Fintech Insider Podcast by 11:FS
Fintech Insider is your ultimate guide to the world of finance and fintech from 11:FS - the leading independent fintech consultancy, recognised six times with the British Bank Award for Consultancy of the Year. Our expert hosts, with real industry experience, are joined by the biggest decision-makers, VCs, and reporters from across financial services including Visa, Monzo, Nationwide, JPMorgan Chase, Wise, the Financial Times, and more to discuss breaking news and deep dive into the biggest topics and trends within the industry. Our weekly news show drops every Monday and tackles the biggest news stories across M&A, open banking...
Insights: How will quantum computing affect financial services?
About this episode:
Quantum computing has been hailed as the next major technological breakthrough. But what does it actually mean for financial services, and how soon could it start making a difference?
In this episode of Fintech Insider Insights, Benjamin Ensor is joined by Dave Starling, Head of Future Products Technology at NatWest Group; Amna Usman Chaudhry, Financial Economist, Autonomous Finance Leader and author of KYS: Know Your Swarm; and Ewan Silver, CTO at 11:FS Holdings, to explore the opportunities and risks quantum computing presents for the financial industry.
The panel breaks down...
Why financial services can’t afford to wait on AI – with Samantha McBride, CEO of Ani Tech
About this episode:
From hedge funds to building AI agents, Samantha McBride's journey into fintech has been anything but conventional.
In this bonus episode of Fintech Insider Insights, David M. Brear is joined by Samantha McBride, founder and CEO of Ani Tech, to explore how AI agents are transforming financial services and why firms that fail to embrace the technology risk being left behind.
Samantha shares how a New Year's resolution to learn coding with her mum led her to leave a career in hedge funds and launch her own AI company. They...
News: Binance’s $6.3bn hack, Mastercard’s AI future, and Revolut secures NZ banking licence
About this episode:
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.
This week's guests:
Dr Clive Summerfield - CEO of FARx,
Wincie Wong - Founding Member of Tech She Can
James A. Brown - CEO of Leeds Credit Union
Plus voice note from:
Binu Paul - Consultant at SavvyKiwi
Stories/timestamps:
Binance users withdraw $5bn in wake of...
Insights: What happens to banking when money manages itself?
About this episode:
As AI agents become capable of automatically moving money, optimising savings and making financial decisions on our behalf, could they fundamentally challenge the way banks make money?
Host Ross Gallagher is joined by Conrad Ford from Allica Bank, Merusha Naidu from Paymentology, and Aurélien Bonnel from N3XT, to explore what fully automated money could mean for the future of banking.
They discuss whether AI agents could disrupt traditional banking revenues, make deposits more mobile and introduce new risks to financial stability. Plus, as banks compete to serve AI a...
News: Plum gets targeted support green light, Chargebacks911 protects AI purchases, and Mastercard teams with MrBeast
About this episode:
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.
This week's guests:
Daniel Wills- Senior Financial Advisor at Plum
Matthew Goldman - Founder and Managing Member at Totavi
Brad Wiskirchen - Chief Commercial Officer at Chargebacks911 and CEO at Fi911
Stories/timestamps:
Smart money app Plum secures FCA approval for targeted support - (01:19)
Chargebacks911 launches indemnification for AI agent purchase...
Insights: Make a wish: If you could change one thing about financial services, what would it be?
About this episode:
It's episode 1111 of Fintech Insider, and we're making a wish!
To celebrate this milestone, we're turning the tables on our usual hosts and asking a simple question: If you could change anything about financial services, what would you wish for?
Stepping in as our Fintech Fairy Godmother, Sarah Kocianski, Scaling & Growth Specialist at the FCA, is joined by three familiar voices from Fintech Insider.
From helping customers build better financial futures to making money less awkward to talk about and ensuring AI does more good than harm, they...
News: Acorns targets Gen Z, Huntington teams up with Google Cloud, and Confide tackles agentic governance
About this episode:
Host Laura Watkins - Director of Media and 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.
This week's guests:
Pav Gill - Founder and CEO at Confide
Vijay Konduru - Head of Business Innovation & AI Products at Huntington National Bank
Maia Bittner - Chief Product Officer at Imprint
Stories/timestamps:
Confide Launches Agentic Governance Platform - (04:27)
Huntington Bank partners Google Cloud - (16:46)
<...Insights: When AI agents become your colleagues, who keeps them in check?
About this episode:
AI agents are moving beyond helping employees work faster. They're increasingly being connected to company knowledge, internal systems and workflows, allowing them to take action and become part of how organisations operate.
But as AI agents become more capable, how much autonomy should we give them? Who decides what they can access, who's accountable when something goes wrong, and how can financial institutions maintain control as adoption scales?
In this episode of Fintech Insider Insights, in partnership with Dust, host Benjamin Ensor, Director of Research and Strategy at 11:FS, is...
News: Ramp hits $60bn valuation, UK venture capital breaks records, and Bank of America and Amex face AML fines
About this episode:
Host Ross Gallagher- Head of Consulting at 11:FS - is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.
This week's guests:
Joe Parkin - Managing Partner, FG Partners
Kemi Odusan - Head of Growth, spektr
Marit Rødevand - CEO and co-founder, Strise
Stories/timestamps:
Ramp reportedly hits $60bn valuation in $1.85bn funding round - (04:02)
UK venture capital reports largest fundraising quarter on record in Q3 - (16:27)
Ban...
Insights: Can banks turn high earners into wealthy customers?
About this episode:
Earning a good salary doesn't necessarily mean building wealth. For a growing group of high earners, often referred to as HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet), the journey from financial success to long-term wealth can be surprisingly difficult.
While traditional banking focuses on everyday financial needs and wealth management often caters to those who have already accumulated significant assets, many high earners find themselves somewhere in between.
In this episode of Fintech Insider Insights, host Ross Gallagher, Head of Consulting at 11,:FS is joined by Kate Moody, Customer Strategy Director...
Inside Project Nemo’s mission to make banking work for everyone
Millions of people need support managing their money, but financial services aren't always designed to make that easy, safe or accessible. So what needs to change?
Host David M. Brear is joined by Joanne Dewar, Co-Founder of Project Nemo, and Anna Wallace, CEO of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), to explore why supported payments remain a major gap in financial inclusion.
They discuss how Project Nemo's work with the learning disability community has helped bring this challenge into focus, the launch of the UK's new Financial Inclusion Coalition, backed by HM Treasury...
News: ASOS hit by cyberattack, UK finance eyes tokenisation, and can open banking help tackle credit exclusion
About this episode:
Host Ross Gallagher- Head of Consulting at 11:FS - is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.
This week's guests:
Alex Marsh - CEO of Salad Group
Veronica Glab - Factional consultant
Alex Gluchowski - CEO of Matter Labs
Stories/timestamps:
Community finance and open banking could help the UK's ‘credit invisibles’ - (04:00)
Lloyds survey: 71% of UK financial institutions back tokenisation - (20:40)
NG.CASH raises $15m to widen c...
1105. Insights: Who owns the banking relationship in the AI era?
About this episode:
As AI becomes another interface between customers and their money, could banks lose their place at the centre of the financial relationship?
Host Kate Moody is joined by Udi Ziv, CEO of Personetics, Megan Caywood, CEO of Caywood, and Ron Shevlin, Chief Research Officer at Cornerstone Advisors, to explore who owns the banking relationship in the AI era. They discuss whether banks’ data and trust still give them an advantage, what happens when AI moves from answering questions to taking action, and whether AI could ultimately make banking more personal rather than le...
1104. News: Nubank rules out Monzo takeover, Checkout.com opens the books, and Ramp hits Broadway
Welcome to this week’s Fintech Insider News podcast, where host Benjamin Ensor is joined by expert guests to unpack the biggest fintech and financial services stories of the week - and, for this week only, a little bit of theatre, darlings.
This week's guests:
Rory O'Neill - Chief Marketing Officer at Checkout.com
Sam Maule - Head of Business Development at Moov
Irina Chuchkina - Fintech GTM Advisor
Stories/timestamps:
Intro - (00:01)
Nubank says it is not pursuing Monzo takeover after shares plunge - (03:09)
...Insights: Who’s winning the US digital banking race?
About this episode:
US banking customers have more choice than ever. But does more choice mean better banking?
Host Benjamin Ensor is joined by Joe Colchester, Head of Product at 11:FS Pulse, and Oliwia Wasik, Product Manager and Benchmark Lead at 11:FS Pulse, to unpack the findings from Pulse’s latest US benchmarking research.
They explore what the leading digital banking experiences are getting right, where customers remain underserved, and what it means to win the customer relationship when people increasingly spread their financial lives across banks, cards, wallets and fintechs.
...
News: Amazon blocks Meta’s AI agent, Ryft raises £20m, and Sprive bags $10m
About this episode:
Host Laura Watkins - Director of Media and 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.
This week's guests:
Sadra Hosseini, CEO at Ryft
Oban MacTavish - Co-Founder and CEO at Spade
Shareq Husain, COO at Just Move In
Plus voice note from:
Clare Gambardella, Chief Customer Officer of Zopa Bank
Stories/timestamps:
Amazon blocks Meta's Muse AI agent - (02:48)
<...Insights: Why does your financial life reset when you move countries? With Paymentology
About this episode:
Moving countries has never been easier. But what happens when your financial identity doesn’t move with you?
Host Benjamin Ensor is joined by Merusha Naidu, Global Head of Partnerships at Paymentology, Ibrahim Oladele, Founder of Maxim, and Valerie Kontor, Founder of Black in Fintech, to explore why financial lives still stop at national borders, how portable financial identity could change that, and what it will take for diaspora banking to move beyond remittances.
This episode is produced in partnership with Paymentology.
This week's guests:
Merusha Na...
News- After Dark: Nubank takes on the US, Monzo Aura launches, and can you trust AI with your money?
About this episode:
Our expert host David M. Brear, CEO at 11:FS, and co-host Kate Moody, Customer Strategy Director at 11:FS, present a very special edition of Fintech Insider News live from Village Underground in London. Joined by some fantastic guests and our live audience, we celebrate our 1,100th episode by discussing some of the biggest fintech and financial services stories of the week.
Stories covered on the podcast this week include:
Nubank takes its next big step with a launch into the US market, betting on word of mouth as it looks...
Insights: Subscription banking - Can banks turn customers into subscribers?
About this episode:
Subscription banking is growing – but what makes customers willing to pay for something they’ve traditionally expected for free?
In this episode of Fintech Insider Insights, host Ross Gallagher is joined by Joe Wilson, Chief Evangelist and Senior Strategist at bunq, and Lukas Hora, Chief Sales Officer at Tapix, to explore the rise of subscription banking and what customers actually value enough to pay for.
We look at what makes a paid banking experience feel genuinely premium, whether bigger bundles really mean better value, and if subscriptions can create stronger cust...
News: Chime buys Stride Bank, Molten raises £175m, UBS puts AI on the job spec
About this episode:
Host Ross Gallagher - Head of Consulting at 11:FS - is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.
This week's guests:
Nadia Edwards-Dashti - Chief Customer Officer at Harrington Star
John Reynolds - Fintech reporter at Tech.eu
Jason Mikula - Publisher of Fintech Business Weekly
Stories/timestamps:
Revolut backer Molten Ventures hits £175M first close of growth fund - (04:06)
Chime to buy nationally chartered Stride Bank - (...
Insights: When money moves 24/7, can treasury keep up? With J.P. Morgan
About this episode:
Money moves around the clock. But can treasury keep up?
In this episode of Fintech Insider, in partnership with J.P. Morgan, host Benjamin Ensor is joined by Amy Eckhoff and Ross Webster from J.P. Morgan, alongside Nium’s Heather O'Gorman, to explore what liquidity management looks like in an increasingly real-time financial system.
From navigating liquidity across different markets, currencies and accounts to improving visibility, forecasting and control, our panel looks at what it really takes to build a more connected approach to treasury. We also explore how vi...
1096. News: Singapore puts $173m behind fintechs, Plum picks Upvest, and US regulators tighten the rules
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.
This week's guests:
Valentina Kristensen - Corporate Affairs Director (CAD) at OakNorth
Rashmi d'Souza - VP, Product & Design at Plum
Todd Phillips - Director at Klaros Advisors
Stories/timestamps:
Plum selects Upvest as UK investment infrastructure provider (03:29)
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) commits $173m to next phase of Singapore fintech development (17:54)
<...Insights: Is financial services failing Gen Z?
About this episode:
Gen Z is often told it needs to get better with money. But with younger people facing a very different economic reality, does Gen Z really have a financial literacy problem — or does financial services have a Gen Z problem?
Host Kate Moody is joined by Neil Kadagathur, Co-founder and CEO of Creditspring, Zeynep Guzel, Risk Analyst at DRW, and Diana Kamil-Salmon, Associate Director at Fair4All Finance, to explore Gen Z’s relationship with money, what financial security means to younger customers, and whether financial services is keeping up with their chan...
News: UK fintech funding hits a decade low, NatWest backs accessible banking, and Pay.com.au takes on America
About this episode:
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.
This week's guests:
Clare Black - COO at CFIT
Joe Parkin - Managing Partner at FG Partners
Blake Hutchison - CEO at PayRewards US
Plus voice note from:
Emily Stokes, product delivery manager at NatWest Open Innovation team
Stories/timestamps:
UK fintech funding hits lowest level in a...
Insights: What it’s really like to start a fintech in 2026
Starting a fintech has never been easier but has building a successful one ever been harder?
Host David M. Brear is joined by Fatbardha Rino, CEO of Jet Bank, and Herbie Wildwood, Founder of Legacy, to explore what it really takes to build a fintech in 2026, from funding and differentiation to AI, infrastructure and the challenges founders don't see coming.
This week's guests:
Farbardha Rino- CEO of Jet Bank
Herbie Wildwood - Founder, Legacy
Links to check out:
Join us at London's Village Underground on Wednesday 17th S...
1092. News: Finally, the robots take over: Starling gets smarter, Stripe buys OpenRouter, and Visa and Mastercard unite on agentic payments
Host Laura Watkins - Director of Media and 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.
This week's guests:
David Sullivan - Data Director of Starling
Stefano Pasquali - Head of Financial Services at Domyn
Aditi Subbarao - Financial Services for Snowflake
Stories/timestamps:
Starling to release weekly ‘Smart tools’ that supercharge money management - (03:19)
Stripe agrees $7bn takeover of AI firm OpenRouter - (17:37)
Visa and Maste...
1091. Insights: Can AI make us financially healthier?
About this episode:
For years, financial wellness has focused on helping people become better at managing their money. But what if the next generation of financial products could take some of that burden away entirely?
Host Ross Gallagher is joined by Lucy Wayment, Co-founder of Welleness, and Aditi Subbarao from Snowflake to explore whether AI can genuinely improve financial wellness, what happens as we move from financial guidance to decision delegation, and whether consumers will eventually trust AI to manage increasingly important parts of their financial lives.
This week's guests:
Lucy...
News: Can anyone stop Revolut? Can Countingup and Griffin tackle SME pain? Can the FCA help UK fintechs scale?
About this episode:
Host Ross Gallagher - Head of Consulting at 11:FS - is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.
This week's guests:
Phoebe Wallis - Chief Revenue Officer at Griffin
Veronica Glab - Strategic Partnerships Lead at Juice
Tom Mylrea-Lowndes - General Counsel and Head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at Teya
Stories/timestamps:
Revolut awarded full-fat European banking licence - (04:41)
Countingup Partners with Griffin to Launch Integrated Bus...
Insights: Why does wealth management arrive too late?
About this episode:
For many founders, selling a company is seen as the finish line. But some of the biggest financial decisions around an exit happen long before the deal is done - so why does wealth management so often arrive too late?
Host David Brear is joined by Stephany Kirkpatrick, founder of Pretty Smart Money and Orum, and Kate Moody, Customer Strategy Director at 11:FS, to explore why traditional wealth management struggles to build trust with founders, what major life events reveal about the industry's product-first approach, and how better planning, technology and AI...
News: Visa bets $2.4bn for BioCatch, InvestiFi raises $20m, and HSBC pulls back in Australia
About this episode:
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.
This week's guests:
James Holmes, Chief product officer at Seccl
Benjamin David, Head of intelligence at The Payments Association
Dave Morris - CEO of FoundryOS
Visa agrees $2.4 billion deal to acquire BioCatch (03:54)
InvestiFi raises USD 20 million for embedded investing platform (16:24)
HSBC to pull out o...
Insights: Can anyone fix homebuying?
Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions most people will ever make. Yet despite years of digital innovation, the experience remains fragmented, stressful and surprisingly analogue.
Host Benjamin Ensor is joined by a great panel to explore why homebuying still feels so broken, how technology and AI are reshaping the journey, and what it would take to build a truly customer-centred experience—from first search to long-term home ownership.
This week's guests:
Maria Harris - Chair and advisor of Open Property Data Association
Daniel O’Connor - Chief Opera...
News: Wise tries again in the US, Western Union shuts its digital bank and Brazil reinvents BNPL
About this episode:
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.
This week's guests:
Matthew Goldman - Founder and Managing Member at Totavi
Neira Jones - Advisor, keynote speaker and author
Bruno Diniz - Managing partner at Spiralem
Stories/ timestamps:
Wise to refile US trust bank charter application after OCC rejection (03.46)
Western Union to discontinue its Western Union Digital Bank...
Insights: Are Neobanks replacing private banking?
About this episode:
For years, neobanks competed by offering better banking experiences. Now, the biggest players are expanding into investing, AI-powered financial guidance, wealth management and premium services—areas once dominated by private banks.
In this episode, host Ross Gallagher is joined by Maia Bittner, Ayelen Denovitzer and Matthew Ford to explore whether neobanks are redefining what it means to be customers' primary financial partner, how AI is reshaping financial advice, and whether private banking is becoming accessible to everyone.
This week's guests:
Maia Bittner - Investment Partner, XFactor Ventures
...
News: Ant's $1.2bn Raise, Teya Doubles Down on SMEs and Revolut Lands licence in Australia
About this episode:
Host Laura Watkins - Director of Media and 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.
This week's guests:
Alessandra Giner - Chief Product Officer, Teya
Simone Joyce - Chief Executive Officer, Paypa Plane
Sophie Winwood - Co-Founder & CEO, unlock VC
Stories/timestamps:
Ant International raises $1.2 billion in Series A round - (04:18)
Teya expands Business Account with bill payments and cashback cards - (16:59)
Insights: Why does running a business still feels harder than it should? With Sage
About this episode:
In this episode, with partnership with Sage, we're exploring why running a business still feels harder than it should—and how embedded experiences are changing that. Host Kate Moody, Customer Strategy Director at 11:FS, is joined by Gordon Stuart, SVP of Embedded Services at Sage, Emma Campbell, Chief Banking Officer at @One.io, and Sarah Kocianski, fintech consultant and analyst.
This week's guests:
Gordon Stuart – SVP and Embedded Services at Sage
Emma Campbell - Chief Banking Officer @One.io
Sarah Kocianski - Fintech consultant and analyst
News: Stripe bids for PayPal, BNPL regulation kicks in, and Nubank secures a Mexican banking licence
About this episode:
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.
This week's guests:
Alex Marsh, CEO at Salad Group
Danielle Labarbera, VP of North America at Sumsub
Alberto Lazarov, Co-founder at Dalatea
Plus voice note from:
Tom Metcalfe, Director of Global Partnerships at GoCardless
Stories/timestamps:
Stripe and Advent reportedly make bid for PayPal - (03:55)<...
Insights: The future of Robinhood. A conversation with UK President Jordan Sinclair
Come watch Fintech Insider live in London - 11fs.com/afterdark
About this episode
Robinhood has just unveiled one of the biggest product launches in its history, centred around a bold vision for Borderless Markets. From tokenised stocks and ETFs to Robinhood Chain and AI-powered investing, the company is betting that the future of finance will be tokenised, intelligent and increasingly autonomous.
But what does that actually mean for customers, markets and the wider financial services industry?
In this episode, Benjamin Ensor is joined by Jordan Sinclair, President of Robinhood UK...
News: Klarna applies for a US banking licence, LemFi buys Wealth8, and Santander open-sources AI
About this episode:
Host Ross Gallagher - Head of Consulting at 11:FS - is joined by some great guests to discuss the biggest stories from the world of financial services over the past week.
This week's guests:
Dave Morris - CEO of FoundryOS
Kaley Addo - Head of UK operations of Upvest
Jason Mikula - Publisher of Fintech Business Weekly
Plus voice note from:
Bernadette Smith - Chief Customer and Banking Officer of Starling
Stories/timestamps:
Klarna applies for US banking...
Insights: Robinhood, Public and the US firms leading the AI customer experience race
In this episode, we're exploring one of the biggest themes shaping financial services today: how US firms are leading the AI customer experience race.
Host Kate Moody, Customer Strategy Director at 11:FS, is joined by members of the 11:FS Pulse team: Joe Colchester, Head of Product, and Oliwia Wasik, Product Manager and Benchmark Lead.
Together, they unpack the latest AI experiences emerging from the US market, drawing on Pulse's research and exclusive conversations with Robinhood and Public to explore what separates genuinely useful AI products from AI hype - and what financial institutions can learn...
News: FCA unveils crypto rules, Airwallex hits $11bn valuation, and Jet Bank launches Albania's first digital bank
About this episode:
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.
This week's guests:
Fatbardha Rino - CEO at Jet Bank
Veronica Glab - Strategic Partnerships Lead at Juice
Daniel Taylor - Head of Policy & Research at Zumo
Stories/timestamps:
The FCA unveils new framework for crypto firms (05:06)
Airwallex targets agentic commerce after hitting $11bn valuation (17:48)
...
