Fortech’s Report from Money 20/20: Payments and CBDCs are forcing banks, big techs, and fintech to reimagine the next chapter of the financial industry
18 July 202218 July 2022 | News
An event called from “fintech’s biggest conversation” to “the place where visionaries and innovators build the future of money,” Money 20/20 Europe is a place you can’t miss as a company offering financial software development services. Fortech attended the event in Amsterdam for the second year, looking closely at what’s driving innovation in the fintech and payments world. Equally important and worth watching was the collaboration between banks, fintech, and big tech when it comes to changing the face of financial services.
Our colleagues Andrada Simandan, Andrei Margineanu, and Agota Radoi explored the 6500+ people event that gathered 2.100 companies from the financial industry and took the pulse of the event from Fortech’s kiosk in the heart of the expo hall.
1. Payments and CBDC were the conference’s buzzwords. Tell us more about the hottest subjects debated on the stages of Money20/20 and what’s coming next in this sector.
Andrei Margineanu, Growth Manager (Financial Sales Pod): “Payments are core to our identity, keeping the global economy running. Why are we assuming that the tools we are using today are the ones we will use in the future? Central bank digital currency (CBDCs) expansion is another hot trend in the financial area. Governments and digital currencies are becoming more intertwined as financial technologies start to be embraced everywhere.
While regular customers are still reluctant to use digital currencies – this is one significant obstacle to CBDCs adoption – we can still think optimistically and say this is a big step forward. It is safe to assume that the payments sector will suffer inevitable changes because of CBDCs while the usage of cash will be drastically reduced.”
2. What sparked your interest at the event as a team focusing on offering custom financial software development services?
Andrei Margineanu, Growth Manager (Financial Sales Pod): “If we were to think about how easy it is today to initiate and process a payment, we can agree that financial services nowadays are a commodity. But how will this industry change over time?
This is the time for fundamental transformation, and we can easily observe this as fintech startups have developed a lot of diverse niches with fantastic customer experience. As this has driven the change in the economy, banks have become more aware and have accelerated their digitalization process to meet the client’s needs. They are now more open to partnering with fintech startups and have begun to develop a more agile, innovative, and open strategy to keep customer enrolments high.
From our perspective, if there will be a “super app” in the future that will be suitable for both big corporations and independent users, we would like to be part of its development process. And not only this, but we are looking forward to exploring the potential of CBDCs through various future projects.”
3. Highly debated on stage and off-stage at Money 20/20 was the acquisition of the open banking platform Tink by Visa. What does this mean for open banking in Europe? Could we say this is a step forward for better, more digital, consumer-oriented financial services in Europe?
Paula-Andrada Simandan, Growth Consultant (Financial Sales Pod): “This deal marks Visa’s second attempt to venture outside its primary market of handling card payments. Both companies are now on a mission to drive innovation in open banking for the benefit of joint clients and UK and EU residents.
The Stockholm-based company Tink’s main goal was to develop a personal finance management app, but it now leverages its technology to assist about 300 European banks and Fintechs in creating products by combining consumer financial data. Only this evolution and shift of interests suggests that Europe is on the right path towards digitalization. This merger encourages and supports better, more digitized, consumer-focused financial services in Europe.”
4. Why is it essential for companies in the software development sector to attend events like Money20/20 and be part of the fintech conversation among startup founders, financial leaders, and legacy banks representative?
Andrei Margineanu, Growth Manager (Financial Sales Pod): “Real-life experiences, panel discussions, and one-on-one conversations with fintech professionals have a considerably greater impact on how we think about the industry, shape our services, and respond to our client’s business needs. Money 20/20 gives its attendees fantastic opportunities for networking with the right and insightful people.”
Paula-Andrada Simandan, Growth Consultant (Financial Sales Pod): “Money 20/20 is a place where software development companies, like Fortech, can directly connect with the fintech industry, learn more about what drives innovation in the sector, about the expectations and obstacles in the collaboration between banks and fintech, and much more. It’s the place where you can establish new partnerships and show traditional financial institutions how a tech partner can help them remain competitive in a financial services and payments world that is increasingly complex and fragmented.”
5. A kiosk in the heart of Money 20/20. Fortech was unmissable at the 2022 edition.
Paula-Andrada Simandan, Growth Consultant (Financial Sales Pod): “In 2022, we also wear the exhibitor hat at Money 20/20 after exploring the previous edition only as attendees. In the fintech industry, innovation is always a forefront subject, and we felt it was the right time to present Fortech’s custom software development services for the financial sector, our engagement models, how we approach a project, and our vision regarding this industry.”
