchant Services Sales, at J.P. Morgan Payments, and Kristen Morrow-Greven, Vice President and Head of Global Payments at Netflix.
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In this episode, the team is kicking things off with bold predictions for the year ahead, some you might have seen coming and some that might surprise you. They stake their reputations, embrace a bit of friendly ribbing, and share their most daring forecasts for the future of fintech.
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On this week’s final news show of the year, we hear from GoCardless about their exciting acquisition by Mollie. It’s been a big week for Monzo, which has secured an Irish banking licence and acquired UK mortgage brand Habito. We also take a look at Orange Payments and Visa’s new partnership.
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Join our hosts as they break down the year’s most memorable moments. From the fintech feel-good story of the year and the buzziest new term, to the partnership that caught everyone off guard and the glow-up that wowed the industry - we cover it all.
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Host Kate Moody, Customer Strategy Director at 11:FS, is joined by a fantastic panel of guests as we dive into some of the biggest stories from the worlds of fintech, banking, and wider financial services this week.

Banks aren’t just building apps anymore - they’re building digital CFOs. Join Kate Moody in this episode of Fintech Insider as she explores how SMB banking is evolving from simple dashboards to intelligent financial guidance.
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Host David Barton-Grimley, Fintech Strategy Director and Head of Product at 11:FS, is joined by a fantastic panel of guests as we dive into some of the biggest stories from the worlds of fintech, banking, and wider financial services this week.
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With the US GENIUS Act reshaping digital-asset oversight, the EU’s MiCA rules setting a unified standard, and the UK opening the door for stablecoins as an official form of payment, one thing is clear: stablecoins are going mainstream, fast.
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Host Ross Gallagher, Head of Consulting is joined by a fantastic panel of guests as we dive into some of the biggest stories from the worlds of fintech, banking, and wider financial services this week.

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...

