The fintech ecosystem is currently going through an exciting phase. Startups that were once considered young and immature like Monzo, Revolut, or Airwallex have grown into established financial companies. At the same time, incumbent banks are getting better at engaging and investing in fintech. The two worlds are converging and sparking new opportunities for partnerships.
Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? France’s fintech star is rising. With over 1100 of them based in the capital alone, junior minister Cédric O has promised that Paris will eclipse London as the fintech hotspot in Europe in the near-distant future.
Asking the wrong questions will only ever lead to the wrong solutions. That’s why we lean into Jobs to be Done at 11:FS. It’s based on the notion that there’s no use in asking what the customer wants, because they don’t actually know. 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.
11:FS has come a long way in a short time, and as the company has grown up, so must the branding. It's time to sit down, take stock of how we look and sound and fine-tune our identity.
The financial services sector in the Middle East has seen a surge in both innovation and investment in recent years, showing signs that 2024 will be a big year for its fintech scene. But what brands do you need to watch out for?
We were lucky enough to catch up with Ben Metz, Head of Digital at Jack Henry. Here, he predicts who’ll come out on top in the banking war: the traditional players or the challengers, and what will decide who wins and loses.
Fintech has a big part to play in the fight against climate change and can help solve financial exclusion for millions worldwide. This article is the first in a trilogy on fintech for good. You can find the link to the second at the bottom of this one.
Take a peek behind the scenes of 11:FS Pulse. Keep reading to learn about the process 11:FS designers use to keep the Pulse product relevant, user friendly and ahead of the curve with a run through of the latest application of our design process.
I'm going to start with an unpopular opinion that we proposition design purists like to convince ourselves isn't true: sometimes it's ok to launch a clone.
Hot on the heels of Revolut’s mega funding round and newly minted unicorn status two weeks ago comes another piece of good news for the European fintech industry — Swedish commerce platform iZettle is set to IPO.
One notable group of firms are missing from the initial Libra founding members: banks. So what could Libra mean for them?
So you’re looking to scale agile Agile has become the status quo for most organisations delivering digital services. In recent years, conversation in the enterprise agile community has shifted to scaling agile.
I don’t know if I think about the Roman Empire every day, but awards submissions? I can’t seem to escape them.
The Federal Reserve hasn’t changed its payment system in more than 50 years. And while it’s operated with relative stability for that duration, the needs of businesses and their customers have evolved.
In a landscape where it’s so easy for people to switch between digital products and services, brands are having to work harder to get into the customer’s mind, and more importantly - to stay there. Standing out from the crowd is as important as ever. So why do fintechs look increasingly similar?

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?
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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.

Fintech is only 1% finished. But what do we mean by that? Simon Taylor, Head of Ventures at 11:FS takes us through the landscape of financial technology in this Lightboard edition of 11:FS Explores.
Just what is going on with Buy Now, Pay Later right now?

What does the future hold for lending? Live from Lendit USA 2022.
Will banks exist in 100 years?

In this episode of 11:FS Explores, Adam Davis picks apart Open Finance, and what we have to look forward to if this technology became a reality.
Inclusive design is a mindset and a process that suggests that you should bring as many people as possible - and the most diverse of voices that you can - into your product design product process, so that you're being truly inclusive. It's designing with people rather that just at them. Charlotte Fereday, Product Director, Ventures, explains what inclusive design is, why it's important, how you can design more inclusively, and answers - how possible is truly inclusive design?
On this episode of Spotlight, 11:FS Crypto Global Strategy Director, Mauricio Magaldi is joined by Ramp Network Co-Founder and CEO, Szymon Sypniewicz. In today's chat, the pair discuss Szymon's career, the current regulatory landscape in crypto, and what the future might hold when it comes to widespread crypto adoption.

In this 11:FS Explores: Lightboard Edition, Vaughan Shaman takes us through how asynchronous systems work, their advantages, and how they can remove potential bottlenecks.

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...

