Money 20/20 Europe: Key themes to look out for

Team Neo is excited to be attending Money 20/20 this year in Amsterdam. Laurent Descout (Co-Founder and CEO), Emmanuel Anton (COO) and Ian Yates (CTO) will be at the conference, read what they are looking out for and how you can get in touch to book a meeting.  

Money 20/20 is the world’s biggest, most influential gathering of the global money ecosystem, where visionaries, innovators, and leaders come together to discuss and explore the latest trends and developments in the financial world.

This year’s event promises to be special, and we’re looking forward to meeting fellow industry experts in Amsterdam and sharing thoughts on the latest market trends and where the industry is headed.

The three-day event will include some of the most innovative, fast-moving ideas and companies from J.P. Morgan and Stripe to HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Checkout.com. 

The 2024 show theme centres on how humans and our increasingly intelligent machine counterparts can combine to create a new world. 

The agenda of events has been inspired by the thought-provoking themes below:

• A Customer Universe of One – hyper-personalisation to the nth degree. The world coalesces around the customer
• The Age of Atomic Finance – finance gets granular. Let’s explore the technology making it possible
• Meet the Architects – who’s making this possible? and why are they doing it?
• Signal vs. Noise – time to gaze into the future. How can we navigate the hype?
• The Business of Money – what about the bottom line? Tell us about the routes to profit and funding

With these in mind, we believe there will be three key talking points during the three-day event:

1. The future of digital currencies 

The development of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and other forms of digital assets has progressed significantly in recent years. 

The near-unanimous view is that these digital assets must become more standardised, secure, and robust before they can enter the mainstream with legislators and regulators working to do so across the world.

More than 130 countries are actively exploring digitising their currencies through a CBDC, considering the technical complexities around how and when it will be implemented. On day one of the event, several sessions will take place on the theme of ‘CBDCS: The Future of Money.’ 

These will explore the design choices, trade-offs, and cybersecurity considerations involved in building real-world CBDC infrastructure. 

The ‘CBDC or Stablecoins’ panel should be an interesting discussion with Sian Jones of XReg Consulting, Alisa DiCaprio of R3, Anil Hansjee of Fabric Ventures LLP and Ran Goldi of SVP, which will look at whether CBDCs and stablecoins can coexist-or-if it will be a winner-takes-all scenario.

2. Cross-border instant payments

Tying in with the first talking point will undoubtedly be cross-border instant payments, which will likely be an important theme. 

While cross-border payments have improved for consumers in recent years, standards in the B2B market have largely remained the same. Payments are slow, fees are hidden and tracking is largely non-existent for many firms.

Research in 2023 found that 72% of SMEs still wait 2-5 days for cross-border payments to appear on their supplier’s bank accounts. Some have suggested that digital assets such as stablecoins could be the answer due to the speedy and secure settlements they can provide. 

Others suggest the progress made in Europe for instant payments is the correct direction.

The new rules will mean by 9 January 2025, all bank-PSPs in the EU will have to be able to receive instant payments from their customers. 

This will enable merchants and corporates to optimise their liquidity resulting in more efficient cash management.  It will also help corporates to access more markets with considerable chances of scaling and growing businesses.

In a changing landscape with these new changes and possible stablecoin adoption, corporates must look to integrated treasury management solutions to ensure a smooth transition. 

Through having the right partners, corporates in Europe can get a better banking experience while improving their treasury operations, taking a giant step into the future of payments.

3. The role of AI in finance

An overarching theme of the whole event will be how humans and our increasingly intelligent machine counterparts can combine to create a new world. 

One of the most significant advancements in fintech in recent years has been the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI).  AI now extends beyond chatbots and digital assistants, encompassing areas such as fraud detection and prevention, as well as investment management.

Achieving the right balance between human interaction and maturing technologies requires careful thought. 

On one hand, increased automation and the removal of manual processes have been positive for treasurers, particularly during the pandemic, the risk, however, is the complete removal of human support could have an adverse effect.

There are several interesting sessions scheduled on the topic. This includes a panel, ‘Europe’s Biggest Banks Discuss AI and the Future of Technology’, which features Marnix van Stiphout, Board Member, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Tech Officer AI for ING and Joanne Hannaford, Chief Information Officer of the Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank.

This should provide great insight into the challenges and opportunities facing Europe’s retail and corporate banks. Other discussions focus on integrating AI within the business and the wider opportunities and increasing impact AI will have across industries and workforces. 

After a progressive year for payments bolstered by many technological advancements, Money 20/20 Amsterdam 2024 is shaping up to be the perfect opportunity for the brightest minds and industry leaders to shape the future of finance.

If you’re attending Money 20/20 from 4-6 June, get in touch today to set up a meeting with the Neo team.