Event highlights

DAY ONE

Blockchain, baby

Our first session on our first day and it’s off to a blistering start. Hot on the heels of a landmark announcement yesterday, J.P. Morgan’s Basak Toprak told the standing-room-only crowd that ‘waiting isn’t an option’. She was talking, of course, about “Blockchain and the future of Money Movement: opportunities and challenges”. Together with Maurício Magaldi, this interactive discussion focused on how blockchain-based payments are transforming all aspects of money movement - helping solve real world problems right now and paving the way for new business models. Bringing the use cases to life, this presentation covered everything from commercially viable solutions and how to approach customer pain points and solutions, to working with the regulators (many of whom have encouraged the collaboration). And of course, the announcement yesterday of a multi-bank dollar clearing network utilising the JPM Coin platform in GIFT city, India, as a real life example.

The game of life… and technology

A show of hands kicking off ‘Techmate. The payments and tech gameshow’ brought the already ubiquitous nature of AI to sharp relief as the audience overwhelmingly admitted to using the technology. Shining a light on the full end-to-end payment experience, this session was talking about transforming the way payments are done. Alongside Spotify and PayPal, J.P. Morgan’s EMEA Head of Payments, Shahrokh Moinian, talked about the convergence of people and AI, confidently asserting the need for the unique creativity that only the human touch can bring – even to payments.

Marketplaces for the win

“For all the huge growth in ecommerce in Europe, it still only counts as a small percentage of GDP. In Amazon, we say we are still on day one – there is so much more we can do”. Meg Bramlette from Amazon, in opening up the possibilities of marketplaces, set the scene for this dynamic discussion. The perspectives from three different players in the ecosystem – the aforementioned behemoth as well as Mirakl and Backmarket – reminded us how connected commerce is everywhere in our daily lives. Session moderator Helena Forest emphasised that understanding that the ‘end to end’ customer experience is key… but what makes the difference is a relentless focus on client centricity, and choosing the right partners.

EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

• The move from proof of concept to actual use cases, both on blockchain and around the topic of ESG. 
• It is HOT in the hall. Like a giant payments greenhouse.
• Money-Bot awakes! The 13foot robot was in ‘slumber’ mode all day until 4pm when he chatted to Veronique Steiner. A very charming robot indeed.

DAY TWO

Day two in the Money20/20 jungle, and the abundant foliage and incessant heat has us all feeling tropical. No time for cocktails though, there’s payments work to be done…

Influencing the Influencers

What is the perception of treasury? Is it control, or an enabler? This articulation of purpose was central to this morning’s inspiring ‘Business and Finance in lockstep’ panel. J.P. Morgan’s Priyanka Rath emphasised the need for treasurers to demonstrate the value of what they can do. Putting it bluntly: “I can make you more money!” This jargon-busting approach resounded with the other panelists from PaySafe and Payoneer, who spoke the common language of enabling customer’s success. Heroing this treasurer role within payments, Priyanka called on the audience to understand their worth. Specifically within rapidly expanding businesses that don’t have a big treasury function, the business could be lacking in understanding of treasury functions which can sometimes enable more sustainable growth for the business. Enabling is the answer.

Banks can’t have it all

Societe Generale, Open Payd and FintechOS also took to the stage to talk embedded finance vs embedded fintechs, stressing the opportunity for ‘seamless collaboration’ between the two. The opportunity is finding partnerships which change the customer experience. There is still space for the competition and new players, but the question is… can the customer have it all, and who will be the provider? Statistics mentioned during the session clearly state these opportunities. The audience heard that 50% of Gen-Z and millennials are spending money every month on financial services, and 50% of the people at home would like a savings account with a favourite shop. A win/win for fintech and banking partnerships, it seems.

What’s in your wallet?

Another interesting session saw Google, LEGIC Identsystems and SNCF Connect and Tech state the case for digital wallets. As user experience and flexibility increases, the panel discussed B2C and B2B models, with the biggest driver for the latter – according to Google – being security, trust, and privacy. Key to development in this space, they agreed, is the open source integration of wallets. As customer journeys go cross-border (the travel industry being a good example) sharing the technology open source means that other regions and industries can integrate it - and it will work globally. Open-source builds trust, they said, and from a B2B perspective it means that the ownership can be delegated - essential to fuelling credibility, which in turn is driving the adoption. A circle of trust for a better user experience.

EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

• Money20/20’s theme is now and new. The mix is a potent one.
• Free coffee abounds – but who is serving up the best cup of Joe? With delegates fuelled mostly by caffeine, it’s a worthy quest.
• Pencils down at 6.30pm for StreetFest… networking Money20/20 style!

DAY THREE

It’s the final day, but plenty left to see and do as the agenda covered everything from customer journeys, to Africa, to consolidations.

Igniting the ecosystem

…is how J.P. Morgan’s Ludovic Houri opened ‘Does the regulation equation equal innovation’ session – a blistering start! The panel, which also included the Euro Banking Association (EBA), Revolut and VComms, emphasised the unintended consequences of regulations and the need for collaboration and innovation shared across fintechs and the financial services industry. AI cropped up on this session also, this time as an example of non-financial regulations that payments will need to pay close attention to. Globality, too, is a consideration as the world’s borders are shrinking, making regulations – sometimes even at local level, initially – more relevant to all.

EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

• The exhaustion! Conferencing is hard work y’know.  
• Tapping on and off public transport with your debit or credit card – a world first, and happening right here in The Netherlands.
• Money20/20 in Bangkok in 2024. See you there!

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