FinTech Connect 2025 Blog

Take a look at the round-up of FinTech Connect Europe 2023!

FinTech Connect Europe brought together 1300 experts from across the fintech ecosystem for two days of networking, discussions, and learning. As silver sponsors at FinTech Connect Europe, we caught up with Rosie McConnell from IFX Payments to discuss and explore how they have adapted their business to keep up with the demands and new challenges from the payments industry, the top 3 payment trends they see for 2024 and the main challenges which have prevented the full success of Open Banking.

Software development is at the heart of any business now, and managing IT risk is an ever increasing challenge. The pace of change, together with powerful tooling in the cloud, open source, and AI space pose new threats that can’t be managed in the old ways. Ahead of being a silver sponsor at Fintech Connect Europe 2023, we caught up with Mike Long, who is the co-founder of Kosli to explore his thoughts on the most exciting technologies in FinTech, Kolsi’s three biggest priorities in 2024 and the questions he’d put forward given the opportunity to talk directoly to a regulator.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have become a hot topic in the fintech ecosystem, sparking a wide range of opinions and perspectives. To gain deeper insights into how professionals across the financial industry view CBDCs, we conducted a comprehensive benchmarking report. The results provide a valuable glimpse into the diverse range of perspectives surrounding this emerging technology.

In the fast-paced world of technology, understanding the current state of Web3 is no simple task. To gauge the progress of this emerging technology, we turned to a familiar analogy: the evolution of mobile phones. With all the buzz surrounding Web3 and its potential applications in financial services, our benchmarking report has yielded fascinating insights by asking respondents to make a comparison to different stages in the mobile phone's development. Let's dive into the results and chart the current state of Web3.

In the ever-evolving landscape of financial technology, every fintech hub aspires to be recognized as the epicenter of innovation. When it comes to payments, there is fierce competition to lead the way. Our recent benchmarking report sheds light on where in Europe the most payments innovation is taking place, and the results reveal some undeniable contenders.

In the fast-paced world of fintech, staying ahead of the curve is essential to success. As we transition into 2023, the role of Generative AI in shaping digital strategies has become a topic of significant interest. To gain a deeper understanding of how financial institutions are adapting, we conducted a benchmarking report, and the results are in. Here's a look at how Generative AI is influencing digital strategies for the year ahead.

Regulatory reporting is a critical component of the financial industry, serving as the backbone of transparency and accountability. However, it's no secret that navigating the complexities of regulatory reporting comes with its own set of challenges. In our recent study, we sought to understand the primary hurdles that financial institutions face in this arena. Here's a look at the key challenges and how industry players are working to overcome them.

In the ever-evolving landscape of the financial sector, the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in regulatory processes is gaining increasing attention. To understand how AI is being utilized in this critical domain, we conducted a comprehensive benchmarking report. The results are in, and they shed light on the current state of AI integration within regulatory processes.

FinTech Connect Europe 2022 returned for the first time in 3 years, fully in-person, bringing the entire FinTech ecosystem to ExCel to benchmark, discuss and debate the current state of play in the industry and look forward to the current and upcoming fintech trends. The industry came together across two action packed days of discussions and networking.

The growth of BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) continues to represent one of the top payment trends, and it’s a trend we believe is here to stay. BNPL has surged significantly during the last couple of years and is present-day the fastest-growing payment method, forecasting an estimated transaction value of $680 billion globally by 2025.

Discover is a major Fortune 500 financial services company with essentially two parts. In the US, we run a full-service consumer bank offering a variety of products including deposit products, bank accounts, home loans and personal loans but our core business is cards and payments.

I currently lead the Industry Relations team at Discover Global Network, the team responsible for engagement with industry bodies and membership organizations globally, such as EMVCo, the Financial Data Exchange (FDX) and W3C. We contribute time and resources to these bodies to develop standards and specifications that can be widely adopted across the payments industry.

What is the institutional trajectory for crypto today? It’s an important question to ask. The true potential of cryptocurrencies will only materialise when they spread beyond the retail market and become widely adopted by institutions.

FinTech Connect 2022 arrived back with a bang after a three year absence. As one of the leading sponsors at FinTech Connect 2022, Dirk Mourik at Ekata explores the top payments trends he predicts ahead of 2023, how the payments industry has accelerated over recent years and how their collaboration between Ekata and Mastercard has a speed up their shared goal of building trust within the digital economy.

IDnow will be silver sponsors at FinTech Connect Europe this year at the ExCeL, London on 30th November - 1st December and ahead of the event, FinTech Connect caught up with Mike Kiely, Sales Director for Financial Services at IDnow to discuss his biggest achievement, the main challenges your clients find when it comes to regulatory reporting, the the factors which have to be considered with partnering with RegTech companies.

Is there a future for digital representations of assets – or non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – as a credible currency for banks?

The answer really is yes – but not yet…

Ahead of FinTech Connect 2022 taking place on 30th November - 1st December, we shined the spotlight on Eric Queathem, EVP, Global Head of Strategy and Emerging Businesses Worldpay from FIS, who are one of the leading sponsors at this years conference. Eric gives us an insight into his role at FIS, his biggest achievement within the role and his thoughts on open banking.

KPMG categorised 2021 as a “remarkable year” for the fintech sector. It saw a record number of deals in every major region – including the Americas, EMEA, and the Asia-Pacific. But what’s ahead in 2022/23? Rising interest rates, spiralling inflation and market volatility make the prospect of a recessionary climate more likely. What will this mean for Fintech?

Let’s start with a brief explanation to understand just how transformational the Web 3.0 convergence of technologies is set to be for the payments space. First, the ‘metaverse’ is the buzz term that encapsulates what many expect to be the next big change in how we’ll use digital technologies to interact and collaborate with others.

Anette Broløs, Stephen Wright, José Luis Navarro Llorens and Agnija Gailane dive deep into PayTech's biggest topic looking to answer the question Open Banking - what does it look like moving forwards?

We’re more than four years on from the ‘birth’ of Open Banking. So what can we expect ahead and how has it changed the payments landscape so far? Back in 2018, the legislation that powered the start of Open Banking (aka PSD2) came into effect in the UK and Europe.

Watch the panel discussion from December 2021 looking at the process of effectively embedding RegTech within your digital strategy.

Modern banking and financial services are radically changing, continuously transforming through new Apps, Blockchain and disruptive competitors.

The rise in financial products or services embedded within and delivered through non-regulated entities has thrown open a world of possibilities for consumers. And it’s all happening at a dizzying pace.

Fintech may have become a multibillion-dollar business. But happily, those it is benefiting are often in the more vulnerable and underserved segments of society. The Global Fintech Industry Market is expected to be valued at $382.38 million by 2027. According to a report published by Coherent Market Insights, it will have a CAGR of 7.05% over the period of 2020-2027.

How are Fintechs enhancing digital infrastructure and becoming more agile and what business models of the future look like? Watch this panel discussion from FinTech Connect 2021 exploring these very topics and diving deeper to provide you with the thoughts from leading speakers.

Watch this panel discussion looking at Maintaining an innovative environment amongst increasingly complex regulatory demands, the benefit of regulatory technology to both industry and regulators and partnering effectively with RegTech firms to harmonise requirements across the business and improve business efficiency.

Digital technologies are reshaping payments, lending, insurance and wealth management – a process that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated. As policymakers attempt to set the stage for its inevitable closer integration with traditional finance, they have a fine balance to tread between: Not stifling but fostering innovation, Meeting their core regulatory objectives of financial stability, financial integrity, fair competition, and consumer protection (including data privacy) and staying a step ahead of the potential unintended consequences of disruption

The Panel Discussion from Fintech Connect North America looks at protecting the financial institutions from security breaches and Financial Crime. 

Hans Brown, Head of Enterprise Innovation and CIO for Corporate Technology, BNY Mellon takes us through the best practices of achieving innovation through the process of collaboration.

TreasurUp's Co-Founder and CEO, Niels Van Daatselaar, shared his thoughts and ideas on the current digital transformation priorities for Financial Insituitions after the Pandemic, how he felt the new period of digital transformation is affecting the customer expectation and experience and how the customer experience has changed changed after COVID-19? Read Neils answers to find out more on the hot topic of digital transformation and how the Fintech sector are adapting to the ever changing Fintech landscape.

John Salter, Chief Customer Officer at ClearBank offers his thoughts and opinions of the current Fintech industry and what the future of Fintech holds post COVID. John also explains the ClearBank are working to drive innovation with Fintechs.

The revolutionary impact digital technology is having on banking operations has imposed on the sector both a responsibility and opportunity to provide better products and services to its customers. As the world of e-commerce is proving, a fundamental key to customer loyalty and retention today is the extra value a business can deliver.

Michel is Oracle’s Vice President Customer Experience for FSI, at Oracle Product Development shared his thoughts on Oracle customers changing expectations in the current economy and landscape, how banks can adapt to remain competitive with Fintech led challenger banks and his advice for banks building a future-proof digital transformation strategy.

We caught up with Ed Adshead-Grant, Director of Strategic Business Development at Bottomline to find out the role Bottomline plays within the complex payments ecosystem, their real life examples of being innovative with payements. Ed also gives us his opinion on whether we are moving to a cashless society.

Join the leading experts from the Fintech industry dicussion the impact of AI and analytics within Financial servies with experts from IBM, Natwest, BNY Mellon, and much more. 

Watch this Keynote Panel Discussion: What is the role of AI in overhauling banking infrastructure? Has it been technology, culture or both? with Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Citizens Bank and much more. 

Tim Maddock, CEO at i2i Logic explores i2i Logic's digital platform, the evolution of data in the financial service and the biggest challenges in corporate banking heading into 2022. 

Tim Maddock, Co-Founder at i2i Logic explores i2i Logic's digital platform, the evolution of data in the financial service and the biggest challenges in corporate banking heading into 2022.

What role is iProov playing in driving the digital transformation forward? Andrew Bud, CEO at iProov shares his thoughts on the impact digital indentity verification will have on customer experience, the attack vectors iProov have identified with biometric authentication and how this vulnerability can be minimised.

In a matter of decades, banking has changed fast. ATMs were introduced in the 1960s and PINs and electronic card-based payments in the 1970s. The 2000s saw steady adoption of 24/7 online banking, quickly followed by mobile banking in the 2010s. The latest change for banks is their entry into the AI-powered digital age.

Decentralized finance leverages key principles of the Ethereum blockchain to increase financial security and transparency, unlock liquidity and growth opportunities, and support an integrated and standardized economic system.

What is the best strategy for startups and fintechs in order to engage effectively as banks transform into digital powerhouses? Watch the panel from Fintech Connect North America as Dominic Venturo, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer at U.S. Bank answers this very question interviewed by Ysbrant Marcelis, Development Patner of Commercial Ventures.

Watch the keynote from Dale Chrystie, Blockchain Strategist, Global Lead at FedEx talks about the coopetition in blockchain.

Ion Fratiloiu, Head of Commercial at Yobota shares his thoughts on the role Yobota are playing in the accelerated digital transformation and how Yobota are working with Fintechs to drive innovation. He also gives his explanation on the future relationship between fintechs and regulation.

Watch this session from FinTech Connect North America, June 2021, on the 'Coopetition in Blockchain - Team-Building in the 21st Century' with Dale Chrystie, Blockchain Strategist, Global Lead, FedEx. 

“The bankers of tomorrow are technologists who enable banking experiences your customers will use across the digital landscape.” This is the prediction of Brett King, the world-renowned futurist and author of the bestselling book ‘Bank 4.0’, which looks at the future of banking in the emerging, technology-embedded world of the 21st century.

Mathias Fonseca, Principal Engineer for Payments at Delivery Hero explains the theory and his views of Payments Engineering and Stoicism: Why the Greeks were better programmers than you.    

What is JP Morgans role is driving forward the future of payments? Jeremy Balkin, Head of Fintech & Innovation, Wholesale Payments at JP Morgan discusses this very question and gives he's views on the topic.

Even five years before the pandemic, the ‘death of cash’ had long been predicted –due to the growing use of credit and debit cards. Post Covid, the acceleration towards a cashless society has been fuelled by the pandemic shift that we saw in online retail. Consumers were actively encouraged not to use cash to prevent the spread of the virus and trust in digital banking products has soared.

• The people benefiting from the advance of FinTech and the way finance is experienced by consumers all over the world are many. They are black, white, LGBTQ+, male, female, young and old… But the people driving the advance, it seems, are not.
  

Itay Tuchman, Global Head of Foreign Exchange at Citi and Eva Szalay, Currencies Correspondent at Financial Times discuss and explore the future of Institutional Crypto.

Watch the panel discussion as Ville Sointu, Head of Emerging Technologies at Nordea,  Laurent Marochini, at Societe Generale Securities Service,  Diana Barrero Zalles, Director of ESG and Impact at Wield & Co and  Anette Brolos, Independent Fintech Analyst at Brolos Consult discuss how fast we are moving towards a crypto future?

2021 has been a landmark year for the decentralized digital currency which is disrupting traditional finance. Banks have every reason to be sceptical. They have a lot to lose. Many have systemic concerns over decentralized crypto-currencies’ potential to destabilize or undermine the authority or control of central banks.

Find out how industry experts from R3, Phoenix FX and JP Morgan believe Fintech can drive an innovative recovery. Watch the panel discussion at Fintech Connect North America

Find out how industry experts from Aite Group, Delivery Hero, Dazn and JP Morgan can drive an innovative recovery. Watch the panel discussion at Fintech Connect North America

Today, automation is the driving force behind how the B2C payments landscape. But how much is digital changing the way B2B payments are made?

Find out how industry experts from Barclays, Chime, Koho, MSU Federal Credit Union, and Technisys believe Fintech can drive an innovative recovery. Watch the panel discussion at Fintech Connect North America, June 2021.

Hear what Kahina Van Dyke, Global Head Digital Channels & Data Analytics at Standard Chartered interviewed by Douglas Mackenzie, Host at FinTech Finance had to say about on the Future of Banking and the importance of agility, culture and talent at Fintech Connect North America on June 2021.

This year’s Kalifa Review of UK FinTech is a clear sign of two things. The report, published in March 2021 by HM Treasury, will direct national policy thinking on the fintech sector in the wake of Brexit. It shows that the UK Government: · recognises that fintech is at serious risk from growing global competition and regulatory uncertainty caused by Brexit · wants to ensure that UK fintech will continue to have the resources and business environment it needs to thrive

Dramatic as it may sound, gaining, sustaining or losing a momentum may shape the spiral of digital transformation in the financial arena. Unstructured data being the new oil is just the tip of the iceberg and DL aggressive strategical approaches is key to unlock a new set of opportunities in the search for true value when tailoring an organization’s response to crises, changing customer behaviour, and broader market conditions.

Find out how industry leaders from Aite Group, East West Bank, Albertsons, Wells Fargo, Verizon Wireless and Incode believe the US payments ecosystem has changed in the wake of the pandemic. Watch the panel discussion at FinTech Connect North America, June 2021

Watch the Panel discussion 'In the age of Covid-19, what is the ‘new normal’ in financial services?'

No-one was ready for COVID-19 – except, perhaps, the fintech sector.

Necessity is the mother of invention…As a result of the pandemic, digital solutions such as mobile wallets, blockchain or crypto currencies that likely would have taken years to be adopted on a mass scale are fast becoming the norm.

Whether you know DLT as Distributed Ledger Technology or as Blockchain Technology (as it’s more commonly known), its effect now, and in the future, is decentralization. And the big question is decentralize what – and for who?

Learn about the evolution of Digital Transformation and how banks can keep up with Fintech challengers. With Michael Haney, Head of Cyberbank Core, Technisys

Blockchain is changing supply chains. It is improving productivity through digitising processes. FedEx are at the forefront of this. Hear from one of the globe’s biggest thought leaders in strategic blockchain, Dale Chrystie as he demonstrates a cohesive strategy of co-opetition is what will drive successful blockchain implementation. 

Blockchain has spent the past few years in a perceived ‘trough of disillusionment’. 2021 has proved very different with successful application of blockchain in financial services. There is also increasing excitement about the potential of digital assets and CBDCs. This has given blockchain renewed impetus as it has the potential to be a game-changer for financial services.

Digital ID has the potential to deliver huge convenience benefits for both individuals and banks across the world. And it’s already here – and growing.

DeFi is one of the hottest topics in the finance space right now and for good reason. It is happening now.

So the burning question is not if – but when – will DeFi disrupt traditional markets?

• FinTech Connect reveals that many fintechs simply want to survive the next year
• 44% of fintechs are focused on optimising business processes to improve efficiencies
• Over a third said they had launched new services addressing new demands
  

This autumn, IBS Intelligence hosted an interesting podcast episode called How electronic trading is evolving thanks to ‘conversational banking’. The Glue42 COO James Wooster as a special guest of Robin Amlot, Managing Director at IBS Intelligence. We’re happy to share part of the interview in which they discuss how ‘conversational banking’ and ‘composable enterprise’ come together to shape the future of a more efficient financial desktop.

Learn about the inspiration behind Tribe Payments's State of Industry Report, the surprising findings and more with their CCO, Alex Reddish. Read the full interview here. 

 Bottomline's General Manager and Director of Payments, Ed Adshead-Grant, talks to Fintech Connect and shares the latest from Bottomline and what we can expect from 2021. Don't miss him speaking at FinTech Connect 2020. 

Take a deep dive into Apiax as Alan Blanchard, Business Development UK answers our questions on the challenges of complying with worldwide regulations and the future of legal compliance. 

FinTech's biggest night of the year will return 8 September 2021 in a physical format - COVID rules allowing - so we can honour the best and brightest within the industry.

Congratulations to Oxford Saïd and De Montfort University alumna Dr. Bījna K. Dasanī MBE, FRSA who has been awarded an MBE for ‘services to diversity and inclusion in the financial services’ sector in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours.

During the past 6 months there have been winners and losers in the world of FinTech. Tide have been a clear winner in a battle for relevance and importance in UK FinTech.

The UK’s central bank has continued to embrace change and the rise of FinTech; looking at new technologies, which are changing the way financial institutions conduct their business.

Cyxtera is a specialist in the field of data centres and interconnectivity. We spoke to Field CTO Holland Barry to get his take on the importance of speed, agility and security in banking.

How can fintechs understand what channels, content and messages are optimal?