Design

As a product manager at a prominent fintech company in London, the customer experience is never far from my mind.

Banking for SMEs has been ineffective for a long time, with products that kept owners working on admin rather than growth. It’s time for something new.

Former Apple and BCG Digital Ventures Head of Talent will manage 11:FS team to scale the business as it engages in new projects, with new clients and across new geographies.

A couple of months ago our 11:FS CEO David Brear was invited to be a judge of Tech City UK’s Fintech for All competition. This was a nationwide competition in 2017 to find fintech startups that make financial services work for everyone. As well as some fantastic entrants and eventual winners, this event got us thinking about the wider implications of financial inclusion. Therefore we felt we really needed to do a podcast to delve into the issues raised and what this competition really highlighted, and how best the problems of financial inclusion and serving the underbanked can be solved in the UK.

Sam delivers insight on what fintech can learn from Hollywood failure and why innovation labs are an awful move for any company. All discovered through two films, one flight, and one keynote address.

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she turns her attention to believing in fairy tales and the power of human will to change the world.

As we are approaching a new academic year, at the forefront of returning students’ minds (aside from pulling themselves out of bed to attend 9am lectures), is how on earth to sort out household bills. Organising multiple bills is a nightmare, even more so when there are many people living together.

We’re thrilled to announce the latest enhancements to 11:FS Pulse - our sparkling new Brand Page. The complete redesign and new feature set brings you extensive insights and data from hundreds of FS brands worldwide, streamlining product research and app performance analysis.

One thing we hear a lot about here at 11:FS is how frustrating bad user experiences can be. Especially when trying to complete finance-based tasks – it’s not ideal considering the impact that these tasks can have on our everyday lives.

Banks are plagued by a litany of archaic processes and outmoded design. That was just about bearable before the digital age, but is there any room for it today?

Last week I spoke to friends of 11:FS to discover the 11 stupidest things banks do. It was more popular than any of us expected. It even compelled 11:FS Co-Founder, Simon Taylor to write a love letter to the big banks telling them how they can do better. Here at 11:FS we felt like maybe we’d been a little harsh on our incumbent friends. So, I decided to write another list, reaching out to both the wider fintech community and all our followers to find out the 11 stupidest things fintechs say and do.

Here at 11:FS we talk a lot about how Digital Banking is only 1% Finished, jobs to be done, and many other topics on how big banks get things wrong. But sometimes just hearing the theory isn’t enough. So I spoke to bankers, insiders, fintechers, associates, customers, and researchers – all anonymously – who have given me swathes of real world examples of the stupid shit banks do. Here’s the 11 best…or worst, depending on how you want to see it. This list took a fair while to compile so if you’ve got something you want to add send me a message and maybe we’ll do a part two.

As we emerged from lockdown(s) and started meeting in person, banks, fintechs and FS companies of all shapes and sizes had been busy doubling down on their digital efforts.

This is the fourth instalment of a 6 part series that explores the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) for US SMBs that we identified in our recent research. Each blog post dives into one of the jobs and how we examined it with a JTBD canvas. If you missed the first post that explains JTBD and the canvas, check it out before reading this.

1st February was Time to Talk Day, a day dedicated to mental health awareness, and opening up the conversation around it in the aim of removing the stigma. The mantra behind the day is that mental health affects us all and it’s time to talk about it.