This year, the Money20/20 USA show in Las Vegas is focusing on the story in the banking/payments/fintech/FI industries, as told through four distinct chapters addressing the root of what’s happening now and where we’re going next:
- Trust & Uncertainty
- A Technological Renaissance
- Age of Fundamentals
- It’s Time to Build
We think these can be distilled to this theme: we’re all still innovating, but building smartly with the basics in mind. In other words, the mantra “growth at all costs” has been abandoned. Instead, the industry has now reverted to a back-to-the-basics approach - building high-quality products that engage users while driving revenue, and growing steadily and incrementally with intelligent investments in tech stacks, user experience, customer retention/loyalty, and everything in between.
Let’s pick apart the Money20/20 USA chapters one by one:
Trust & Uncertainty
In the wake of the 2023 bank collapses, the FTX meltdown, and before that the failure of multiple other crypto companies, we’re looking at a new era. Organizations must focus more on adding value for customers, while safeguarding their money and their data, and proactively preventing fraud… all while re-establishing consumer trust in the stability of their organizations.
It’s a tall order, but it simply must be done.
Recommended sessions: The Next Wave of Fintech Regulation, SKANDAL! Fintech Red Flags We Shouldn’t Ignore
A Technological Renaissance
We swore we wouldn’t talk about AI, but here we are. While entire companies whose business models were rooted in an era of insanely low interest rates must pivot, a new technology - AI - has burst upon the mainstream with implications for almost every single aspect of the financial customer experience as well as company operations.
But AI isn’t the only technological game in town. Cloud native banking platforms, real-time payments, next-generation customer loyalty initiatives, closed-loop payment systems - these are just a few of the other stories that are happening now, and will continue developing headed into the next year.
Recommended sessions: AI and Data and Tech Adoption… Oh My, The Death of Interchange
Age of Fundamentals
Thankfully, profitability and sustainability are replacing “momentum at all costs.” In the past, organizations launched at the height of the easy-money boom spent millions of dollars to acquire customers, but had no clear path to drive revenue effectively. Now, they’re left with limited runways, and it’s monetize, partner, or fade away.
But we certainly don’t mean to be all gloom and doom. The new trend is to return to the fundamentals, and this is good for everyone in the financial industry. We appreciate this return to sanity.
Recommended sessions: The Era of Value, The Payments Prognostication
It’s Time to Build
Looking back at the heady easy-money times of just a few years ago, the quickly-launched companies targeted to tiny population slivers have evaporated. Now, the industry is now looking at solving real problems like addressing wealth inequality or democratizing banking access, and asking questions like “What’s next in digital payments that will benefit consumers, merchants, and every other entity in the payments space?” Paired with the new focus on fundamentals and optimistic outlook at how new technologies can help the whole financial ecosystem, we’re excited for what’s to come.
Recommended sessions: Emerging Payments: Science Fiction or Tomorrow's Expectation?, Behind-the-Curtain: How Google Innovates and Powers e-Commerce for its Products
Don’t forget, if you’ll be in Las Vegas for Money20/20 USA, stop by and visit Wildfire at our Venetian Pool Cabana, Oct. 23-24 from 9am-5pm.
Hope you have a productive and insightful time in Las Vegas.
