At 11Onze we have already come a long way. Now it’s time to make the big leap.
James Sène: "We are launching an account for SMEs"
In this second conversation on the progress of the recession with James Sène, president of 11Onze, we discuss the media’s responsibility in reporting the economic situation, how the new Homeland Security Act affects us, and what new 11Onze products we will see coming soon.
One of the main keys to the structural basis of a consolidated democracy is for citizens to be well-informed in order to be able to make the best possible decisions. A concept that is especially relevant in the current economic context. That is why at 11Onze we attach so much importance to the financial education of our community, and to the fight against economic disinformation with the 11Onze Check section.
The responsibility of journalists to inform the public correctly cannot be taken lightly. As James Sène says, “journalists have rights, but you also have duties, the first of which is the truth“. He gives the example of a supposed ‘expert’ who recently gave economic information on social networks in relation to inflation, saying that workers have to accept that their wages cannot be raised, because if they accept that their wages cannot be raised we are doing well, and Sène continues, “I thought, how can it be that such a barbaric thing is said and nobody says anything”.
Episode 20 | The course of the recession (II)
The state’s power over our money
The controversial reform of the national security law generated doubts and legal uncertainty as to the extent to which the Spanish government can seize money and assets of citizens and companies in the event of an economic crisis. The ambiguity of the law raises concerns about how it may affect our fundamental rights.
In situations of economic crisis, states protect themselves by using all the resources at their disposal, as Sène explains, “states ask for money from private banks, and if they cannot pay they go into chaos”, therefore, banks have to be sure that the states will be able to return the money, if necessary, “by force, by imposition, through taxes“, or a law that allows the money to be seized directly from the people.
In this context, at 11Onze we want our values to be reflected in socially responsible solutions that empower our community, and we offer the possibility of having accounts with IBANS from other countries, as well as the safest alternatives to diversify and protect our savings with the purchase of gold.
But what’s new at 11Onze? In the financial sphere, we are taking the big leap and launching 11Onze Business for the self-employed and SMEs, “with features that will revolutionise the market, because we are really putting total control of their money in the hands of individuals and companies once again, and at very accessible prices”, says Sène. To discover the rest of the new features that you will soon be able to see on 11Onze, listen to the podcast above.
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.
The Catalan rumba player, El Petitet, will be one of the stars of the l’Escala festival with the show “La rumba de Catalunya”. 11Onze is sponsoring the concert, where “La rumba dels calerons” will be played.
‘La Festa de la Sal’ is a traditional festival that pays homage to the fishing and salting origins of l’Escala. It is not surprising, as the ancient Empúries is the place through which Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans entered the Iberian Peninsula, introducing everything from ‘garum’ to the use of coins.
This heritage has always been present in l’Escala which, until the 20th century, had a port where sailing boats loaded with salt (from the Delta, Ibiza, Alicante…) were constantly arriving, which the fishermen unloaded on the beach to take to the anchovy and sardine salting factories.
This year, ‘La Festa de la Sal’ celebrates its 25th birthday with activities on the 16th, 17th and 18th of September. You can check all the activities here. The main event will take place on Saturday night. For days now the streets of l’Escala have been papered with posters explaining that at 22:30, at the end of l’Escala beach, there will be a concert by El Petitet and his band of ‘rumberos’. It’s a good opportunity to see El Petitet live, who doesn’t perform often because of the ‘myasthenia gravis’ he suffers from. “Thank God, I get a lot of gigs”, explains El Petitet, “but I do very few because I can’t keep up with the pace”.
“La rumba dels calerons” and other hits
El Petitet is a regular at l’Escala: “I go every year. Last year, even though I wasn’t feeling well, I went. The people of l’Escala like rumba very much”. The concert will feature “La rumba dels calerons” and Catalan rumba hits. About the song produced with 11Onze, El Petitet assures that “it was a very nice thing and very well done. I really liked it, and I was very excited to do this song. What’s more, people liked it a lot and accepted it very well”.
Throughout Saturday, there will be activities on the beach of l’Escala. From the exhibition of crafts to the offering of salt, with dances from Rajahstan (India). 11Onze will also be present, and the concert can be seen on the beach and on Canal 10 Empordà.
La rumba dels calerons
The Catalan community fintech opens a public round of investors with the aim of scaling the model.
This September, 11Onze has set out to make the big leap. The aim is to add more people to the financial revolution initiated by the entity and make it bigger so that it can be useful to more and more people. In the face of a complicated economic environment, 11Onze wants to help the community to overcome this recession that is opening up under our feet. How? By offering more solutions for individuals and businesses in our country, to help them protect their money and make it more profitable.
New 11Onze products
In this regard, the bank has already developed 11Onze Business. And, immediately afterwards, several credit options will be offered. These products will be added to those that 11Onze already has in its portfolio. El Canut, 11Onze Segurs, Preciosos 11Onze, 11Onze at Home, 11Onze Check, Guaranteed Funds, 11Onze Essentials … and La Plaça! Thanks to La Plaça, the 11Onze community was able to anticipate well in advance the economic scenario that is now upon us. When nobody was talking about inflation, the devaluation of the euro, recession, and the rise of physical gold… 11Onze already explained it so that everyone could prepare for it.
What would the investment be like?
The minimum investment is €3,000. But with an incentive: the Fundació 11Onze will help members of the community and, for each share acquired, will add another of equal value. So, if you invest €5,000, the immediate value of your investment will be €10,000.
The deadline for applications to become an 11Onze investor for the big leap is 30 September. If you are interested in investing, fill in this form and we will contact you. If you want more information, write to [email protected]. At 11Onze we have already come a long way. Now it’s time to make the big leap.
In this episode of ‘Ens Interessa’ we discuss the international economic context with James Sène, president of 11Onze. The first in a series of two podcasts on the course of the recession, where we analyse the causes of the current crisis, the discourse of the media and the proposals made by 11Onze.
For more than a year now, 11Onze has been warning that the economic forecasting indices indicated that we were heading towards an unprecedented global financial crisis and a possible collapse of the international financial system. Unfortunately, it seems that the most catastrophic forecasts are coming true, leaving a bleak economic scenario in Europe.
As Sène explains, “people are feeling the effects of everything we have been saying, which seemed catastrophic, but has become true”. Public debt that has reached record highs, runaway inflation that was supposed to be temporary but has become chronic, and the inevitable rise in the cost of credit, all point to an imminent global recession.
Episode 19 | The course of the recession (I)
Rhetoric that doesn’t fit reality
When it comes to finding solutions to deal with the economic blow that many families are suffering, some ‘experts’ recommend increasing consumption following the trend of ‘Buy Now, Pay Later“. But are we really solving the problem or making it worse? As 11Onze’s president points out, “this is increasing debt, creating debt to consume is exactly the wrong thing to do“.
On the other hand, the political class and the media seem to be more interested in serving their own interests than the public interest. It seems that the excuse of the conflict in Ukraine is used to justify any economic calamity and to avoid political responsibilities. “The press has a responsibility in all this, if I were editor-in-chief of some newspaper, I wouldn’t sleep, because they are not telling people the truth,” says Sène.
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.
Many of you have seen me around the Plaça, but I would like to explain a little more about who I am and my work as CEO Executive Assistant at 11Onze.
Núria Rambla, CEO Executive Assistant at 11Onze
I started my career in a building society, where I worked for several years managing the risks of a portfolio of companies, basically SMEs. My job consisted of monitoring them, analysing them, advising them and finding the best product, usually financing, so that they could grow their business.
Being a building society, it apparently looked after the community, but there came a point where the lust for profit made them lose their way. We drifted apart in the way we did things and the ethics with customers, all of which didn’t fit in with my personal values, so I decided to pursue my path outside the banking sector.
I have been working in the world of SMEs and start-ups, and, as you can imagine, experiencing: difficulties, intricacies, changes, taxes, crisis, covid… until one fine day, almost by chance, I saw an advert for 11Onze, which instantly seduced me.
What do you need to work at 11Onze?
Apart from having initiative and being an entrepreneur, above all, you have to have a very open mindset, a start-up mentality, know how to coexist with uncertainty, have a very high capacity to adapt to change, and know how to do all of this with a good smile and optimism!
The first surprise at 11Onze was when I was told that one of my tasks would be to make videos! Me? Presenting a video? And what do they want me to explain? I had never been in front of a camera to explain anything before.
But when you understand the point of the videos, it becomes very clear how useful they are, and you understand why you have to do it. On the one hand, you get the community to learn with you and be able to make decisions for themselves. And, on the other hand, they get to know you, because let’s face it, being online and with so much technology, a fintech can be very cold if you don’t know who is on the other side. Therefore, I didn’t hesitate for a moment, and I am one of the people who regularly publish videos in La Plaça.
Who’s who, Núria Rambla
CEO Executive Assistant – what does my job entail?
It is one of the most difficult terms to explain because it consists of a set of very different tasks. However, all of them are aimed at making things happen and to seem to flow by themselves, with a minimum of obstacles.
I do tasks as diverse as managing the offices, making sure that everything is in order, with the material available and ensuring that the different teams can meet to move forward with our projects, organising company events, organising a round of investors, with all that this entails, and even buying a fridge to put this summer’s ice creams in…
My position implies key elements of confidentiality, discretion, vision… And also words like coordination, management, supervision, follow-up, and communication… are part of my day-to-day life. We meet with the entire board twice a week in meetings we call Manco (Manage Corporate). On Mondays, we talk more about the week’s objectives for each department, and on Thursdays, we discuss the milestones achieved.
One of my tasks during these meetings is to write the summaries, which sometimes are not easy to do because we talk about very technical things, with names and acronyms of companies, products or technologies that you have never heard of before. Luckily we are a good team, and we are learning a lot from each other and on a wide range of topics.
What is my big secret?
Generosity, but I’m not talking about giving away physical objects, but sharing knowledge, strategies and making others win.
Keeping in mind that if I make others do well, I will also do well. This thinking is almost identical to 11Onze’s philosophy with its people. If the community wins, I will also win. I guess that’s why I feel so comfortable working here.
11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the super app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!
We find ourselves in a time of economic uncertainty, with runaway inflation and an unprecedented level of government debt. A series of geopolitical circumstances and a crisis in the international monetary and financial system make it very difficult to capitalize our savings. What does 11Onze propose? Jordi Sànchez, product owner, talks about it in an interview with the current affairs magazine El Estat de la Nació.
The large accumulated government debt in the world has created an imbalance in relation to the capacity to generate wealth, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the states. A debt increase that could bankrupt states and which can have devastating consequences for the people. In other words, states are paying more than they can afford and are increasing the fiscal pressure on citizens.
Faced with this inflationary scenario and economic forecasts for the future that generate mistrust, many investors are thinking of protecting their capital by acquiring safe-haven assets such as precious metals, especially gold, which continues to be the safe-haven asset par excellence and an unparalleled store of value that tends to rise in price when there is uncertainty in the markets.
“if someone had bought gold three years ago, they would have earned a return of 40%”, explains Jordi Sánchez. In this sense, to help savers protect their money, 11Onze will start offering physical gold next week to its community. You can watch the entire interview below.
“Gold is the refuge value par excellence”
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.
The fintech revolution is shaking the pillars of traditional banking, and forcing an evolution of money that represents a paradigm shift in the world of finance. The second Fintech Talks focused on fintech trends, with a presentation by 11Onze Chairman James Sène.
Technology is changing everything, and at 11Onze we have been pioneers. “We anticipated all the things you see now: community building, agile digital banking, offshore banking, tokens like ‘Les Peles’, trends that will be ratified in 2022,” says Sène. “When you are immersed in change, sometimes you are not aware of it. But yes, we are pioneers,” he added, explaining how 11Onze has positioned itself in what is known as ’embedded finance’.
Fintechs are more efficient than traditional banks when it comes to providing an agile response to customer needs, thanks to their technology and analytics. “What people are asking for is service. Fintechs are here because there is a need, and the need has been created by the lack of service in traditional banking,” argues Sène.
Financial education and proximity are seen as two key aspects if this evolution of the financial world is to be inclusive and leave no one behind, especially the most vulnerable people. As Sène explains: “You can compensate for distance with truth and with the quality of the content you exchange. Institutions, such as the European Central Bank and many universities, are pushing very hard and very rigorously on the issue of financial education, because we will move to digital currency and people will be left out”.
If you want to watch James Sène’s Fintech Talk, you can find it in the Learn section.
“We are immersed in change”
During all the years of my professional career in the world of design, I have worked in different sectors such as fashion, catering, health… But I had never imagined that I would end up in the financial sector. In fact, at first, I was a bit scared: how could I change direction to a sector where design is not exactly an aspect that is taken into account? Would I get bored? Could I be creative? Would my wings be clipped? I had many questions that I would only know how to answer if I threw myself into an idea that I saw from the beginning would be different.
Laia Gubern. Art Director
First challenge: Change of sector, a new category
As soon as I got to know the idea, I saw that it was a new concept. Obviously, it was within the financial sector, but there was much more to it. It was about creating community, about bringing to people all this knowledge they need to be able to manage their money. To bring down concepts that we are led to believe are very difficult, to a reality that, when explained properly, is very simple. To create trust and to transmit that, in 11Onze, people are the base.
The big difference I noticed from the beginning is that, as the art director and designer, I had access to and was part of the team where everything was being built. And this has been key in the development and experience, as you can approach your work from a different perspective. Normally, as designers, we are used to working in creative teams where we receive briefings from other departments, and we do our job. Here at 11Onze it’s different, and it’s a change that seems circumstantial, but for me, it’s been essential.
Understanding the business, knowing how it works, being part of product and content development, knowing what the next steps will be… As a designer, you can contribute from the beginning, we’re not just there to make things pretty. We are there to improve the user experience, simplify, solve, yes, and also make everything visually more attractive for those who look at us.
And learning, one of the things I’ve done the most since I started my adventure at 11Onze, and not about design, but about everything else: processes, people, the world… and finances! The great tool that we are building at La Plaça, from 11Onze, has made me realise how necessary it is for us to be taught the basics from an early age in order to be able to make our own decisions. It’s been an accelerated master’s degree where I learn, apply and explain it to myself.
11Onze: Reliable, memorable and flexible
Regardless of your industry, if you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors, attract your target audience and convert them into customers, you need a strong brand identity. A good brand needs to be memorable and communicate the essence, story and values of the brand at the same time. Whether you work for a large-scale company or a small one, the importance of having a consistent brand identity that reaches people is key. And with 11Onze’s branding, that was a challenge.
The branding of 11Onze goes beyond the logo. It’s a combination of all the elements combined, including the colours, logo, tone, look&feel, treatment and service… In short, it’s how our customers can identify us. The power of branding is to be able to create credibility and trust that extends beyond the problems we solve and the products we have.
And by adding all these elements together, a little over two years ago, we created what now, when we think of 11Onze, comes to mind, what it makes us feel. During all this time we have been planting seeds to build customer loyalty and demonstrate with facts everything we have said we are.
What I do at 11Onze
My main task at 11Onze is based on caring for and evolving the brand. And how do you do this?
Firstly, it is essential to maintain visual coherence in everything you see of 11Onze, both inside and out. It must be easy to identify at a glance. In my department, we design materials or resources for the different areas of the company, from a simple visual for social networks, a design change in the El Canut app, a marketing campaign or an internal presentation. Always being part of each action or product from the beginning.
And secondly, it is to evolve and adapt the brand as it grows. To be clear, since La Plaça was launched in April 2021, we have been adding different products and services, and this has been done in such a way that the 11Onze universe has been expanding little by little, without destabilising our foundations and maintaining the same coherence that I have been repeating.
There is a lot of design, strategy and content work being done to provide our community with the best products and services, and that’s why having good branding is key. But the most essential thing is to be surrounded by a good team of people, that we all work towards the same goals and strive for what we want to end up being 11Onze. And all this is what makes the work worthwhile and makes it become part of you.
Who's who, Laia Gubern
NFTs are part of the new digital revolution that is changing the art world. A business model based on blockchain technology that eliminates intermediaries and guarantees control of ownership by the investor. Gemma Vallet, director of 11Onze District, starred in the third Fintech Talks centered on NFTs, with the collaboration of Raul Arribas, CTO of 11Onze.
Crypto Art has the same consideration as physical art, thanks to the ability to verify the ownership of the original piece. NFTs, which stands for ‘Non-Fungible Token’, were born out of this need. They are digital certificates based on blockchain technology that have a unique, irreplaceable, non-duplicable unit of reference, which can’t be duplicated and which accredits the author and owner of the work.
“Art and NFTs are a perfect fit. An artist generates a file through the blockchain ecosystem and uploads it in a metaverse, where anyone can make a purchase of this digital file with a cryptocurrency,” explains Vallet. A digital reality, parallel to the physical world, that combines aspects of social networking, online gaming, virtual reality (VR), and cryptocurrencies to allow users to interact virtually.
“NFTs help to protect rights”
The irruption of brands in the world of NFTs
NFTs open up new possibilities for brands to communicate and interact with customers, and even represent a new way to generate revenue. “Brands have found a new way to protect their copyright within NFTs and show their new collection in times like Covid, when it was not possible to enter and have the experience inside a shop,” says the director of 11Onze District.
The fashion and automotive industries have been pioneers in adapting to this new business model. NFTs revolutionise the way in which brands interact, through a virtual modality, with the new generations of digital natives who “have become accustomed to video games and, therefore, to acquiring brands for their avatars within video games”.
If you want to know more, you can watch the full Fintech Talks here.
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The health crisis hit the tourism sector hard. But the end of the restrictions and the resumption of the holiday season has brought back confidence among travellers. In this episode of La Plaça of Territori 17, Gemma Vallet, Director of 11Onze District, analyses how Covid has changed the tourism model.
The tourism sector’s concern about the recovery of economic activity has spurred an evolution of the tourist offer, more adapted to the sensibilities of post-pandemic customers, who give more importance to aspects such as safety. As Vallet explains, “we are looking for safety and comfort over good prices”, and he continues, “Carpe Diem and conscious travel are the order of the day”.
But the effects of the pandemic have also changed our priorities when it comes to choosing who we travel with or who we visit, “the pandemic separated us and there is a great desire to go back to travelling with the family, or with friends who are almost family”, Vallet points out.
La Plaça – Territori 17: The new tourism
Shorter trips planned less in advance
The uncertainty caused by the health restrictions imposed in several countries and the geopolitical turmoil of the conflict in Ukraine have meant that when it comes to planning holidays, “we are going more short term, but at the same time choosing a higher quality holiday“, explains the director of 11Onze District.
Unlike our European partners, Catalan tourists prefer short trips, or four-day getaways, and tend to stay in the territory. A phenomenon that is not unique to our country, but rather, as Vallet states, “is a behaviour that is closely identified with Spanish tourists and with tourists from Greece”, thanks to the rich landscape and culture of both countries.
11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the super app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!
