Another Money 20/20 came to an end. This year’s Money 20/20 was not about trend-setting or prediction. Instead, the event in Amsterdam evaluated the status quo in the current economic era.
Despite economic constraints, a bigger, more comprehensive Money 20/20 kicked off on Tuesday, and the attendees had one question in mind at the end of each day: “How many steps have I walked today?” The vast exhibition halls of RAI Amsterdam helped the attendees to reach their daily step counts easily.
There were an impressive number of exhibitors, including Ripple, Stripe, Swift, Tink, Mastercard, Worldline, Visa, Crown Agents, Onfido, Sopra Steria, Mambu, and many more. Investment and FinTech agencies from Australia, Malta, Spain, Italy, Estonia, Lithuania, France, Latvia, Hong Kong, Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK were racing with each other to represent the ecosystem as a start-up-friendly environment, welcoming newcomers.
The trend predictions echoed last year’s forecasts, circling embedded finance, AI, and CBDC. In parallel, there were several payments and RegTech (KYC, fraud-prevention) solutions among exhibitors. Unlike past years, crypto companies and European neobanks were low on attendance, riding in the passenger rather than the driver’s seat.
Clearly, the funding environment was a buzz killer for many start-ups, making the experts question the value some business models bring to the ecosystem. The following questions were brought forward by the experts during the event:
- What lessons have we learned from open banking in five years?
- How can CBDC solutions be designed to fit the central bank policy goals?
- Is ESG a buzzword, or can it save the planet?
- Is regulation facilitating or blocking innovation?
- Did crypto winter damage the reputation of crypto companies? How can trust in crypto be restored?
- Is metaverse still relevant for banking?
Dan McCrum’s Wirecard talk was one of the hottest talks of the event.
Consolidation, focus, and value-driven design were the center of all the talks.
FinTech Announcements
During the event, Berlin-based Banxware announced their Dutch expansion thanks to a new cooperation with Rabobank,
Neobank Bunq talked about a profitability forecast for the entire of 2023 during the interview with AltFi,
Berlin-based Payrails shared the news about raising USD 14M, and
Jifiti revealed the agreement to launch an embedded lending solution with FIS.
A Year of Firsts for the Turkish Ecosystem
+8000 FinTech experts attended the three-day industry festival in Amsterdam this year, exceeding last year’s quota. Luckily, we were there to witness the debut of a Turkish delegation at a Turkish pavilion.
- Turkish Payment and Electronic Money Institutions Association (TÖDEB) hosted its eight members, including PayTR, Hızlıpara, Klon Payment Institution, Moka, Ödeal, Paragram, Pay Fix, and Sipay Electronic Money and Payment Services Inc.
- A separate pavilion for Turkish players was set up by DEİK Foreign Economic Relations Board, including Figopara, Colendi, Innovance Consultancy, KolayBi’, OBSS, Fimple, Tra Tech, and Secure Future.
- Independent booths from Aktif Tech, EMBank, KafTechnology, MorPara, Papara, Paybyme, Paycell, Paycore, Payporter, SEPA Cyber Technologies, United Payments, UPT, Veripark were competing with each other in terms of size, merchandise, and attention. Many of these participants revealed their interest in European expansion and scaling.
- Standalone attendees represented Akbank, AktifBank, BurganBank, DenizBank, Garanti, Finastech İşBank, PashaBank, Oyak Anker Bank, YapıKredi, Tosla, DGPays, FigoPara, Finastech, Lidio, OBSS, PayPorter, ProPay, PGPara.
Wrapping Up: What’s Next for FinTech in 2023?
Although the FinTech solutions available for a display were less diverse than last year at Money 20/20, the increased attendance and sponsorship in Amsterdam confirmed that the funding winter did not break the will of innovation but slowed it down. The consolidation era will likely force some start-ups to pivot or close the shop. However, the remaining players will establish a strong market position.
It is our understanding that the diversity will increase once the regulatory path is more precise for some business models. Currently, the unclarity around BNPL and crypto and new regulations are seen as a barrier to entry into the market, forcing companies to focus on the core business.
Nevertheless, European corporates and banks’ conservative investment appetite is being complemented by foreign companies. Many non-EU companies were signaling their European market entry during the event, and we will likely see a lot of foreign capital creating excitement in the region after summer.
