"Nothing wrong in saying that we are Catalanists"

James Sène, president and founder of 11Onze, closes the Estat de la Nació cycle of programmes by taking stock of the project of the first fintech community in the Països Catalans, which will be key to achieving the individual and collective financial sovereignty of citizens, in a globalised world that is in the midst of an economic crisis.

11Onze was born as a new model of community banking, pioneering and necessary, which aims to revolutionise banking from the bottom up in a context of global economic uncertainty where it is essential that citizens take control of their finances. In this sense, financial education, one of the founding pillars of 11Onze, is an essential ingredient to empower people to build a strong and resilient Catalan economy.

The road has not been easy, but James Sène is satisfied with the evolution of the Catalan financial institution since it started operating in Catalonia in October 2021, “obviously, there are things we would like to have already, but because of the particularity of a project like 11Onze we have had to face some obstacles“ even so, “generally it is what we wanted, and we are on the right track”.

From the very beginning, 11Onze was created as a country tool, for strategic reasons, and established so that its profits would be reinvested in Catalonia, as established in the financial institution’s foundation in Switzerland. “We are a project for the Catalans, there is nothing wrong with saying that we are Catalanists”, Sène points out, “it is our raison d’être, and we have said so from the very first minute”.

Unlimited growth on a planet of finite resources

The obsession with constant economic growth has proven inadequate to ensure human well-being, social justice, and the ecological sustainability of the planet. An economic system that benefits the few and is unsustainable. As the president of 11Onze explains, “Covid has been added to it, war has been added to it, and this accelerates the process. But it is the economic proposition of perpetual growth that doesn’t work.

And he continues, “people are getting poorer, they work more, they sacrifice more, and still, it doesn’t work”. The need and urgency to look for alternatives in the social and political sphere is obvious, “the resources that are generated have to be redistributed better so that everyone can grow,” says Sène. That is precisely why it is essential for citizens to understand what is happening with the economy.

Sène sums it up plainly, “to understand economics you have to know how to count, read and have common sense, you don’t have to be a professor”, even so, the rhetoric of economists, for example when talking about inflation, is not always easy to understand, “the nomenclature and the explanation given is very sophisticated, and this doesn’t allow people to understand what is being said”.

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!

Beginnings are never easy. But when you are up against a lobby as powerful as the traditional banks, they are especially complicated. This is what Oriol Tafanell, financial director of 11Onze, revealed in Estat de la Nació. The executive highlights the confidence generated among customers during the first year of 11Onze and recommends the purchase of gold to counter inflation.

In an interview on the Estat de la Nació programme, Oriol Tafanell highlights two major milestones in the balance of the first anniversary of 11Onze. On the one hand, the trust generated among customers, since after one year of existence “people believe in the 11Onze’s team”. On the other hand, getting over all the obstacles that have been placed in our way, “which have been many, especially by the traditional banking sector.”

Some of these obstacles can be seen in the documentary ‘In a few days’, which from 23 April is available exclusively at La Plaça and explains “what has happened during last year.”

A golden opportunity to counter inflation

On a future rise in interest rates by the European Central Bank, 11Onze’s financial director explains that it will be a measure “to fight inflation”. And he recalls that the 11Onze team had already predicted a few months ago that “there would be an inflationary crisis,” which reinforces its “credibility.”

In this regard, Tafanell stresses that 11Onze has enabled members of its community to invest in gold through Preciosos 11Onze “to protect their savings” when “no one else makes it possible for an ordinary person to buy gold” as an investment. 11Onze’s CFO also stresses the importance of the concept of “community” in the business model, as everything it does is “community-based”, including gold purchases.

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.

Macro trends such as the feared stagflation or the digitalisation of traditional banking, which has betrayed its commitment to customer service, directly affect our finances. The director of 11Onze District, Gemma Vallet, analyses in the Territori 17 programme how we can face these issues and highlights the role played by quality information and a critical spirit in managing them.

The macro-trend of digitalisation has led traditional banks to close thousands of branches in order to save “on customer service”, as Gemma Vallet explains, despite the “ethical responsibility” that institutions committed to providing a service should have.

This has led other companies in the financial ecosystem to look for “innovative solutions” to cover these shortcomings, Vallet points out. The director of 11Onze District gives the example of 11Onze a Casa, a “hybrid solution” that was launched at the end of 2021, when it was sensed that the closure of bank branches “would mean a collapse of customer service”. It is as simple as accessing a website and booking an appointment with a person to talk face to face, a detail that Vallet highlights because of the need for human contact.

Digitalisation, which has accelerated due to covid, has created a “digital divide”, according to Gemma Vallet. To overcome it, “there is a whole series of solutions that, given that the banking sector is not providing them, other actors, whether institutions or companies, have to offer them”, says Vallet. For this reason, the director of 11Onze District urges us to “claim these rights as consumers” so that financial institutions begin to adopt innovative solutions.

Information, the key to understanding the current economic situation

Despite high inflation, which reached 10.2% in June, we are not yet in a scenario of hyperinflation, but we can begin to talk about stagflation, according to Vallet: “Since the middle or end of 2021 we could already see that GDP was beginning to stagnate. And at the same time prices are rising. And there is also another effect, which is that unemployment is rising. These three factors characterise stagflation.”

To deal with this turbulent economic scenario, Vallet stresses the need to get information from the right source, one that is “as neutral and truthful as possible”, and to compare and contrast it. In the age of social networks, the director of 11Onze District recommends being wary of messages that are difficult to understand because their complexity probably hides a “desire to manipulate”.

An added difficulty to deal with information is the lack of critical spirit that has traditionally been fostered by the educational system in our country. In fact, Gemma Vallet recalls that Generation X is also known as the “silent generation because they listen and say nothing, and are therefore very vulnerable to information”. Fortunately, according to Vallet, this trend is beginning to break with Generation Z, which “does have a critical point of view”.

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!

The well-known Catalan rumba singer interrupts his retirement and returns to the stage to create a protest rumba. The song calls for redistribution of wealth and a financial system that is fairer to the people, just as a recession looms.

“They say that gypsies are thieves, but it’s not true, thieves are the ones… who wear a nice tailcoat!”, says Petitet in ‘La rumba dels calerons’. For the first time, rumba delves into social criticism without abandoning the joy and partying that characterises this Catalan musical genre, with international repercussions.

El Petitet, who suffers from myasthenia gravis, has created ‘La rumba dels calerons’ to explain that “money is not everything in life” but that, unfortunately, “you’re only worth as much as your wallet”. That is why he accepted 11Onze’s commission, to demand a redistribution of wealth. “It cannot be that 99% of the wealth is in the hands of 1% of the population and that a whole series of obligations that are demanded of the majority, the upper strata of society, can avoid. There needs to be money for everyone and tools to control how this money is managed,” says 11Onze president James Sène.

All this makes even more sense when we are on the verge of a major economic crisis caused, above all, by the public debt bubble. In Spain, public debt is growing at a rate of 200 million euros per day and already exceeds 1.46 trillion euros. 11Onze and Petitet are calling for the crisis not to be paid for by the same general public this time.

The composition of the song has allowed Petitet to bring together his usual collaborators and add new nuances to the rumba. For the first time, a harp has been added by Esther Pinyol, second harp at the Liceu. “I’ve enjoyed it very much”, says Petitet, adding that “banking today is like a casino, they treat you well as long as you have money”.

Of Petitet, James Sène explains that “the first time we met, before I could sit down, he asked me ‘are you a good person?’. To which I replied, ‘oh man, I think so’. After that came a hug and generosity, always. I don’t think we could have found a better representative, a better collaborator, to create the 11Onze song.

The music video: a popular party like in the old times

The music video of ‘La rumba dels calerons’ was made in the middle of Barcelona’s Rambla del Raval, where a popular dinner was set up with more than 100 people. “We didn’t want to simulate a party“, explains 11Onze content director Toni Mata, “we wanted to throw a party. Rumba is for the people and 11Onze is also for the people, so we wanted to celebrate this collaboration”.

The song also brings a further differentiating factor: 11Onze becomes the first financial institution to give the gypsy people a leading role. “We wanted to do it,” says Mata, “because historically gypsies have had to endure stigmas that have banished them from society. But not only have they known how to resist and get ahead, but they have also known how to preserve the Catalan language and their culture better than many others who look down on them”.

‘La rumba dels calerons’ is, therefore, a criticism, but without losing the spirit to party because, as Petitet always says, “it’s better to laugh than to cry“.

The song is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, and all the usual platforms.

The video clip can be seen on YouTube and 11Onze TV.

11Onze is the fintech community of Catalonia. Register in La Plaça for free and join the revolution! Register – 11Onze

Digital content creator or gamer are two of the career opportunities that have arisen as a result of the emergence of the Internet. Digital strategy consultant Georgia Taglietti visits La Xarxa’s Territori 17 programme to talk about the new ways of earning money in the digital world and the future of the music industry.

Being a digital native doesn’t make you an Internet expert, just as belonging to previous generations doesn’t close the doors to consuming or even earning a living through digital platforms. This is one of the first points to bear in mind if you are considering making a living from the Internet, according to Georgia Taglietti, digital expert and director of shesaid.so, an international platform for women in music.

In recent years, being an influencer has become one of the dream professions for many young people. In this sense, Taglietti affirms that the era of the macro-influencers has given way to “the era of the ‘micro-influencers”.

The expert calls for realism if we want to make a living from the Internet: beyond the user experience provided by our electronic devices, making a living through platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or Twitch implies “quality” and, above all, knowledge of the digital environment. In addition, Taglietti says that, although each network has its peculiarities, TikTok is currently “the best for making money”.

The music industry calls for more women

From music production for digital platforms to audio-marketing, the Internet has opened the doors to new professions in the music industry that require more women. Specifically, Taglietti, who for 25 years was director of communication and public relations at Sónar, is calling for more female producers and promoters.

These are two essential professions for the industry and have a long way to go. Proof of this is that not even the Covid-19 crisis and the havoc it has wreaked on the music sector have been able to slow down music production. Taglietti recommends abandoning “the monoculture of live music” on which the music industry had concentrated before the pandemic.

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!

11Onze is an active community in the financial world. La Plaça is the agora of this empowered community, where people debate, inform and learn. That is why it is important that we disseminate information through the right channels. At 11Onze we have eight social networks where we explain who we are, what we do and why we do it. Still not following us? Go ahead!

Each social network has its own objectives and message, its own idiosyncrasy. If we want to be a community, each user who visits La Plaça must be able to do so in the way that is most comfortable for them. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Telegram, YouTube, Spotify and TikTok make up the entire digital universe of 11Onze. Let’s see what function each one fulfils!

• Twitter: expanding the message. For 11Onze, Twitter is the loudspeaker to reach out beyond our community. We want to be part of the social, political and economic debate in Catalonia, and this social network offers us the opportunity to make ourselves known, to connect with the interests of citizens. That’s why we play an active role, with threads of tweets about who we are, surveys on topics of interest, product news or audiovisual or current affairs content. Of course, we are clear that we learn from the comments made to us, but without getting into controversy.
• Instagram: reaching Gen Z and women. On Instagram you will see that lately we have been changing the aesthetics of the posts and stories we publish, because we want to reach young people and female entrepreneurs. We encourage interaction and debate and we promote financial culture in a social network where everything happens too fast. We believe that, even on Instagram, it is possible to create entertaining but interesting content.
• Telegram: a weekly scoop. Telegram is the network that allows us to connect with the community in a closer and more exclusive way. Every week we send a message to catch up on what is being said in La Plaça. That’s where we reserve the content for scoops.
• Facebook: weaving a family. On Facebook, we reserve the right to disseminate all those current affairs or financial contents that may be of interest to the family as a whole. That video you keep to give advice to your children, that news you want to explain to your father or mother, because it helps you to organise your day-to-day finances. We want to use Facebook to strengthen closer ties.
• Linkedin: corporate social responsibility. Linkedin is where we reserve all corporate content or content related to work and new technologies. We consider Linkedin to be the network that allows us to visualise ourselves as an innovative company and to connect with companies and workers who have the same interests in the financial world.
• YouTube: a space for audiovisuals. Everything you need to see to believe about 11Onze is on YouTube. There, we started to explain the whole selection process of our team of agents and we continue to upload all the videos that we consider to be of interest to make our initiative known to the world.
• Spotify: all the podcasts in your pocket. With the Pasta Z podcast, where generation Z takes the floor to talk about the financial world, we want to accompany you in your free time, on that bus or metro journey that you don’t know how to fill, at lunchtime or snack time. Because we want you to carry us in your pocket. 
• TikTok: our youngest channel. You’ll find videos on interesting topics.

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!

In line with the founding objectives of 11Onze, we offer tools that make it easier for our community to manage their money by reducing essential expenses. That’s why we are launching 11Onze Segurs, where our agents will help you get the best home insurance at the best price and with benefits for society.

11Onze goes one step further in the services offered to its community. Now the time has come to cover another essential expense with 11Onze Segurs. The aim is simple: to get home insurance at the best price, with the fastest assistance on the market, and improving the environment in which we live.

To make this possible, 11Onze has teamed up with Tuio, joining forces to offer a unique market proposal. As Raul Casado, Head of Marketing and Sales at 11Onze (CMSO) explains, “The new insurance product brings together everything we need to offer the best product to our community, with an affordable price and very competitive coverage. This is an advantage that we can offer to our customers who are part of the 11Onze community”.

Insurance managed with ethical and supportive criteria

Our home insurance proposal is simple: we eliminate unnecessary paperwork, hidden clauses, and we are totally transparent. We don’t want you to overpay for cover you don’t need, and we clearly detail what is and isn’t covered. We also have a monthly subscription, so you only pay for what you need, when you need it.

Even so, we are committed to society, and we make sure that most of the profits are not distributed to shareholders and managers, but to NGOs of your choice. In this sense, the 11Onze partner in this product is a certified B Corp, a global movement of people and companies that want to have a positive impact on society, trying to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

This approach subverts the traditional insurance model. Normally, companies try to save on claims in order to maintain their profits. In the new model promoted by 11Onze Segurs, 25% of what is paid for the insurance is the income of the insurance company. The remaining 75% goes to cover claims and to NGOs.

The insurtech revolution

The start-ups known as Insurtech (insurance & technology) are revolutionising the insurance sector, offering customers more flexibility and transparency in the conditions of cover, together with unbeatable prices. In other words, just what customers have always demanded, but which traditional insurers have never provided.

The fact that you can do everything from your mobile phone speeds up the process and, in the case of 11Onze Segurs, allows for very fast assistance. In the event of an emergency, you will have a RACC technician at home. If it is a non-urgent claim, you will receive an affirmative or negative answer within 24 hours and within 48 hours you should have the technician at home.

11Onze agents are already taking out insurance policies and helping our customers to transfer from their current company to 11Onze Segurs.

If you want to discover fair insurance for your home and for society, check 11Onze Segurs.

The responsive design and user experience of 11Onze receives another award. The art director of this fintech explains in the Estat de la Nació programme that everyone recognises that 11Onze is “doing something different”.

La Plaça of 11Onze is also starting to receive recognition in Catalonia. After winning awards such as the Centauri of Vega Awards, a nomination for the UX Design Awards and an honourable mention at the Webby Awards, 11Onze has now won another prestigious award: the Bronze Laus in the category of responsive design for mobile devices.

The art director of 11Onze, Laia Gubern, visited Eduard Berraondo’s Estat de la Nació programme the day after the awards ceremony at the Diseny Hub in Barcelona. “We are very happy because we have finally received an award here, where it has a lot of recognition and prestige, and we are very happy to have it at home”, explained Gubern.

The fact of creating La Plaça, a private social network dedicated to financial education and the strengthening of a community, is the key to the return of the 11Onze project and this is how they see it at an international level. In this sense, what is most surprising is that normally companies create products to sell to the community, and 11Onze goes in a different direction: “We started the other way round. First, we created the community. And that’s why we get this recognition, because people see that we are doing something different“.

Stylish design with the user at the centre

La Plaça’s web-app has been designed in collaboration with the prestigious Irish agency Wondr. It has been a work that has taken special care to put the user at the centre, maintaining its own style.

According to Laia Gubern, “all the awards and recognitions we have received have always been for this [facilitating access], because obviously it has to look good and people have to like it, but in the end people have to use it and feel comfortable”.

Awards are a cause for joy at 11Onze, but not for complacency. In this sense, the company’s head of art warns that everything will continue to evolve because “we’re trying to do new things all day long”. You can see the rest of the conversation between Laia Gubern and Eduard Berraondo in the following video.

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!

This month of June, two promotional campaigns coincide at 11Onze to reward the trust of our customers. All those who bring a new client to Preciosos 11Onze or who place their gold order before the end of the month will benefit.

At 11Onze we want to help you protect your savings and those of the people you care about in an easy and safe way. That’s why we launched Preciosos 11Onze, so that you could buy gold at the best price. After two successful collective purchases, which have brought almost 20 kg of gold to La Plaça, we want to promote a third order with two promotions that will be valid only during the month of June.

Recommending Preciosos 11Onze has a prize

Throughout this month, Preciosos 11Onze or El Canut customers who bring a new customer for the third collective gold purchase will be able to choose one of these two bonuses:

• A free debit card for the next 3 years.
• Six months free subscription to El Canut. A maximum of two customers can be brought in to get one year’s free subscription.

Free shipping

Both new customers and existing customers who place new orders can benefit from a second promotion on the third collective purchase of gold. All La Plaça members who enter their gold purchase before 30 June will be able to choose:

• Free home delivery of the bullion.
• A discount of 35 euros if gold custody is selected.

Why is gold a good investment?

There are several compelling reasons why buying gold is a good way to protect your money. The first is undoubtedly inflation, which reduces our purchasing power. The second is low interest rates, which make savings in financial accounts unprofitable and non-interest bearing. Add to this economic uncertainty, and sound investment strategies become necessary.

All indications are that the economy is reaching the end of a cycle. Major economic powers, such as the United States, may enter recession in 2023. And, when there is instability, there is an increase in demand for precious metals, and gold is the ultimate safe-haven asset.

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 environmental impact generated by the life cycle of plastic bottles can be reduced by recycling, but what if we eliminate the problem with small changes in our consumption habits? Sandra Molas, sales manager at 11Onze, suggests alternatives to make a plastic-free planet possible.

Scientists have discovered that even in the recently fallen snow in Antarctica, microplastics can be detected. As Molas states, “it literally rains plastic on us“. The problem of plastic pollution is directly proportional to the production and consumption of plastic products, “if we really care, we have to act and stop buying plastic,” Molas says.

In this sense, the global production of plastics has increased by 500% since the beginning of the 1980s, and every year some 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide, of which 8 million tonnes end up in the oceans. 

Society has become aware of the problem, but as the sales manager explains, “our responsibility as individuals does not exempt administrations and companies from being the first to set an example“, and sufficiently strict legislation and regulations are needed to face the environmental challenges that arise.

Small changes that have a big impact

Even so, are we really aware of our contribution to the huge amounts of plastic waste generated each year, and how can we reduce our impact by making small changes to our consumption habits? As Molas states, “everyone can do a lot of things by themselves in a simple way”, for example “by putting a water filtering method at home“.

Bearing in mind that the consumption of bottled water for a family of four people is around 3,000 litres per year, with an annual expenditure of 1,000 euros on bottled water, which translates into 60 kg of plastic, small changes such as the use of a water filter, represent an option that is more respectful of the planet and that “also helps you to save”.

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