If you haven’t heard, 2025 is the year of fintech spring. The chill has been taken out of the industry as investors regain confidence, new startups can launch with less risk, and established players are doubling down on new technologies to meet evolving customer demands. From fresh AI applications to the new uses for embedded finance, fintech is experiencing a renewed momentum.

Fortunately, catching up on what’s new and what’s next is as easy as attending FinovateEurope, which is taking place 25 through 26 February in London. The agenda not only features keynote presentations from the region’s top thought leaders, it will also showcase the latest technology available on the market today with live demos from more than 30 fintechs. Register today to get a discount and secure your spot!

To maximize your time spent, each session will highlight some of the newest themes and trends in the industry today. Here are some of the major trends you can expect to see unfolded and explained on stage.

Embedded finance matures

Why it matters:
Embedded finance has been trending upward in fintech over the past few years, and for good reason. It helps organizations add seamless, contextual financial experiences for their customers, but it has also added the potential for banks and financial services companies to add a new revenue stream through Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS). Best of all, it allows both companies and banks to focus on their core competencies while enriching the user experience.

What’s happening:
Embedded finance has proven its utility in the payments and lending worlds, allowing businesses to embed payments tools and lending capabilities into their existing website or mobile app. Now, embedded finance is moving beyond payments and lending into sectors like insurance, healthcare, and logistics.

Where you’ll see it:
Over the course of the two-day FinovateEurope conference, multiple conversations on embedded finance and BaaS will take the stage. Be sure to check out:

• This executive briefing on embedded finance titled, “How financial institutions can capture the huge opportunity of embedded finance & embedded banking in both retail & commercial banking.” The session will discuss opportunities for banks to expand their distribution footprint at a relatively low cost, consider risks in BaaS, how to find a competitive strategy, and more.
• This power panel titled, “BaaS powered embedded lending is on the rise and is moving beyond buy now pay later – how can financial institutions capture the opportunity?” The panel will look at the rise of lending integrations, the role of AI in risk assessment, embedded finance regulation, and more.

Organizations navigating the impact of the EU AI Act

Why it matters:
The EU AI Act is set to be one of the most comprehensive AI regulations in any region. The regulation went into force in August of 2024 and is poised to shape how banks and fintechs develop and deploy artificial intelligence. The act focuses on transparency, accountability, and controlling risks, especially when it comes to AI’s applications in areas such as credit scoring and fraud detection.

What’s happening:
Fintechs leveraging AI are finding that they need to adapt (and quickly) in order to comply with the new rules while continuing to create and develop new, AI-centric products. While the new requirements might lead to an increase in operational costs, they also might bring new opportunities for organizations to build trust and differentiate their offerings by incorporating ethical AI practices.

Where you’ll see it:
FinovateEurope is sure to be packed with fresh AI use cases and regulatory guidance. Here are just a few of the sessions that will inform and educate on AI application:

• This keynote presentation titled, “Artificial intelligence – are we overestimating the short term impact & underestimating the long term impact?.” During the keynote, Tracey Follows will discuss how AI is a long-term trend line and will look at what this means for financial services.
• This session titled, “What is the state of play for GenAI in financial services? Assessing leading use cases, challenges, barriers to adoption and how to navigate the roadblocks.” Forrester Analyst Aurélie L’Hostis will help organizations break down practical steps to get started in AI.
• This AI power panel titled, “Strategies for successful AI adoption & digital transformation and why achieving success will go beyond the tech.” The panel will bring insight into how the EU AI Act may guide future thinking on the topic. It will also discuss governance, data privacy, security, compliance, and ethical implications about the application of AI.

The rise of AI-powered personalization

Why it matters:
Fintech has sought to help banks personalize the user experience for over a decade. By applying AI and machine learning, firms can help drive hyper-personalized financial products and services.

What’s happening:
Fintechs and banks are enhancing the user experience to help boost engagement and retention, differentiating themselves in a crowded market.

Where you’ll see it:
Just as personalization permeates various subsectors of fintech, the topic will also be present among multiple sessions at FinovateEurope. There will also be a couple of sessions dedicated exclusively to the topic of personalization, including:

• This keynote address titled, “Enabling hyper-personalization: fusing functionality, data, and strategic partnerships” that discusses how to deliver hyper-personalized experiences. The conversation will also explore how banks can leverage data, advanced API integrations, and AI-driven insights to offer the right products to the right customers at the right time.
• This power panel titled, “The CX revolution – how can FIs compete in a hyper personalized world?” in which panelists will talk about how customers view the world, what lessons can be learned from other verticals, and how to keep up with customer expectations.

Payments get faster and smarter

Why it matters:
Payments are not only getting cheaper, but they are also happening faster, which means that fraud is happening at an increasing rate.

What’s happening:
Global trade and personal remittances, along with everyday transactions, are being shaken up by stablecoins and CBDC experiments, which may help create more transparent payment solutions.

Where you’ll see it:
At this year’s FinovateEurope conference, payments will permeate many of the conversations on stage. Here are two particular panels that will address the top concerns:

• Payments power panel titled, “The payments market is estimated at $2.85 trillion in 2024 and is expected to reach $4.78 trillion by 2029 – how can banks reimagine payments and capture this growth opportunity?” The panelists will consider the opportunity available in payments, as well as regulatory concerns and risk.
• Keynote address titled, “Authorized push payment fraud losses across Europe may be as high as €2.4 billion, increasing by 20% to 25% annually; how are regulators addressing it?” The presentation will look at payment fraud risk and potential regulatory changes that may address authorized push payment fraud.

Regtech redefined by real-time compliance

Why it matters: Without regtech, banks and fintechs would be on their own to figure out and comply with an ever-changing set of rules. Leveraging a third party regtech provider not only helps organizations reduce compliance costs, it also facilitates faster adherence to new rules.

What’s happening: Regtech solutions can create real-time monitoring tools to keep up with evolving regulations. This is particularly important around crypto and AI regulations as they are very fast-moving fields.

Where you’ll see it:
FinovateEurope will host an entire stage dedicated to discussing banking regulation and risk. Among the presentations taking place are:

• Keynote Address titled, “A whistlestop tour of EU regulation – what financial services providers need to know about DORA; FiDA; eIDAS, and DMA?” that will brief the audience on these current and future regulations and look at how regulators are cracking down on risk management.
• Power Panel titled, “Banking risk and resilience: meeting the challenges of new regulations, emerging tech, rising banking fraud and new cyber security threats” that will consider digital identity, risks of using AI and cloud risks, managing third party risks, and more.

Photo by Fer Troulik on Unsplash