What Happens in Vegas? Apparently, the Future of Finance at Money20/20.
Our team was privileged to be in Las Vegas this past week, immersing ourselves in the incredible energy surrounding Money20/20. While we didn't get a chance to walk the show floor, we were invited as special guests to exclusive afterparties and intimate networking events—where the real deals are discussed, and the industry buzz is loudest.
Here are the three hot topics that dominated conversations after the lights went down:
1. AI is the New Infrastructure (No Longer a Gimmick)
The chatter confirmed that AI has officially moved from a "cool feature" to a foundational utility in finance.
The Buzz: It's no longer just about GenAI chatbots. The focus has shifted to Agentic AI—autonomous systems capable of completing financial tasks like fraud prevention, underwriting, and personalized advice without human intervention.
The Learning: Success hinges on your data pipeline. Agents are only as good as the clean, real-time data they feed on. Financial Institutions (FIs) and FinTechs are rushing to modernize their "plumbing" to handle this new architecture.
2. Stablecoins and Tokenization Hit the Enterprise
The days of crypto being purely speculative are over. Major financial institutions are making moves.
The Buzz: The term on everyone’s lips was programmable money. Discussions focused on how stablecoins and tokenization are solving real-world, multi-billion-dollar problems:
Cross-Border Payments: Instant, low-cost settlement that makes traditional wire transfers look ancient.
Enterprise Efficiency: Using shared ledgers to give global corporations real-time, shared visibility on payments across vendors and banks.
The Learning: U.S. Regulation is creating clarity, and clarity is driving adoption. Enterprises are now building stablecoin strategies, not just running experiments.
3. Embedded Finance Goes Bi-Directional
At the highest-level, the discussion moved beyond simply embedding a payment button.
The Buzz: The next wave of Embedded Finance is about bi-directional data flow. Instead of just offering a loan, the conversation centred on using consent-driven customer/member data to:
Proactive Credit Offers: Generate and offer an SME a line of credit inside their accounting software (e.g., QuickBooks) before they even realize they need it.
Strategic Partnerships: Institutions are striving to become indispensable Growth Partners by delivering proactive financial insights, not just reactive products.
The Learning: The partnership between FIs and FinTechs is now the rule, not the exception. The goal is a seamless, strategic integration that positions the institution as an essential part of the customers/members daily business operations.
Money20/20 wasn't just a conference; it was a high-octane, vibrant networking ecosystem. Our team is back and ready to translate this energy and learnings into actionable strategies for our partners.
