
The 11:FS Pulse analysts spend all their time immersed in the world of fintech. Over the past year, we’ve seen hundreds of different products, features, and brands pass through our screens. With the fintech space moving so fast, there’s been a lot to love (and hate). For anyone working in the space that doesn’t currently have a Pulse license, we wanted to share the 2017 roundup we hashed out over a couple of beers in the Aldgate WeWork. Without further ado, here are the 11 brands that deserve recognition for 2017…

David Brear and Jason Bates were put through their paces when they met Gary Vaynerchuk who gave them one of his famous $100,000 sessions.

In the second quarter of 2017 VC-backed fintechs raised $5.2bn via 251 deals.That brings us to $8bn for the between Q2 2016 and Q2 2017, meaning the industry is well on track to a record breaking year (2015 saw a peak of $14.1bn). If you’ve got a killer idea or you’ve made it to MVP stage, now might be the time to familiarise yourself with the biggest fintech players in the VC world.

At 11:FS, we spend a lot of time looking at next-generation mobile trends and technology. Every now and again we come across a product or feature that just blows us away. It can be as simple as a smart integration with another product or as complicated as a whole app that’s powered by bleeding edge technology.

I’ve blogged on some of the themes I’m going to cover below, but the story gets clearer and clearer in my head the more I blog about and talk about it, so this version may be a little clearer than some that have gone before.

I used to hate when my parents came into high school for the annual speech from my teachers that I should be trying a lot harder. Unlike my report cards at school, I think the 11:FS end of year report would read pretty damn well as every single person that has worked for 11:FS couldn’t have done more to make it a success over the last year.

The arrival of a new year is often a time for reflection and an opportunity to look ahead. In design it’s no different.

Host Benjamin Ensor - Director of Research and Strategy at 11:FS is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.

For years, banking has been framed as a battlefield: incumbents defending their turf while fintech challengers attack with better tech and customer experience. But in 2026, that picture may have changed.

Host Laura Watkins (Director of Media and Marketing at 11:FS) is joined by a brilliant panel to unpack these topics before diving into some of the biggest fintech stories of the week.

In this episode of Fintech Insider, David M. Brear sits down with Emily Turner, the newly appointed CEO of HSBC Innovation Banking UK, for a conversation about leadership, innovation, and the future of fintech in the UK.

In this episode of Fintech Insider Insights, Kate Moody is joined by an expert panel of product leaders to unpack a question every startup and scale-up eventually faces: how do you build the dream product team?
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Host Ross Gallagher, Head of Ventures 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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In this episode of Fintech Insider, David M. Brear sits down with ClearBank’s UK CEO, Emma Hagan, to explore how the UK’s first new clearing bank in over 250 years is reshaping financial infrastructure from the ground up.
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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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In this special live edition of Fintech Insider Insights, recorded at the FCA’s Supercharged Sandbox Showcase, David M. Brear is joined by leaders from the regulator, industry and the technology ecosystem to unpack the UK’s first AI-focused regulatory sandbox.
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Host Benjamin Ensor, Director of Research and Strategy 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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What’s next for fintech UX in 2026? Ross Gallagher, Head of Consulting at 11:FS, is joined by some great guests to break down six financial services UX predictions from the latest 11:FS Pulse Report, covering the shifts shaping digital banking, customer experience, onboarding, product design, and user research.
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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?
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?
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...

