Podcast
Fin the Week
Hosted by Indulge · EN
The Friday financial marketing & technology briefing.
13episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Consumer Duty: Three Years In
1w ago00:44:16Tap to summarizeConsumer duty turns three this month. Three years in, "we're working on it" stops being an excuse, and the FCA's tone has shifted from patient to pointed.So we're kicking off our Q3 edition, The Trust Reset, with a four-part teardown series where we run real financial services journeys through the wringer and ask a simple question; is this actually fair, or does it just tick a box?In this opener, the full team's back together to set the scene. We get into what's really changed since 2022, why "we don't sell to consumers" is a dangerous thing for a firm to believe, and how much of consumer duty comes down to accessibility and sludge.We also lift the lid on UXDuty, the tool we built in-house to scan digital channels against the PRIN 2A rules and surface the friction firms would rather you didn't notice.Next week we start the teardowns proper with bank switching, a big provider, a mid-tier one, and a challenger, side by side.What we cover:Why year three of consumer duty is the year the excuses run outDistribution chains, and why more firms are in scope than think they areAccessibility as good practice, not a compliance choreWhether AI fixes digital channels or quietly makes them worseUX Duty: how we scan journeys for sludge and evidence board reportsJargon buster: escrow, explainedNew episode every Friday. Fin the Week is the financial technology and marketing briefing from Indulge, a digital agency for financial services.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Personal Updates00:55 What's coming up in Q3?06:09 What was the industry reaction to Consumer Duty?11:36 Consumer Duty in 202613:47 Understanding the distribution chain for Consumer Duty22:16 Consumer Duty is about making something that's better for everyone26:22 Explaining what UXDuty is35:33 Introducing the Consumer Duty teardown process39:20 Jargon Busters!
Transcribe →Where are finance firms actually using AI?
2w ago00:42:57Tap to summarizeTo wrap up our Pragmatic AI Edition, we stop theorising and go looking for the receipts: where is the financial services sector actually putting AI to work? Amelia, Paul and Pat play a quick game of Yay-I or Nay-I, scoring five real-world deployments to decide whether each one is genuinely useful or just a bit of clever PR. From Morgan Stanley arming its financial advisers with an internal chatbot, to Klarna's assistant doing the work of 700 agents in 35 languages, to Stripe's fraud-fighting Radar. We dig into what's impressive, what's overhyped, and where the human still matters most. Plus an NHS phone-bot anecdote that changes one sceptic's mind, a pitch for Lenny Henry to answer the Premier Inn phone, and this week's Jargon Buster: IPO. Chapters:00:00 Intro02:35 Morgan Stanley AI Chat Tool08:53 Morgan Stanley AI Debrief Tool12:23 Klarna's AI Assistant24:03 Klarna's AI CEO33:43 Stripe Radar40:23 Jargon Busters: IPO Fin the Week is the Friday financial technology and marketing briefing from Indulge: a digital agency for the global financial services sector. #FinTheWeek #FinancialServices #AI #FinTech #MarketingPodcast #Indulge
Transcribe →The week Google's AI answers became Google's problem
3w ago00:49:31Tap to summarizeThis week on Fin the Week, Amelia, Paul and Mayna unpack five stories reshaping search and marketing in financial services: a German court ruling that makes Google liable for its own AI overviews, fresh SparkToro data showing fewer than one in three UK searches now ends in a click, Hiscox stepping into ChatGPT's advertising pilot, what 54 studies reveal about ranking in AI search, and the UK's incoming social media ban for under-16s.Chapters00:00 Intro00:54 A German court has ruled that Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words09:48 Zero click searches continue to rise20:53 Hiscox testing advertising in ChatGPT26:03 Research into AI citation ranking factors34:27 Discussing the UK under-16 social media ban46:57 Jargon busters
Transcribe →What FS marketers should steal from UX London
Jun 1200:48:08Tap to summarizeMark's just back from UX London, and this week we dig into what financial services marketers can actually use from it.The headline: stop asking for more research time and start packaging what you already have. We get into validation, falling in love with the problem, not the solution, why failure is a feature of good UX, not a bug, and where AI is genuinely earning its place in the process.If you run marketing or operations in a finance firm, there's a year's worth of customer insight already sitting in your support inbox and your chatbot logs. We tell you how to find it.00:00 Introduction to UX London and Event Overview01:55 What is UK London?02:41 UX is now a board-level concern in financial services05:02 Effective Research and Stakeholder Validation12:28 Using Validation to Drive UX Success21:04 Using keyword research as a source of user validation24:15 AI chatbots as a source of user research26:34 Turning Failure into Opportunity in UX35:04 A framework for organising content37:09 How did UK London address AI?41:22 Key Takeaway: The Power of Validation44:21 Final Reflections and Future Trends
Transcribe →The Economist is working on a website for the 'two-track web' (one for us, one for AI)
Jun 500:48:40Tap to summarizeThis week, we look at the concept of a two-track internet, something floated in a recent article in Digiday about work taking place at The Economist.We dive into the complexities of creating a web environment that caters to both human and AI users, highlighting the need for a strategic shift in website design and content presentation.TakeawaysTwo-track internetAI experience Tone of voice is a trust signalAI chatbots may struggle to convey a brand's tone of voiceChapters00:00 Introduction to the Two Track Internet01:31 The Economist's Case Study on AI and Content05:41 Exploring AI Experience vs User Experience08:01 The concept of AIX (AI Experience)10:59 Designing for Two Different Audiences16:13 Two-track vs one-track web25:46 Can AI agents drive trust?32:03 Navigating Google's Guidelines for Brands36:43 The Future of AI and Brand Representation43:03 The Impact of AI on Advertising and Monetisation
Transcribe →Don't worry about it, it's just SEO...isn't it?
May 2900:53:27Tap to summarizeGoogle has published a guide on optimising your website for the AI features in Google Search. On the face of it, that's good news; guidance straight from the horse's mouth. In practice, the guide is weak: written in a vacuum, dodging the traffic problem, treating agentic AI as a footnote, and ultimately telling you "don't worry about it, it's just SEO." We aren't convinced.Amelia, Paul, Pat and Russell unpack the document section by section: the jargon (SEO, GEO, AEO, AIO), the technical mechanics (RAG and query fan-out, explained with dominoes), the myth-busting section that's caused half the SEO industry to celebrate, and the bit Google glosses over entirely: agentic AI, and the difference between an AI model's training data and what it pulls in through search. Plus what financial services content teams should actually be doing now, including the compliance challenge of disclaimers being clipped out of AI-generated answers.02:08 Google's New Guidance on Generative AI05:49 What is an LLM compared to an AI Chatbot?08:24 RAG (retrieval augmented generation) and query fan out11:42 Understanding SEO in the Age of AI14:15 Is structure still important?22:15 Google's AEO/GEO mythbusting section27:27 The Evolution of Search: AI and Google31:26 Trusting Google's Guidance: A Critical Perspective34:48 Navigating the New Landscape of Content Creation40:39 Is Google's GEO guide helpful?41:42 The Future of Financial Services Content47:53 The Role of Research and Authenticity in Content50:52 Jargon Busters: Churning
Transcribe →One in three are using AI for personal finance, every week
May 2200:46:32Tap to summarize28 million UK adults are now using AI for personal finance. One in three of them every week.We dig into Lloyds Banking Group's 2025 Consumer Digital Index and what it means for the FS brands trying to stay visible in a world where ChatGPT is doing the top-of-funnel research.Pat shares what happened when he turned Claude Code loose on a year of bank statements. Russell looks at the UX of trust. Paul plays devil's advocate on the sycophants and the scams. And we tackle the data-privacy question every FS marketer should be asking: when ads land in ChatGPT, what does your bank statement say about you?Plus: a jargon buster on ETFs.TakeawaysAI in personal financeTrust and concerns about AIData privacy and security Monetisation through AI advertisingImpact of AI on financial services brandsChapters00:00 - Introduction and Personal Updates04:03 - Exploring AI in Personal Finance08:37 - Trust and Accuracy in AI Financial Advice16:47 - The Future of AI in Financial Planning21:00 - Concerns about data privacy & security26:31 - The Accessibility Challenge of AI Tools27:25 - Monetisation and Advertising in AI28:11 - User Experience and Trust in AI31:13 - Implications for Financial Services Brands35:11 - The Future of Personal AI Assistants39:36 - The Race for Personal and Business Assistants44:05 - Jargon Busters: ETFs
Transcribe →Is friction in a system always sludge?
May 1500:50:08Tap to summarizeThis week we explore the concept of friction in user experience, highlighting its impact on decision-making, user error, and the role of AI-driven systems.We delve into the balance between speed and convenience, safety, and comprehension, and discuss the potential adoption of AI agents in daily life.We look at the concept of friction in user experience, highlighting the role of design in mitigating friction and ensuring accessibility. We also explore the challenges in legacy processes, user research, and the impact of AI as a financial advisor on consumer protection.TakeawaysFriction in user experience can have both positive and negative impacts.The balance between speed and convenience, safety, and comprehension is crucial in the design of AI-driven systems. Friction in user experienceAccessibility and consumer dutyChapters00:00 - Introduction to friction in the user experience04:10 - The balanace of caution and convenience09:35 - Designing for user experience14:23 - AI's impact on user experience15:40 - Progressive disclosure17:59 - The future of AI agents in everyday life27:09 - Consumer Duty and the concept of 'sludge practices'42:01 - Navigating pension transfers
Transcribe →Bad data in, bad results out
May 800:47:28Tap to summarizeIn this week's episode, we discuss the impact of bad data on AI, highlighting the definition of bad data, examples of bad data in AI, and the risks and challenges associated with bad data.The conversation delves into the challenges and implications of AI in decision-making, the impact of bias in AI applications, the technical hurdles in AI implementation, the importance of data structure in AI transformation, and the concept of setting guardrails for AI systems. TakeawaysAI Tool PreferenceData Quality and AIAI as a Managerial Tool AI and biasData structure and AIFriction in AI systemsChapters00:00 Introduction and Chat GPT Subscription13:36 The Impact of Bad Data on AI26:23 Data Quality and AI Implementation50:57 Understanding 'Whale' in Finance
Transcribe →Bonus Episode: SEO is sexy again (BrightonSEO 2026 special)
May 500:36:02Tap to summarizeAll of the key takeaways from BrightonSEO Spring 2026.The episode discusses the impact of AI on SEO, the rise of zero-click marketing, challenges in defining success metrics, and the changing user journey. It also explores the impact of bias in AI, the redefinition of search as media, and the changing marketing funnel.TakeawaysAI's impact on SEOChallenges in defining success metricsChapters00:00 Introduction to Brighton SEO06:18 Impact on Brands and Search Results12:13 Redefining Success Metrics25:38 Impact of Bias in AI32:28 Search as Media37:56 Attribution and Long-Term Thinking
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