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Pulse Sends FinTech Hearts Racing With Video Banking Stories

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The New Pulse product from UK Fintech 11:FS uses videos to unlock the secrets of customers’ banking journeys from India to China and across the world.


PulseFinTech consultancy 11:FS has launched a new-and-updated version of 11:FS Pulse, the second iteration of the world’s first (and only) financial services UX insights platform.

The product crowdsources customer experiences from traditional and challenger financial services companies. For the first time, users can view on-demand videos of real customer journeys on real bank accounts from all around the world.

This could be a user on the Ant Financial platform in China, a PayTM customer in India, somebody using US banking services or even a UK High Street Bank user.

Pulse offers a subscription service that is instantly accessible for traditional banks, challenger banks or any company interested in FinTech and understanding how to embark on new territory opportunities.

11:FS Pulse gives users a seat behind the eyes of the customer, with time-stamped user journeys, top tips for success, and in-depth analysis conducted by in-house expert researchers.

“We have seen great value from the video walkthroughs of end-to-end customer journeys on the 11:FS Pulse platform. Gaining direct access to a large breadth of content with slick UI lets us filter information categories and has dramatically reduced our lead times,” said Joe Wood, Digital Insight Manager at Nationwide Building Society.

The FinTech ecosystem has become more crowded than ever before with a plethora of companies and services targeting the market and non-FinTech challengers ready to break through the sector.

Hugh Cornejo is the Head of Design at UK challenger bank Monzo and he is equally effusive about the 11:FS Pulse platform.

“11:FS Pulse is an incredibly well-organised and comprehensive tool. If you are a designer working in FinTech you should be begging for an invitation to use it,” he said.

Stakeholders and product owners are locked in a battle for customers, which means that rich insights and easy-to-access challenger UX data is fundamental to creating products that customers will genuinely love.

There is a constant conversation around the current approach to UX research. The current landscape of customer experience analysis relies heavily on slow-moving reports that heavily extend lead times and often result in a product that is not fit-for-purpose, driven by second-hand data and high-level UX research.

“11:FS Pulse has been created to take the guesswork out of UX insights. We have some of the biggest brands in financial services currently using Pulse to drive their innovation initiatives… or just to keep a close eye on their competitors.

“What we hear when we demonstrate 11:FS Pulse to customers is ‘I can’t believe this didn’t already exist’. For many of our customers, it is a vital tool that gives them the edge that they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences,” said Ross Methven, Co-Founder, 11:FS.

With insights and rich user-journeys from Alipay, N26, and many others across the FinTech landscape, 11:FS Pulse wants to shape the future of FinTech, and is the first in a series of announcements from 11:FS, which will shortly announce significant talent hires to continue its expansion and scale.

Save The Children and Amido sign IT partnership

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children

Save The Children International has appointed cloud-first technical consultancy Amido to undertake a strategically important IT project to streamline and consolidate the charity’s IT systems.

Charities are not the most original when it comes to technology, digital or IT, so it’s interesting to note they’re using one of London’s most up-and-coming cloud consultancies to do so.

The charity is a leading international children’s relief organisation operating in 120 countries. They do whatever it takes to ensure all children get access to what they deserve – a healthy start, the opportunity to learn, and protection from harm.

By partnering with Amido, Save the Children International hopes to improve its IT efficiency whilst retaining its global brand presence worldwide and national localism in the international marketplace.

“This project will open a lot of doors for us. It’s been a project high up on our strategic technology roadmap for some time. Amido’s efforts will be critically strategic to our IT efficiency so that the charity’s money is spent on helping children – which has always been, and will remain, our only focus,” said Graham Kent, Director of IT Shared Services, Save the Children International.

Amido works with brands such as ASOS, CBRE, Global Radio, London City Airport and Coats to remove friction from their customers’ online and mobile experiences to drive revenue and engagement.

From social sign-in to smart content delivery and smooth transactions, it helps brands build loyalty through customer recognition by bridging systems in a powerful way, yielding real-time results for brands and their customers.

“Amido are proud to be in a position where we can give back. By hosting the solution on Azure, Microsoft’s Cloud Platform – who donate the consumption of their platform their philanthropic arm – we have designed a solution that is scalable, faster and more flexible than what is currently in place,” said Alan Walsh, CEO, Amido.

Is your business ready for GDPR deadline?… Thought not.

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Amido launches new Readiness Assessment service as organisations fear impending GDPR deadline

gdpr

The clock is ticking for GDPR.

With less than 12 months to go until the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force across the EU, a third of UK organisations fear they will not be compliant in time.

Independent technical consultancy Amido has launched a new service to tackle these concerns, with its tailored GDPR Readiness Assessment that mitigates the risks of the most significant regulation changes affecting customer data.

Strengthening privacy in an ever-changing technology landscape, GDPR will unify data privacy across all EU member states through tighter restrictions on personal information, enforcing appropriate consent, as well as further improving clarity in terms individual rights.

However, with tough fines for non-compliance of up to either 4% global revenue or 20 million Euros, organisations are becoming increasingly concerned with the impending deadline.

Amido’s Readiness Assessment is designed to help organisations evaluate high risk areas that need immediate attention including business activity, current technology, governance and process, as well as any existing GDPR plans and ongoing digital transformation projects.

“One critical element of GDPR is the identification and management of customers, as well as their privacy preferences. Our new readiness assessment will help organisations to manage a consent profile and to tie that into their customer’s identity, ensuring they are ready for GDPR,” said Chris Gray, Technical Director of Amido.

As experts in Identity and Access Management, Amido have worked with the likes of ASOS, Channel 4, global financial services organisations and public-sector bodies to ensure their technology utilises and protects customer data. The new readiness assessment service will be integral in supporting organisations striving to be ahead of the game with just ten months to go until the GDPR comes into effect.

Amido is ranked 12th in The Sunday Times Lloyds SME Export Track 100 league table, the UK’s top 100 SMEs with the fastest-growing international sales.

BullGuard’s Dojo IoT cybersecurity pebble set for CES domination

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A new IoT pebbled-shaped security device is expected to take this year’s CES by storm.

IoT

BullGuard, the consumer security company that recently acquired IoT security pioneer Dojo Labs, will unveil Dojo by BullGuard at CES 2017 next week as cybersecurity products are set to dominate the conference.

Dojo by BullGuard is the only integrated smart home IoT security solution that seamlessly protects the privacy and security of a consumer’s data, devices, home and family by monitoring the home network 24/7 against cyber threats.

Dojo discovers devices connected to the home network, secures them and continuously analyses their IoT network activity for any suspicious behaviour. The Dojo by BullGuard smart home security solution includes:

* Dojo (hardware): a sleekly designed ‘pebble’ that is easy to set up and free to move about the home while its dock is tucked away with the router. Rings of light on the Dojo pebble illuminate when activity is detected on the user’s network

* Dojo smartphone app: allows users to interact with the Dojo pebble via an intuitive messaging interface that prompts them to allow or block network activity and informs them of potential cyber threats

* Dojo Intelligence: a cybersecurity engine powered by AI and machine learning technology. As its cloud-based platform familiarises itself with a home’s smart devices, the smarter it becomes in detecting, defending and mitigating against cyber threats and privacy breaches

Smart home devices are notoriously insecure and it is easy to exploit the vulnerabilities of millions of them – from smart alarms, thermostats, baby monitors, lighting, locks and more.

According to Gartner, the number of connected devices is forecast to reach more than 21 billion by 2020. Research firm Statista also projects the household penetration of connected smart home devices is expected to hit 60.7% in 2021, up from 24.9% in 2016.

BullGuard will offer CES attendees a live demo of Dojo by BullGuard in a meeting room with the most popular smart home devices connected to one WiFi network simulating a smart home environment.

The demo will show how multiple connected devices are discovered, protected and managed by the Dojo application, and will also include a scenario where the infamous Mirai botnet is detected and mitigated by the Dojo intelligent system.

“The smart home market is growing at an exponential pace, and we’ve recently seen major privacy breaches caused by compromised devices. Our product makes it easy to safeguard your privacy and family by constantly monitoring and protecting all smart home devices,” said Yossi Atias, General Manager IoT Security of BullGuard.

Dojo by BullGuard will begin shipping in April 2017 and will retail for $199 USD, including 12-months of service and can be pre-ordered here.

Dementica Brittanica… Written on Brexit last July.

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I originally wrote this in July for The Memo, which published a watered-down version. After recent events, I thought I’d publish it in its original form here. It’s quite angry and contains swearwords, although I use wanker when I really mean cunt.

dementica

In World War II, the Nazi propaganda machine wanted the world to know that the British were starving and running out of food. They used the term Dementica Brittanica to describe this so-called state of being.

Some would say that leaving the EU was a similarly demented act and as we live through this important summer, it’s easy to think of The Reprieve, Jean-Paul Sartre’s second book in his Parisian trilogy leading up to and during World War II. Continue reading →