The importance of rational water use

Extreme weather events are becoming more and more frequent. It can rain too much or not even a drop for months. As Coral Santacruz, a chemical engineer and member of the 11Onze marketing team, argues, rational water consumption is necessary to guarantee water supply and contribute to slowing down climate change.

Rainfall in March and April is making the situation of the reservoirs in Catalonia improve “a little” after a few abnormal months in which “it has hardly rained at all.” This is what Coral Santacruz explains in a new chapter of Territori 17.

Despite this improvement, the chemical engineer and member of the 11Onze marketing team stresses that we must not forget the responsibility that each one of us has when it comes to conserving such a precious resource as water: “It is just as important that it rains, as it is that we are conscious of the way we consume that water.”

Although it is true that in Catalonia the industrial and domestic sectors “consume approximately 20% of water and the remaining 80% is consumed in the agricultural sector”, we can all do our bit to avoid wasting water at home, reasons Santacruz: “We think thato our personal consumption doesn’t have a global effect, but if everyone adopts certain habits, we can significantly help in countering climate change.”

The binomial of water and plastic

As the chemical engineer explains, one problem linked to water consumption is all the plastic generated by bottled water. To give us an idea of the extent of the environmental tragedy, she gives a shocking statistic: “In the last 70 years we have dumped more than 150 million tonnes of plastic into our rivers, seas and oceans.”

In fact, if we don’t put a stop to it, “there will come a time when there will be more plastic than fish in the sea.” And it should be borne in mind that “plastic takes a long time to degrade.” Moreover, these plastics can even reach our bodies because fish and other animals in the marine ecosystem “end up ingesting microplastics,” says Santacruz.

The option of filtered water

To help reduce the generation of plastics, the chemical engineer advocates replacing bottled water consumption with filtered tap water, as the filters allow “many impurities” to be eliminated. Moreover, as Coral Santacruz explains, “they retain chlorine and lime, the main impurities that cause the bad taste of tap water.”

The member of the 11Onze marketing team also stresses the impact that this saving of water and plastic has on the domestic economy thanks to the use of filters: “If we really did the calculation, we would realise how much we save per year” because of “all these bottles” of water that are no longer purchased.

The reality is that the economic factor and the environmental issue are increasingly linked. As Coral Santacruz says, “in the end everything counts, everything is related.”

If you want to discover how to drink the best water, save money and help the planet, go to 11Onze Essentials.

After the success of Love with Gold for Valentine’s Day, we reactivate the campaign for Sant Jordi. Carolina Rafales, from the 11Onze product team, talks about the perfect gift for those special moments you want to celebrate with the people you love.

There are just a few days left until the Diada de Sant Jordi, one of the most eagerly awaited and celebrated festivities in Catalonia. As every year, on 23 April, we will see the traditional exchange of roses and books between couples as a sign of love.

Legend has it that from the blood of the dragon slain by the knight Jordi grew a rose bush of red roses that bloomed every April. A symbol of love that comes with an ear of wheat, the fruit of the fertile land and an allegory of prosperity.

An eternal gift that gains value over time.

This is a very nice tradition, but roses, due to their ephemeral nature, eventually wither and lose their charm. Why not complement roses and books as a sign of love with a gift that lasts over time?

Carolina Rafales doesn’t need convincing, “If we gift a gold coin, its value increases day by day, like our love”. What’s more, this Sant Jordi you can choose between three gold coins and shipping is free for El Canut users. But don’t think about it for too long, the last orders are on 12 April if you want to receive your coin for Sant Jordi!

If you would like to request information about the gold coins, please fill in this form.

Since the 15th century, 23 April, Saint George’s Day (el dia de Sant Jordi), has been a celebration of love and romance in Catalonia. A rose is given to the person you love, but if you want a gift that instead of withering away will gain value over time… Give gold coins! That’s why at 11Onze we are reactivating the Love with Gold campaign. Place your order before 12 April.

Sant Jordi’s Day is approaching, probably the most celebrated day in Catalonia. The 23rd of April is celebrated as the Day of the Book, of the rose, of lovers, it is the patron saint of the nation, also, Catalan culture is commemorated. That is why roses are accompanied by an ear of wheat, symbolising the hard work of an entire nation. Five celebrations in a single day, which is also a working day.

But beyond the traditions, at 11Onze we want to add a practical touch that does not detract from the romanticism of this day. Giving a red rose, symbolising the blood of the dragon killed by the knight Sant Jordi, is all well and good. But a few days later the rose will be dry, no matter how many tricks you try to preserve it. So at 11Onze, we offer a gift that gains value over time: gold. We are reactivating the Love with Gold campaign, a way of telling your partner that you love him/her and that your relationship improves with time.

Gold coins now available!

The steady revaluation of gold in recent months makes us very optimistic about the future of this precious metal. The turbulence in the international economy and, more specifically, doubts about fiat currencies such as the dollar and the euro have pushed the price of gold to record highs which might be broken soon. It is, therefore, a good time to give gold as a gift to your loved ones. In this edition of Love with Gold, you have available the three coins we usually work with at 11Onze: the Krugerrand, the Britannia, and the Vienna Philharmonic. All of them will be sent to you free of charge if you have an account with El Canut, our application.

What is the dateline?

If you want to receive the coins at home before Sant Jordi, remember to place your order before April 12th.

If you would like to request information about the gold coins, please fill in this form.

És possible que les crisis arribin per sorpresa? Que ningú en sàpiga mai res fins que succeeixen? Formar part d’11Onze ens dona un avantatge essencial: el de poder dir les coses tal com són, el de poder-nos preparar per a quan vagin mal dades.

Toni Mata, director de continguts, comunicació i mitjans d’11Onze

El més sorprenent quan es produeixen fallides de bancs o grans crisis en el sistema financer és que… ningú en sabia res! Tot anava perfectament bé just fins uns segons abans que tot explotés. Algú s’ho segueix creient, això? La imprevisibilitat de l’economia, que essencialment són matemàtiques, és un absolut desafiament per a la lògica més elemental.

Que Credit Suisse no anava bé se sabia des de fa molt de temps. Ho explicava el Financial Times en un breu documental que va publicar el juliol de 2022. Només fixant-nos en això, penseu en els temps de preproducció i producció d’una peça així. 1 any des que van decidir fer el tema? Per tant, com a mínim des de juliol de 2021 era públic i notori que Credit Suisse anava pel camí del pedregar. De cop i volta, en ple 2023 el tema explota als informatius de tot el món, amb l’entitat mirant a l’abisme i provocant un risc sistèmic. Com si no hi hagués hagut cap avís. 

I amb el Silicon Valley Bank, tres quarts del mateix. Com pot ser que acabés de passar amb nota una auditoria? Ningú sabia que la pujada de tipus els afectaria tant? Ningú va fer els números? No és que no sembli veritat, és que senzillament no és possible.

Sorprèn, aquests dies, veure caps d’economia de diversos mitjans assegurant que tot va bé. És comprensible cridar a la calma, perquè la por és el pitjor verí pel món dels diners, però cal tenir una mica d’integritat moral i informar al gruix de la població del que fan i desfan les elits. Perquè no passi allò que, quan es volatilitzen els dipòsits dels estalviadors no doni la tremendíssima casualitat que els grans inversors ja s’havien apartat. És lleig, però acostuma a passar que qui té la informació no la comparteix, la fa servir. 

Missió d’11Onze

Una de les missions d’11Onze és formar i informar la seva comunitat per tal que pugui preparar-se per a moments turbulents com l’actual. En aquest sentit, fa molt de temps que estem parlant de la gran crisi de deute, del gran reinici econòmic, de la regulació de les CBDC i de la importància de l’or en un moment de gran desdolarització. Desdolarització, recordem-ho, provocada per la falta de confiança en una moneda sobreimpresa i per l’auge econòmic d’uns països que volen deslliurar-se del ferri lideratge americà. No ho sembla, però curiosament, tots aquests temes són pràcticament el mateix. Desgraciadament, no se’n parla.

Tot allò que hem anat advertint s’està consumant, mentre a gran part dels mitjans no se’n diu res. Com pot ser? És possible que els d’11Onze siguem més llestos? En absolut. Senzillament, som més lliures. Podem observar, pensar i després dir les coses tal com són gràcies a no dependre de ningú ni a haver de fer la gara-gara al poder.

Per això, hem decidit compilar algunes de les coses que ja fa dos anys que expliquem. Ho anirem fent durant les pròximes setmanes, enmig de les fuetades d’aquesta crisi sistèmica que ens volen fer passar per anècdota. És un dels avantatges de formar part de La Plaça. Estar registrat a 11Onze.cat és una manera d’estar a l’avantguarda econòmica. Perquè amb la informació i la formació correcta, les crisis es veuen a venir. I de les crisis no te’n pots amagar, t’atraparan allà on estiguis. L’únic que pots fer… és preparar-te.

I això és, justament, el que fem.
Preparem-nos.

11Onze és la fintech comunitària de Catalunya. Obre un compte descarregant la super app El Canut per Android o iOS. Uneix-te a la revolució!

If it doesn’t exist, we create it. If it exists, 11Onze Recommends. This is the idea behind 11Onze Recommends, a service that you will find in our Marketplace and which already offers several products.

The goal of 11Onze is to offer the people of La Plaça the products they need, always focused on protecting savings or caring for the planet. The idea is to build an environment that is ecologically and economically healthier. For everyone, not just for a few. If you go through all the products that 11Onze has launched, you will always find our values behind them.

• When we launched the El Canut accounts, we made sure that our community could keep their savings in a really safe way and always have them available.
• When we created Preciosos 11Onze we anticipated the need to protect savings from inflation and the depreciation of fiat currencies. Now you can buy Heritage Gold, Seed Gold or coins.
• When we launched 11Onze Segurs, it was to make home insurance cheaper and, in addition, to dedicate 25% of the premium to social purposes.

And what is 11Onze Recommends?

In 11Onze Recommends you will find products that have not been created by 11Onze but by another company. But these products are always aligned with the values of our community and 11Onze supervises all the processes to ensure that they meet the level of quality, service and transparency that we always want to offer to the people of La Plaça. Therefore, 11Onze Recommends products are not from 11Onze, but they look like it!

The team responsible for 11Onze Recommends is in charge of searching the market for existing products that may be of interest to our people and that, as they already exist, are quick to implement. In addition, 11Onze is in charge of obtaining better conditions for its community than can be achieved individually.

Currently, in 11Onze Recommends, you will find:

• Guaranteed Funds. A way to safely and profitably keep high amounts of money (from €125,000). The money and returns are 100% insured. You can contract the fund from 1 to 30 years, avoiding market fluctuations.
• Natulim. The ecological detergent in strips, promoted by some young people from Arenys de Munt and with a 15% discount for the 11Onze community. Stop dirtying the planet when you wash your clothes.
• Litigation Funding. This product offers the possibility of earning money by doing justice, beating the banks. Thanks to our UK provider, we can participate in litigation against bank abuses in the UK and earn 27% above inflation. Therefore, it is a very good tool to increase purchasing power, it is safer than a traditional bank deposit and generates profits within 12 months. It is currently available for capital of €25,000, but 11Onze Recommends is working to lower the minimum amount to make it easier for more people to access this product.

So, what is 11Onze Recommends? Well, quite simply, it is third-party products with 11Onze quality. Discover them!

If you want to make your savings earn above inflation, 11Onze Recommends offers you Litigation Funding.

The new Animal Welfare Law, which came into force last September, will require all dog owners to have civil liability insurance for their pets. That is why 11Onze Segurs offers, in collaboration with Mussap, tailor-made insurance for your best friend. We talked to Marc Castell, CCO of Mussap.

One of the obligations of the new Animal Welfare Law – the first state law regulating the relationship with dogs, cats and other pets – is requiring all dog owners to take out insurance to cover civil liability. Until now, insurance was only compulsory if the dog was of a breed classified as potentially dangerous and for those owners residing in autonomous communities that had already decided to impose this obligation on their own.

Failure to comply with the compulsory requirement of insurance for your dog will result in administrative and financial penalties. Therefore, it will be essential that your dog is properly insured to avoid a fine and protect third parties in case it causes damage to people or property.

Although the new law came into force on Friday 29 September last year, the requirement for mandatory insurance is suspended and pending definition and approval of the relevant regulation. Even so, as Marc Castell explains, regardless of the new law, “insurance is essential when you have a pet. A dog bite can be very costly. You can be fined financially and through the courts”.

What does the compulsory insurance cover?

The insurance will have to cover the damage caused by the dog to third parties regardless of who is responsible at the time the damage occurs, such as a family member or a dog handler, who would also be covered by the insurance policy. If your dog bites someone or damages someone else’s property, the insurance will cover the costs associated with third-party claims, such as medical expenses or repairs.

In this sense, Castell cautions that “any insurance is designed to cover a fortuitous, unexpected and unintentional event”, therefore, “totally avoidable events” due to carelessness are not covered. For example, if your dog relieving itself in the doorway of a house. In this context – as specified in Article 30 of the new regulation – prospective dog owners will have to take a dog ownership training course, which will be free of charge and valid for an indefinite period.

How much will it cost me?

The price of the insurance premium varies depending on the type of dog and the amount of capital to be insured. Still, at 11Onze Segurs we offer you tailor-made insurance for your best friend, in collaboration with Mussap, and with an additional discount for our community if you contract it through us. Here you can check the prices and conditions. If you want more information, fill in this form and one of our agents will get in touch with you.

Do you want the best insurance for your best friend? Enter 11Onze Segurs and get a tailor-made insurance policy for your best friend with a special discount for members of our community.

Persistent inflation and the low interest on bank deposits have led to a general impoverishment of families who are seeing their savings disappear. Is there any way to ensure our purchasing power in the short term? How can we make monetise our savings? Isaac Sène, Product Manager, explains how with Litigation Funding, which 11Onze Recommends.

Inflation has pushed up household indebtedness and eaten into savings. During the first two months of this year, families have withdrawn 18 billion euros in deposits from banks to cover expenses or to try to improve the profitability of their money. While the banking sector is profiting handsomely from the ECB’s interest rate hike, it is barely remunerating its customers’ savings.

According to the latest CPI data, prices have moderated year-on-year, but inflation is accumulating, so this does not mean that prices have fallen, but rather that they have risen less than a year ago, i.e. inflation is moderating, but we are still paying more. Faced with this bleak outlook, 11Onze Recommends presented Litigation Funding to our community a few days ago, a product that prevents your money from being devalued by inflation.

Earn money from the banks and seek justice

 Litigation Funding is a product designed so that you can earn money by participating in legal cases against the abuses of big banks. In this context, UK banks are facing claims of more than 60 billion euros that have been set aside to cover compensation for malpractice, “UK banks are being forced to account for malpractice against a number of customers,” notes Isaac Sène.

These claims against UK banks have a success rate of over 90%, but the law firms that handle them need funds to finance the litigation. Litigation Funding takes advantage of the fact that in the UK, if a number of conditions are met, these cases will be won. This can offer the possibility of returns of up to 27% with very little risk because the capital invested to pursue these cases is insured by an independent insurer. As Sène explains, “every investment has a risk, but in this case, 90% of the cases have been won, and the insurer covers the capital, giving our clients peace of mind”.

Fund lawsuits against banks, seek justice and get returns on your savings above inflation thanks to the compensation that banks will have to pay. You can find all the information about Litigation Funding at 11Onze Recommends.

Credit cards were created in the 1950s, and with the arrival of smartphones, virtual cards became popular. Let’s review the history of cards and their possibilities.

Sixty years ago the first payment card was introduced and, since that day, the way we shop has changed to adapt to the era of e-commerce, bringing about a radical change in the way we pay. The way we consume is constantly changing, specially with the increase in e-commerce, following the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, as can be seen in the study carried out by Kantar, which states that 3 out of every 4 Spanish households have made purchases online in 2020, and that these households will continue to shop online in 2021. Households that now shop online account for 74.4%, which has increased e-commerce consumers by 8.4% since 2017. As detailed by Kantar in its study, the remaining 26.6% of consumers are older people who commute to buy products themselves, as they prefer a personalised service. And just as the consumption model has changed, so has the payment model. Welcome to the era of virtual cards.

What are virtual cards? 

Virtual cards are more secure cards, and unlike conventional payment cards, they are completely virtual. They are exclusively used for virtual purchases, but with the possibility to be used in physical establishments if you have the card linked to a wallet on your smartphone. The virtual card has a number, an expiry date, and a control number, as Rankia details. The financial website also states that the security controls of virtual cards are very varied. Some banks have a dynamic code that changes with each purchase, while others allow very few purchases to be made, and if there is money left on the card, this money is automatically returned to the account from which the card was recharged. Each customer is free to make a new virtual card whenever they need it, it’s as simple as that.

How was the virtual card born?

Since the world’s first payment card from Diners Club in 1950, the world of payment cards has come a long way, from the arrival of credit cards in Spain in the 1960s to virtual cards, according to Finanzas. A website specialising in finance reminds us that virtual cards were born with the arrival of mobile telephony, with the payment systems known as “wallets”.

How are they regulated?

The European regulation PSD2, the new European regulation on electronic payment services, came into force in September 2018, with the aim of reinforcing security for consumers with e-commerce payment systems. With this regulation, which has been in force for three years now, it can be said that something is changing in the way we make payments. In short, we can say that virtual cards are here to stay as another means of payment.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!

A UNHCR report on education and its importance in social inclusion shows that one of the most significant challenges facing refugee children is unequal access to education.

A common denominator of refugee crises is that, regardless of location, when families are forced to leave their homes, the stability of children’s lives is inevitably disrupted. Likewise, loss of security, dignity and access to education are among the most immediate consequences affecting displaced people.

A report was not necessary to understand the importance of ensuring that refugee children and youth have access to the education system, but it is important to know the numbers beyond the generic slogans that blur the problem. Specifically, to be able to provide the resources and tools needed to address the issues.

Talent is universal, education is not

The UNHCR report draws on data from more than 40 countries around the world and emphasises that, even before the pandemic, the proportion of 10-year-olds who cannot read or understand simple text was estimated at 57% in low- and middle-income countries, and 86% in sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of refugees live: “Poor quality education and lack of access to schools and colleges affect hundreds of millions of children. But there is no doubt that young refugees suffer most acutely”.

Data indicates how refugee children are falling behind non-refugee children in terms of access to quality education. The enrolment rate in kindergartens is only 42%, while primary education stands at 68%. Secondary education is significantly lower, at 37%, and superior education is only 6%, well below world levels, especially in richer countries.

By promoting an inclusive vision of education we can work towards a reality where all children, including refugees, have the same opportunities to grow, learn and aspire to a better future. This requires a collective solidarity effort that involves the participation of the whole of society, regardless of borders.

11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves

From 11Onze we have decided to roll up our sleeves, and we want to build 50 Shelter Schools for the children of Northern Syria so that we can help 1,750 children. To make this possible, we need 100,000 euros that 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves will send to Better Shelter to carry out the action on the ground. Can we count on you?

We integrate software that allows you to sign documents electronically in a few seconds from your mobile. We comply with the most demanding security regulations with industry-leading software.

At 11Onze we try to continually apply improvements to simplify the processes that involve our clients. For this reason, we provide ourselves with management tools that allow us to be more agile and faster with the idea of managing a large volume of information. Now we are going one step further to achieve an even closer, more reliable and efficient relationship with our users.

As Oriol Garcia Farré, from the Compliance department, explains, the new technology offers “the ability to digitally sign documents from a mobile or fixed device, through email, SMS or WhatsApp and from anywhere in the world. It is a process that takes seconds to execute.”

Firstly, security

The security of the new system implemented in 11Onze allows it to incorporate the most modern verification systems that currently exist in the market, such as the simple electronic signature (SES) for everyday transactions, the advanced electronic signature (AES) for high-value transactions and the qualified electronic signature (QES) for highly regulated transactions. And all of this is supported by an internal cloud that provides a much more secure way of working than traditional paper storage, while promoting document flexibility.

All of this allows 11Onze to exponentially increase security, even if the contents of the documents become more complex. We are also aware that to operate in certain parts of the world, a high level of identification is required when an agreement is digitally signed, as it must have completely legal value. In this sense, the software adds greater legal robustness to all our digital signature processes, given that the technology is based on Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of July 23, 2014 and Spanish Law 6/2020 of November 11 on Electronic Trust Services. In this way, the application of the MIFID II regulations is facilitated to reinforce the protection of our clients against any financial product.

At the forefront of the sector

11Onze, with this move, once again places itself at the forefront of the financial sector in terms of innovation and security. According to Oriol Garcia Farré “we are at the forefront of the use of this technology regarding digital signatures, and we are part of a select group of technology companies that use it stably. As for the banking world in the Spanish State, only Banco Santander in the United Kingdom uses it, but only for its digital division.”

In this way, 11Onze is prepared to send and sign thousands of documents with maximum guarantees, allowing sustainable growth of the company. At a time when it is increasingly important to be able to ensure documentary veracity, at 11Onze we take on the challenge of being agile, reliable, and transparent despite the legal complexity of certain documents. This move allows the management of 11Onze products, such as Preciosos 11Onze or any other that involves documentation, to be faster and easier. Furthermore, one of the new features is that the documents themselves can include a payment gateway, if necessary.

In 11Onze’s Compliance department, there is a conviction that the integration of this new technology allows the company to take steps forward that customers will immediately notice. “It allows us to gain agility, since it dramatically facilitates the procedures for our clients and from anywhere in the world”, says Oriol Garcia Farré.

If you want to discover the best option to protect your savings, enter Preciosos 11Onze. We will help you buy at the best price the safe-haven asset par excellence: physical gold.