4 Reasons Why Credit Unions are Top Fintech Adopters

4 Reasons Why Credit Unions are Top Fintech Adopters

Credit unions are entering a new era, fueled by a combination of necessity, opportunity, and partnership. As the pace of the digital world accelerates, these community-focused organizations have increased their willingness to lean in and adopt new technologies. They are no longer simply seeking to compete with banks, but they are instead seeking to deliver the personalized, community-driven service that has always differentiated them. New fintech partnerships are helping credit unions modernize operations, meet rising member expectations, and stay resilient in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

This collaborative approach isn’t new to credit unions, rather, it’s part of their DNA. “Credit Unions have always been collaborators,” said Ami Iceman Haueter, Chief Research and Digital Experience Officer at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. “We’ve had to be creative and scrappy to stay relevant and competitive in a crowded market. Fintech partners are a natural fit for this collaboration. Many allow us to personalize our service or products to our members and create a custom mix of solutions to go all in for our members. That’s what we do best. Having partners that are equally committed to that vision is invaluable. It’s what will carry us forward as an industry allowing us to continue showing up for our communities.”

The environment today is ripe for credit unions to take full advantage of this collaborative mindset. The combination of heightened member expectations, accessible new technologies, and a fintech community eager to partner has created a unique moment of opportunity. Below, we’ve highlighted four key reasons why credit unions have become some of the most active adopters of fintech innovation.

Tech integration is now compulsory

Credit unions now have to engage because involvement in certain technologies has become table stakes in the banking world. Over the past few years, the baseline expectations for banking services have shifted dramatically. Real-time payments, mobile-first experiences, and frictionless, digital onboarding are no longer differentiators, they’re requirements. If credit unions want to remain competitive and retain younger members, they must adopt similar digital tools that big banks and fintechs have. In 2025, falling behind on technology isn’t just a risk to growth; it’s a risk to survival.

More credit union-specific fintechs

The fintech ecosystem has matured immensely since the first bank launched online in 1994. Today, many providers are now creating solutions designed specifically for the unique needs of credit unions. From specialized digital lending platforms to member-centric financial wellness tools, fintechs are recognizing credit unions as an important, underserved market. This tailored approach makes partnerships more attractive and accessible, helping credit unions stay up-to-date on the latest tech trends.

Embedded finance is the ultimate enabling force

Embedded finance has made it easier for credit unions to leverage third-party technologies without needing in-house technical expertise. Gone are the days when integrating new technology required a complete overhaul of a credit union’s core system. Today’s embedded banking models allow credit unions to “plug and play” fintech solutions into their existing infrastructure. Because of this, these smaller players can offer services like buy-now-pay-later, upgrade their digital account opening workflows, or launch a new mobile app with a fresh look. Overall, embedded solutions allow credit unions to deliver tech-forward experiences without the burden of in-house development.

Regulatory clarity has eased pressure

Regulatory clarity and eased regulatory scrutiny has reduced barriers to forming partnerships with fintechs. As regulators have become more familiar with fintech partnerships, clearer guidelines and frameworks have emerged to support innovation in the credit union space. New charters, sandbox programs, and cooperative frameworks help credit unions explore partnerships more confidently. With better guidance in place, credit unions can engage with fintechs without facing the regulatory uncertainty that once made these partnerships seem too risky.

All of these aspects, and more, will be on full display at FinovateSpring, which takes place May 7 through 9 in San Diego.

If you’re attending next month’s event, don’t miss a special session designed exclusively for your credit union. The Credit Union Spotlight: Closed Door Session will take place on Wednesday, May 7, from 3:20 to 4:50, and will offer the opportunity to meet companies that are building technology specifically for the credit union ecosystem. Each company will provide a short introduction, followed by roundtable discussions where you can dive deeper into their solutions. If you’re interested in joining, please email billy.smith@informa.com. Please note that space is limited and subject to approval.

Want to know more about what you can expect at FinovateSpring? Check out our blog content, the event agenda, and don’t forget to register and save $200 when you book by April 18, 2025.


Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash

The Streams of FinovateSpring: AI, Banking, CX, Payments, and Lending

The Streams of FinovateSpring: AI, Banking, CX, Payments, and Lending

This year’s FinovateSpring conference in San Diego (May 7 through May 9) will feature six separate streams that will enable attendees to participate in deep-dives and extended conversations about some of the most dynamic areas of fintech and financial services.

From AI, customer experience, and open banking to innovations in lending and payments, our stream sessions will help professionals in fintech and financial services take better advantage of the trends that are driving innovation in our industry.

Tickets for FinovateSpring are available now! Visit our registration page today and take advantage of early-bird savings!


Artificial Intelligence

This stream will feature a fireside chat on the real use cases for AI in banking and financial services. Theodora Lau of Unconventional Ventures and Arvind Ayyala of Geodesic Investments will discuss how smart players are using AI to solve real pain points for their businesses and their customers.

This stream will also feature a Power Panel on how financial institutions can better leverage generative AI. This panel, moderated by Lau, will include insights from Chad Smith of Better.com, Alisa Rusanoff of Crescendo Asset Management, and Tamara Zaichkowsky of Acrisure.

Customer Experience

The Customer Experience stream will include a keynote address from Sean Albertson, Founder and CEO of CX4ROCKS on the battle for customer trust and ways that banks can make every department responsible for customer experience. The Customer Experience stream will also feature a Special Address from Kyle Mack, CEO and Co-Founder, Middesk.

The Customer Experience Power Panel will examine how financial institutions can deliver outstanding omni-channel CX and move away from a siloed approach to blend human and digital CX. This panel will include Kaushal Pandia of U.S. Bank and Glenn Borok of Jump Capital. Beyond the Arc CEO Steven Ramirez will moderate.

Future Banking

The Future Banking stream will feature a keynote address from Tiffani Montez, Principal Analyst, Insider Intelligence, on “The Bank of 2030: How to move from a product-centric design to life-stage banking and compete with big tech companies that are already experience-led.”

Shining a spotlight on the issue of bank modernization, this Power Panel will examine how banks can modernize their tech estates to be fit for the digital future. The panelists will discuss the key questions—and answers—around technology, cloud, business and operational models, risk, talent, and culture. Moderated by JT Thykattil, VP & Research Director, Forrester Research, the panel will include Aditya Vikram Singh of Capital One and Katie Quilligan of BankTech Ventures.

Future Lending

The Future Lending stream will include a keynote address on capturing the opportunity of SME lending and how financial institutions can successfully engage this market.

The Future Lending stream will also feature a Power Panel on the rise of embedded lending. The panelists will discuss how embedded lending is moving beyond Buy Now, Pay Later and discuss ways financial institutions can participate in the growing ecommerce trend. The panel will include Diksha Gera of Bloomberg Intelligence, Ibrahim Al Suwaidi of DCM, Jamie Twiss of Beforepay, and Rob Seidman of U.S. Bank Avvance.

Future Payments

The Future Payments stream will include a keynote address from Lindsay Lehr, Managing Director, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), titled, “Are Real-Time Payments Ready to Take Off?” Lehr’s address will answer the question “is faster always better?” and look at the challenges involved when building products on top of RTP and FedNow rails.

The Future Payments stream will also feature a Special Address: “Navigating Regulation Uncertainty While Gearing Up for Growth.” Patrick Dix, Vice President, Client & Association Engagement, SHAZAM, will share his insights on this topic and the importance of “picking the right payments partner.”

Moderated by Rutger van Faassen of InformationBanker, the Future Payments Power Panel will discuss how new technologies, new competitors, new business models, and embedded payments will shape the future of the payments market. Sharing their insights will be Ipsita Basu of Shopify, Jim Colassano of The Clearing House, and June Yuan of Wise Platform.

Open Banking

Our Open Banking stream features a keynote address on the future of open banking, a deep dive into Rule 1033, and a look at how open data will impact the US banking industry.

The Open Banking stream will also include a Power Panel on compelling use cases for open banking in the US and what financial institutions in the US can learn from the success of open banking in the rest of the world. Joining the Power Panel will be Nirvikar Jain of Woodside Capital Partners.


Photo by Pixabay

5 Key Takeaways from Trump’s Payments Modernization Initiative

5 Key Takeaways from Trump’s Payments Modernization Initiative

Yesterday, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) to modernize the U.S. payments system by phasing out paper checks. The EO mandates that the Federal government will stop issuing paper checks for all disbursements starting September 30, 2025.

The EO, which is targeting waste, fraud, and abuse, will offer both banks and fintechs opportunities and challenges as they seek to bring digital banking to underbanked consumers who need to send payments to and receive payments from the federal government.

So as you begin your second quarter planning initiatives, here are a few things you’ll need to know about this week’s Executive Order.

Real time payments become solidified

Banks’ adoption of FedNow and The Clearing House’s RTP is increasing, and so are consumer expectations for faster fund transfers. This week’s EO stipulates the move to “fast, electronic payments,” which will change the expectations of even underbanked and elderly populations that rely on government monetary benefits.

Heightened emphasis on payment security and fraud prevention

The Fact Sheet detailing the EO specifically cites security and fraud prevention as major reasons for modernizing US payments. “President Trump is cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse in government by modernizing outdated paper-based payment systems that impose unnecessary costs, delays, and security risks,” the Fact Sheet said. The move will ultimately bring stricter standards to government payments and will help foster consumer trust.

A shift toward digital identity verification

As payments digitize, reliable identity verification methods will become increasingly crucial. While bringing payments into the digital space will help boost KYC and AML verifications, it will also offer opportunities for fraudsters to create new scams. As an example, non-digitally native consumers may be more likely to fall victim to phishing attacks that they perceive to be payments from the federal government.

Not everyone is required to make the change

The EO states that exceptions will be made for people without banking or electronic payment access, in specific emergency payments cases, for certain law enforcement activities, and for other special cases that qualify for an exception.

Consumer awareness is key

The EO explains that, prior to the September 30 deadline, the government will initiate a comprehensive public awareness campaign to inform federal payment recipients of the shift to electronic payments. Banks should work alongside these campaigns with public awareness initiatives of their own to offer guidance on setting up digital payments and mitigating fraud.

Overall, this new EO represents a significant opportunity for banks and fintechs. By accelerating the shift to digital payments, the EO underscores the value of digital-first strategies and positions banks in a great place to attract new customers who previously relied on paper checks.

Banks and fintech companies that proactively support consumers during this transition—through seamless onboarding, education, fraud prevention, and robust digital identity verification—can strengthen their market position, deepen customer relationships, and foster long-term trust. Ultimately, the shift away from paper checks will reinforce existing efforts toward financial inclusion, drive consumer adoption of digital tools, and encourage innovation across the payments landscape.


Photo by Money Knack on Unsplash

The Women of FinovateSpring: From Analysts and Investors to Leaders and Innovators

The Women of FinovateSpring: From Analysts and Investors to Leaders and Innovators

Earlier this week, we highlighted some of the women who will be introducing their companies to Finovate audiences via the demo stage at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego, May 7 through 9.

Today, as part of our continued Women’s History Month commemoration, we feature the “content” side of Finovate conferences by showcasing the women who will be discussing and interpreting many of the trends and technologies that are shaping fintech today.


Ipsita Basu

Product Management Leader, Shopify

Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Shopify is an international commerce company that provides tools to enable entrepreneurs to start, grow, manage, and market a retail business of any size. The company powers millions of businesses in more than 175 countries.

Learn more about Ipsita Basu

Katie Dove

Behavioral scientist and Managing Director, Irrational Labs

Irrational Labs leverages behavioral science to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. The company applies behavioral economics findings to product, marketing, and organizational design problems. Through environment design and thoughtful interventions, Irrational Labs improves decision-making for both companies and their customers.

Learn more about Katie Dove

Erin Estelle

SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Valley Strong Credit Union

With more than 350,000 members, Bakersfield, California-based Valley Strong Credit Union offers checking and savings accounts, credit cards, personal and auto loans, mortgage and home loans, investing and retirement services, and more.

Learn more about Erin Estelle

Emily Foulkes

People Lead – North America, Wise

Headquartered in London, Wise provides currency management and exchange solutions that enable individuals and businesses to hold more than 40 currencies, move money between countries, and spend money abroad. Launched in 2011 as “TransferWise,” the company serves 16 million people and businesses around the world.

Learn more about Emily Foulkes

Sharon Gai

Author, Culture Fluid

Culture Fluid is a monthly newsletter, published on LinkedIn, that offers “a new way to think in a post-AI world.” Recent newsletter topics include “What is Creativity in an AI Age?” “DeepSeek: Searching for Answers in the Depth of the US-China AI War,” and “The Agentic Future and How it Will Change Work.”

Learn more about Sharon Gai

Diksha Gera

Senior Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence

Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) provides independent perspectives, interactive data, and research across a variety of industries and international markets. The BI team features 400 research professionals who help clients make more informed decisions in an ever-shifting investment landscape.

Learn more about Diksha Gera

Bhoomika Ghosh

Tech Product Lead, Amazon Prime

A paid subscription service of Amazon, Amazon Prime gives users access to a range of additional services including one- or two-day goods delivery; streaming music, video, e-books, gaming, grocery shopping services, and more. The company has more than 200 million subscribers around the world.

Learn more about Bhoomika Ghosh

Lizzie (Guynn) Hartley

Partner, TTV Capital

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, TTV Capital invests in fintechs that serve the diverse needs of businesses in financial services as well as the consumers of financial products. With more than 100 years of venture capital and relevant industry operating expertise, TTV creates value for entrepreneurs and investors, helping them grow and succeed.

Learn more about Lizzie (Guynn) Hartley

Ami Iceman-Haueter

Chief Research and Digital Experience Officer, MSU Federal Credit Union

MSU Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) was founded in 1937 in order to help its members secure financial success and stability during challenging economic times. MSUFCU has 23 locations including five in Oakland County, one in downtown Detroit, two in Grand Rapids, and two in Traverse City.

Learn more about Ami Iceman-Haueter

Pam Kaur

Head of Bank Technology, BankTech Ventures

Built by community bankers to help community banks innovate, evolve, and thrive, BankTech Ventures is a strategic investment founded in 2021. Based in Costa Mesa, California, BankTech Ventures seeks to generate both strategic value and financial returns for their investors. The fund sources, vets, invests in, and introduces bank-enabling technology solutions to boost the competitive positions of its community bank partners.

Learn more about Pam Kaur

Theodora (Theo) Lau

Innovator, Technologist, and Connector, Unconventional Ventures

Unconventional Ventures provides boutique consulting services to drive innovation that enhances financial wellness. The firm connects founders to funders, provides mentorship to entrepreneurs, advises a broad range of corporates, and helps broaden opportunities for diversity with financial services. Unconventional Ventures works with banking clients, fintech startups, and technology firms alike

Learn more about Theodora Lau

Lindsay Lehr

Managing Director, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI)

Based in San Francisco, California and founded in 2022, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) works with payment and technology companies from around the world to help them make strategic decisions in emerging markets through research, data analysis, and innovative thinking. PCMI is a subsidiary of Latin America-based market intelligence company Americas Market Intelligence (AMI).

Learn more about Lindsay Lehr

Jade Mandel

Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869. A leading global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm, Goldman Sachs offers a range of financial services including investment banking, securities trading, asset management, and wealth management to corporates, governments, financial institutions, and individuals.

Learn more about Jade Mandel

Lauren McCollom

SVP, Head of Embedded Finance, Grasshopper Bank

A digital bank serving small businesses, startups, and investors in the innovation economy, Grasshopper Bank offers digital solutions for small businesses, venture-backed firms, fintech-based Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and commercial API banking platforms, as well as both SBA and commercial real estate lending. Founded in 2019, Grasshopper Bank is based in New York.

Learn more about Lauren McCollom

Mary Miklethun

Senior Vice President, U.S. Bank

U.S. Bank is the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The firm offers a diversified mix of businesses, including commercial and institutional banking, business banking, payments, wealth management, and consumer banking. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Learn more about Mary Miklethun

Julie Muhn

Senior Research Analyst, Finovate

Finovate conferences showcase cutting-edge banking and financial technology through a unique combination of live, short-form technology demonstrations and mainstage presentations from thought leaders and analysts in fintech and financial services.

Learn more about Julie Muhn

Lily Page

Head of Embedded Payments, SVB, a Division of First Citizens Bank

SVB, a Division of First Citizens Bank, is known for its role in supporting innovative companies, entrepreneurs, and investors. More than 70% of cyber companies featured on the Fortune Cyber 60 list are SVB clients as are 50% of all US VC-backed technology companies with 2024 IPOs.

Learn more about Lily Page

Suraya Randawa

Head of Omnichannel Experience, Curinos

Curinos was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in New York. The firm leverages AI-based decisioning tools, predictive analytics, and science-based platforms to enable clients to spot emerging opportunities that lead to better decision-making and enduring performance gains.

Learn more about Suraya Randawa

Alisa Rusanoff

Head of Credit / Trade Finance, Crescendo Asset Management

Crescendo Asset Management offers a trade finance strategy focused on supply chain finance, embedded finance, accounts receivable purchasing, structured trade and other trade finance structured products that support the SME (small and mid-sized enterprise) market in the US as well as around the world.

Learn more about Alisa Rusanoff

Lindsey Strange

SVP, Chief Retail Officer, Valley Strong Credit Union

Headquartered in Bakersfield, California and founded in 1938, Valley Strong Credit Union serves its community with extensive loan programs—including home and auto—as well as the latest in digital technology, retirement and wealth management services.

Learn more about Lindsey Strange

Sydney Thomas

Founder and General Partner, Symphonic Capital

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Symphonic Capital is a pre-seed venture capital fund. Led by veteran pre-seed investors and operators, the fund bets on founders at their earliest stages and matches them with the tools, guidance, and capital they need in order to succeed.

Learn more about Sydney Thomas

June Yuan

Business Product Lead, Wise

Founded in 2011 and known as “TransferWise” when it made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013 in London, Wise today facilitates the movement of $37 billion (£30 billion) across borders each quarter. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker WISE, and has a market capitalization of $11.5 billion.

Learn more about June Yuan

FinovateEurope: Deep Dives into Payments, Banking, Risk, AI, and the Customer Experience

FinovateEurope: Deep Dives into Payments, Banking, Risk, AI, and the Customer Experience

At Finovate conferences, our special track sessions give attendees an opportunity to dive deep into specific industries and themes within fintech. Via keynote addresses, fireside chats, and power panels, our Finovate tracks provide time for more extended analysis, discussion, and even debate about key developments in fintech and financial services.

This year at FinovateEurope, we held five separate tracks covering AI, payments, lending, customer experience, and banking, risk, and regulation. Below are our summaries, reviews, and key takeaways from the presentations in each of those tracks.


Julie Muhn, Senior Research Analyst, Finovate

Customer Experience

During the Customer Experience Track, Taner Akcok’s keynote address titled “Enabling Hyper-Personalization” emphasized that today’s financial institutions must go beyond transactional relationships to deliver deeply personalized, always-on experiences that meet the high expectations set by big tech companies. Achieving this level of personalization requires an API-first strategy, where data, modern technology platforms, and advanced APIs combine to enable real-time, tailored customer interactions. Crucially, financial institutions no longer need to be the primary channel through which products and services are offered. Instead, banks can embed themselves within broader business management ecosystems, using customer data from procurement systems, accounting platforms, and other third-party tools to power proactive financial insights, such as tax preparation assistance or financial health recommendations. Ultimately, Akcok noted, this shift moves banks from product providers to intelligent financial assistants, delivering insights and solutions based on life events and real-time business needs.

Moderated by Anette Broløs, Director and Co-Founder of Finthropology, the customer experience panel explored the customer experience revolution. Panelists stressed the importance of proactive engagement, where banks anticipate customer needs based on behavior, data, and life events—rather than reacting to requests. Banks need to balance deep personalization with ethical data usage, ensuring they treat each customer as an individual while considering accessibility and usability for users at all experience levels. The panel also highlighted the dangers of building overly complex feature sets designed for power users, as it is better to tailor experiences for beginners and casual users as well. Ultimately, cross-functional collaboration within financial institutions is critical to delivering these personalized experiences, breaking down internal silos to ensure all departments—from product teams to customer support—work together to design and deliver cohesive, customer-centric solutions.

Banking, Regulation, and Risk

The Banking, Regulation, & Risk track at FinovateEurope provided a comprehensive overview of the evolving regulatory landscape shaping Europe’s financial sector. In his keynote, Thomas Zink from IDC Financial Insights highlighted how the rapid pace of regulatory change—from DORA and PSD3 to FiDA, eIDAS 2.0, and the Digital Markets Act (DMA)—is placing an immense compliance burden on European financial institutions, which may put them at a competitive disadvantage compared to international peers. While PSD3 aims to simplify the payments ecosystem by merging payments and e-money rules, it also references DORA for operational resilience, GDPR for data protection, and introduces new obligations for third-party risk management and incident reporting. Meanwhile, FiDA will broaden open finance obligations, and eIDAS 2.0 will introduce a pan-European digital wallet for seamless identification, onboarding, and trust services across the EU. These changes promise greater transparency and interoperability but raise concerns about security, implementation complexity, and long-term regulatory fatigue.

The panel discussion, which was moderated by Omdia Principal Analyst Philip Benton, expanded on Zink’s discussion of regulatory challenges, particularly focusing on DORA and digital identity frameworks. Panelists stressed that while DORA’s direct applicability is limited to the EU, similar resilience and outsourcing requirements are already emerging in the UK, with the FCA increasingly focused on third-party oversight and ensuring financial institutions have robust contingency plans for operational failures. The panel also addressed the growing role of AI in risk management, emphasizing the importance of explainability. If firms can clearly explain to regulators how their AI works, it is a strong indicator they understand it themselves. Effective vendor management was another hot topic, with panelists warning against excessively long infrastructure contracts that make timely upgrades difficult, potentially exposing firms to operational and cybersecurity risks. Ultimately, the track underscored that collaboration, transparency, and proactive risk management—both internally and with third-party partners—will be critical to navigating Europe’s increasingly complex regulatory environment.


Theodora Lau, Author, Analyst, Podcaster, Founder of Unconventional Ventures

Artificial Intelligence

It’s been over 820 days since November 30, 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT, and the world has never been the same. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT has amassed more than 400 million weekly active users, up 30% in the last couple of months. Of course, we all know that AI is more than just generative AI. As a technology, AI has been around since the early 1940s, and it has been used in banking and other industries for quite a while. But ChatGPT and the generative AI race that followed have changed the narrative—simply because now this is a tool that we can all use and play with. We can touch and feel it firsthand, and we can do things that we have never done before. One can certainly feel the energy buzzing at FinovateEurope, especially during the extended AI track this year, where we hosted four presentations and two panel discussions. There has been a noticeable shift in conversations from the hallways to the stage, where we have gone from a cautious exploration mode to one where we share learnings and war stories.

We are at an interesting inflection point. While many have high hopes for the technology and promising use cases abound, ranging from customer service, personalization, and fraud management to workflow automation, market analysis, and software development, we must also go in with eyes wide open to potential pitfalls if we are not careful. In their separate keynote addresses, Aurélie L’Hostis from Forrester, along with Nombuso Matsape and Rahul Aggarwal from ICBC Standard Bank, pointed out some of the top hurdles that our industry faces, including skills gaps, ethical and privacy challenges, regulatory pressure, operational complexities, security concerns, and trust. So where can we gain value from AI, and how can we best manage change while accelerating the right adoption, as Rich Wham from Airia rightfully asked? 

As the panels suggested, beyond the tech stack readiness and implementation strategies (for example, selecting the right use cases to begin), success will depend on people and culture, as well as business buy-in, where we must focus on generating real value. A good governance and risk management framework is also key. As Sajid Iqbal pointed out afterwards, AI is an F1 car—fast, but useless without brakes. While some might quip that the future of finance is agentic AI, I believe we still have a bit of a way to go. 


David Penn, Research Analyst, Finovate

Payments

This session features Claire Simpson, Senior Manager, APP Fraud Policy Lead, Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), discussing the challenge of authorized push payment fraud, along with our Power Panel on the growth of the payments market and opportunities for banks. Participating in our Payments Power Panel were Pragya Jauhari, Senior Product Manager, Fintech, Booking.com; Alexandre Stervinou, Director, Banque De France; Leticia Costa, Executive Director, Cash Management Sales, JP Morgan Payments; and Andrew Stewart, CRO Europe, Thunes. Moderated by Zil Bareisis, Director, Retail Banking & Payments Practice, Celent.

We began the conversation on payments with a discussion on the challenge of fraud, particularly fraud and financial crime like authorized push payment (APP) fraud to which innovations like faster payments are especially vulnerable. In her keynote address, Claire Simpson, Senior Manager, APP Fraud Policy Lead, PSR, explained this vulnerability, the rise of “psychologically based” fraud, and the way this particular type of fraud can erode trust between financial institutions and their customers. Simpson also underscored what entities like PSR have done to help both FIs and consumers better manage the fraud threat—such as advancing solutions like Confirmation of Payee and the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code, which require banks to reimburse customers who are fooled into making fraudulent payments. Simpson noted that it was key for financial institutions on both sides of the fraudulent transaction—the sending and receiving institutions—to have a role to play in making whole customers who have been impacted by APP fraud. That said, her message in large part was that fighting fraud was not simply a task for regulators and banks. Technology companies, including fintechs, help by creating innovations that make it easier for consumers to identify and protect themselves from scams and fraud, as well as solutions that facilitate intelligence sharing between financial institutions about current fraud threats.

Our Payment Power Panel featured a wide-ranging discussion on a $2.85 trillion market that is expected to reach $4.78 trillion by 2029. Moderated by Zil Bareisis, Director, Retail Banking & Payments Practice, Celent, the panel looked at how banks can reimagine payments to take advantage of this sizable growth opportunity. To this end, the panelists reminded attendees that, from the merchants’ point of view, “payments are a way of facilitating a relationship” and, as such, issues of trust and security are just as important as speed. In line with remarks from Simpson’s keynote, the panelists underscored the role of regulations in helping drive innovation and noted that as payments become more ubiquitous via open finance and embedded solutions, it will become all the more important for non-traditional actors participating in the financial services and banking space—such as telcos and platforms— to be covered by the same sort of regulatory umbrella that governs the current players in the payments space. When asked what areas of payments our panelists are most optimistic about for growth, the top areas noted were cross-border payments, embedded finance, and stablecoins—although there was also a great deal of enthusiasm about alternative payment methods (APMs), the rise of domestic payment schemes, and the challenges and opportunities of serving digital nomads and workers in the gig economy.

Lending

This session featured a fireside chat with Joel Perlman, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director, OakNorth; an address on self-driving finance and agentic AI from Varun Ghai, Associate Vice President, NewGen Software; and a Power Panel on BaaS-powered embedded lending featuring Ishtiaq M. Ahmed, Senior Product Manager, Emerging Tech, Innovation & Ventures, HSBC; Joris Hensen, Initiator and Co-Lead Deutsche Bank API Program, Deutsche Bank; Olaf ten Duis, Lead Embedded Lending, Rabobank; and Ram Devanarayanan, Head of Business Consulting, Infosys Finacle Europe. Moderated by Philippa Ushio, Managing Director, Prosek Partners.

Our conversation on lending in financial services began with a fireside chat with OakNorth co-founder Joel Perlman. Perlman highlighted the firm’s work in what he called the “middle-market” of businesses that are typically overlooked by banks and traditional lenders. This issue is especially acute in the UK, Perlman explained, because of the relative dominance of a few major entities that represent as much as 90% of lending to enterprises. This compares to about 25% in the US. Perlman pointed out that lenders often turn away from certain industries as borrowers because of poor results in the past or from a lack of nuance that prevents them from separating the wheat from the chaff. As one example, Perlman noted that a retrenchment from lending in a sector broadly defined as, for example, retail apparel, may prevent lenders from serving worthy borrowers in a subset of that field, such as yoga pants and athletic clothing. To this point, Perlman acknowledged the role of enabling technologies such as machine learning and AI to help lenders make more discerning assessments, but asserted that “precision” and the basics of good lending matter as much “or more.”

Varun Ghai, Associate Vice President, NewGen Software, discussed the role of self-driving finance and agentic AI in reinventing business lending. In his keynote address, Ghai highlighted the role of data science and low-code technology to bring greater speed and efficiency to the business lending process. He explained the challenges in business lending, from its inherent complexity and extensive documentation requirements to both current and emerging regulatory hurdles. In response, fintechs and innovators like NewGen Software deliver technologies that provide end-to-end automation to streamline workflows and reduce manual data entry, as well as AI-driven decision-making to take guesswork out of the process. Furthermore, NewGen leverages a low-code approach that boosts flexibility and helps to lower operational costs by as much as 50%.

The Lending track concluded with a lively Power Panel discussion that examined the current state of BaaS-powered embedded lending. Among the key takeaways of the conversation was the role of APIs, a desire to move “beyond BNPL,” and the growing importance of technologies like AI—especially explainable AI—in helping ensure transparency in the lending process as well as promote customer education. The customer was very much at the center of the panelists’ thinking, noting that customer preferences are dynamic and changing, but that change often comes at a slower pace than financial institutions and fintechs, determined to provide the latest innovations to their customers, often expect. Here, institutions were advised by panelists to focus on helping customers “make the right decisions at the right time” and to fashion their offerings with this goal in mind. Institutions also need to be aware of regional differences that might favor, for example, credit cards over newer embedded lending solutions, and be ready to meet those customers where they are rather than where an institution or a fintech innovator might otherwise expect them to be.

Special Ops: Open Source, Digital Assets, Leveraging the Cloud, and Adaptive Banking at FinovateEurope

Special Ops: Open Source, Digital Assets, Leveraging the Cloud, and Adaptive Banking at FinovateEurope

Last week, we introduced you to a handful of special addresses taking place at FinovateEurope 2025, 25-26 February in London at the Intercontinental O2. This week, we’re sharing another four special addresses covering a range of topics from open source innovation and the rise of digital assets to leveraging the cloud and the power of process intelligence.

To learn more about what’s coming at FinovateEurope next week, visit our FinovateEurope hub today. And if you haven’t bought your ticket, there’s no time like the present to register and save your seat.


Supercharging financial services with Open Source & MySQL

Featuring Jim Gallagher (LinkedIn), Oracle MySQL Alliances & Channels Manager for UK and Ireland, this special address will discuss how MySQL powers cutting-edge solutions that drive transformation across financial services. Gallagher will show how open source collaboration is fueling new standards, enhancing security, reducing costs, and accelerating growth.

Founded in 1977 and currently headquartered in Austin, Texas, Oracle is a cloud technology company that provides businesses and organizations with the computing infrastructure and software they need to innovate, boost efficiency, and become more effective. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides higher performance, security, and cost savings.


Digital assets: Ready for take off

Featuring Nick Kerigan (LinkedIn), Managing Director, Head of Innovation, Swift, this special address will help financial services companies make the most out of the growth in the digital asset market, which is forecast to grow up to $15 trillion by 2030. Kerigan will discuss recent developments in digital assets and currencies worldwide and share insights from Swift’s 2025 live trials that are helping facilitate transaction interchangeability on its network for both current and new forms of value.

A member-owned cooperative, Swift is a leading provider of secure financial messaging services. Swift’s messaging platform, products, and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organizations, market infrastructures, and corporate customers in 200+ countries and territories.


Trends, challenges, and strategic imperatives — is hybrid cloud the way forward for business leaders?

Featuring Waheed Mahmood (LinkedIn), Financial Services Lead, and Matt Armstrong (LinkedIn), Solution Director, Financial Services, with Rackspace Technology, this special address will examine how IT leaders optimize workloads, build resilience, and drive the next wave of digital transformation. The discussion will leverage insights from a Rackspace Technology survey of more than 1,400 global tech leaders on the importance of futureproofing through adaptability and flexibility.

San Antonio, Texas-based Rackspace Technology is an end-to-end, hybrid, multicloud, and AI solutions company. The firm designs, builds, and operates customer cloud environments across all major technology platforms, regardless of both technology stack and deployment model.


Become the adaptive bank – thrive on change with process intelligence

Featuring Joaquim Nogueira (LinkedIn), Industry Principal for Banking, Celonis, this special address will discuss how process intelligence gives companies a living, moving, digital twin of their entire value chain. Nogueira will also explain how, with a decade of process improvement knowledge and AI, process intelligence shows companies where value is hiding, and enables teams and technologies to capture it.

Munich, Germany-based Celonis has helped more than 1,000 of the world’s largest companies realize value across the top, bottom, and green line. The company’s Process Intelligence Platform leverages the data companies already have and use, and presents them with a living digital twin of their end-to-end processes. The platform is system-agnostic, bias-free, and provides all parties with a common language for understanding and enhancing processes.

Navigating the Shift: Four Key Financial Policy Changes Under the New Administration

Navigating the Shift: Four Key Financial Policy Changes Under the New Administration

Is anyone else having difficulty keeping up with all of the changes that have taken place since the new administration took office last month? Over the course of the last 18 days, sweeping shifts have reshaped regulations, agency leadership, and key financial policies— creating both uncertainty and opportunity for businesses navigating this evolving landscape.

While many of these changes will have broad implications for U.S. citizens and organizations operating in the country, I’ve distilled the most significant updates on the White House’s website impacting financial services. Below, I break down the four most critical developments that banks, fintechs, and other financial institutions need to watch closely.

Imposing a regulatory freeze

On January 20, President Trump signed an executive order to halt new rulemaking and review pending regulations across federal agencies. It also calls for the withdrawal of any rules that have been sent to the Office of the Federal Register but not published yet. The administration plans to use the pause to reassess both existing and proposed regulations so that they align with its policy objectives.

For banks and fintechs, this makes it challenging to prepare for future regulatory requirements. It may impact firms’ compliance timelines and will likely confuse financial services companies’ strategic planning efforts.

Strengthening hold on digital assets

On January 23, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.” The order prohibits the establishment of US central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). It also establishes a working group to propose a regulatory framework for digital assets within 180 days and allows individuals and entities to access and use open public blockchain networks.

This may present opportunities for banks and fintechs to engage in the stablecoin economy, especially when it comes to cross-border transactions and digital payments. Additionally, governmental protection of an open blockchain may spark the creation of new blockchain-based products and services.

Removing barriers to AI

Also on January 23, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence that aims to enhance the US’s position in AI. The order removes existing AI policies and directives that are considered barriers to innovation. Within 180 days, officials are tasked with creating a plan to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.

This emphasis on reducing regulatory barriers may lead to both banks and third party fintechs adopting AI technologies at a faster rate. However, as AI is a double-edged sword, the relaxed regulatory environment may create uncertainty as organizations wait for new guidelines to develop.

Implementing the DOGE workforce optimization initiative

On February 11, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled Implementing The President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative, which intends to streamline the federal workforce and enhance operational efficiency. Controversially, the order gives Elon Musk and his team direct access to data held at the US Treasury Department. As a result, a coalition of more than a dozen US states is planning to file a lawsuit to block access in order to protect the personal data of US citizens.

By reducing staffing at federal agencies that oversee financial institutions, the order may impact the efficiency and thoroughness of regulatory examinations and compliance enforcement. The instability could also cause uncertainty for banks, disrupting strategic planning and compliance efforts.

Other actions

There are two other actions not yet listed on the White House’s official news release page, but each is significant.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press unveiled that the Trump administration ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to suspend all of its activities. Finovate Analyst David Penn reported on the details of the situation, including what the CFPB can still do and who may take over the agency if it continues to exist.

Today, the Wall Street Journal exclusively reported that the Trump administration is also considering folding the FDIC into the Treasury Department. Experts cited that this is unlikely to transpire, however, as Congress is unlikely to pass such a measure. “This idea would pose an enormous risk of terrifying Americans about the safety of their deposits and triggering bank runs,” Former Federal Regulator Patricia McCoy told CNN.


Photo by René DeAnda on Unsplash

Special Deliveries: Talking AI, Quantum Computing, and More at FinovateEurope

Special Deliveries: Talking AI, Quantum Computing, and More at FinovateEurope

What makes an address “special”? This year at FinovateEurope 2025, the designation is going to speakers addressing an especially wide range of topics — from AI to quantum computing. Some of the presentations we’re highlighting today will be on the mainstage at FinovateEurope. Others will be offered as part of our focused tracks examining topics in payments, customer experience, AI, lending, and banking risk and regulation. All of them promise to be insightful discussions on key topics impacting fintech and financial services today.

Our slate of speakers for FinovateEurope is growing by the day. Visit our FinovateEurope 2025 hub for the latest updates on who’s speaking and when.


Mainframe modernization: the journey to agile digital services in 2025

Featuring Paul Holland (LinkedIn), CTO, Astadia: An Amdocs Company, this special address looks at how tools such as Generative AI (GenAI) can help accelerate digital transformation to unlock even further modernization. Holland will also lead a conversation on how financial institutions can complement existing capabilities to successfully modernize mainframe applications at scale. Tuesday, 25 February, 10:05 am.

An Amdocs company, Astadia is an industry-leading mainframe migration and modernization firm. Astadia’s core competencies include cloud migration, refactoring, replatforming, DevOps, and managed IT services. The company has conducted more than 300 successful migrations with world-class organizations.


Countdown to Q-Day: Why Banks Must Act on Post-Quantum Authentication Now

Featuring Petr Dvořák (LinkedIn), Founder and CEO, Wultra, this special address will examine the evolution of quatum computing and the potential challenges the technology will bring to digital banking. Dvořák will discuss the migration to post-quantum authentication (PQA) and the importance of transitioning to quantum-resistant authentication before “Q-Day” — when quantum computers are powerful enough to break contemporary cryptography. Tuesday, 25 February, 3pm.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Prague, Wultra helps banks and fintech brands build secure digital applications. The company offers modern, compliant authentication solutions that deliver security, easy access to financial services, and straightforward deployment.


Building Interactive Data Applications with Plotly: How AI Enhances the Delivery and Usage of Data Apps

Featuring Andy Wisbey (LinkedIn), European Sales Director, Plotly, this special address is part of FinovateEurope 2025’s Artificial Intelligence Track. Wisbey will lead a hands-on session that will demonstrate how to leverage Plotly’s advanced visualization capabilities to create an interactive data application that transforms complex financial data into actionable insights. Wednesday, 26 February, 10:50am

A Bronze sponsor of FinovateEurope 2025, Plotly is a leading provider of open-source graphing libraries and enterprise-grade analytics solutions. The company’s flagship solution, Dash Enterprise, enables organizations to build scalable and interactive data apps that drive impact decision-making.


Also providing special addresses at FinovateEurope this year are:

  • Pedro Andrade, Key Account Director, ORACLE MySQL
  • Vladimir Lounegov, Co-Founder, Mbanq
  • Waheed Mahmood, BFSI Lead, Rackspace

Be sure to check out the Finovate blog as more speakers for FinovateEurope are confirmed. And if you haven’t picked up your ticket yet, there’s no time like the present! Visit our FinovateEurope hub today and save your seat!

Why “AI Agents” is the Catchphrase of 2025

Why “AI Agents” is the Catchphrase of 2025

At FinovateFall last year, we heard plenty of analysts and industry experts say that AI agents are going to replace generative AI on the hype scale. That’s because AI agents, or agentic AI, have the capability to perform tasks, not just generate information. It is this differentiator that has the potential to create a great amount of value for both banks and fintechs, so much so that it has become the newest buzzword in financial services.

Fueling the rise of AI agent hype is the launch of Operator, Open AI’s new AI Agent. “Operator is a system that can use a web browser– in this case, a web browser in the cloud– to accomplish tasks that you give it,” said Open AI CEO Sam Altman during the launch. “Just like you would use a web browser… Operator can do that and control all sorts of things.” Operator has already gone live for ChatGPT Pro users and will soon be available to Plus users.

Open AI isn’t the only tech company launching an AI agent, and the use cases aren’t limited to making a restaurant reservation or buying groceries. Agentic technology is already live and in-use at some financial institutions.

The new technology has a number of potential use cases, five of which I’ve listed below. Keep in mind that some of these are not possible with current AI agent tools, and most are not able to be achieved fully autonomously, and require human-in-the-loop during some stages. However, the technology is moving fast, and AI agents will likely reach this level of autonomy soon.

Customer service and support

Banks and fintechs have used all forms of AI to improve and automate their customer service for years. They can now use AI agents to understand customer queries and analyze the conversations to identify the root cause of an issue, then offer customers the appropriate reply.

Potential prompt: “When a customer contacts you seeking an agricultural loan, contact the county in which the property is located to verify the legal property boundaries.”

Content marketing and copywriting

AI agents can be deployed to research and analyze all available information on a specific topic. Banks can then use another AI agent to transform all of that information into a blog post or marketing copy for a webpage.

Potential prompt: “Research new budgeting websites and capabilities, then write a five-part blog post series and email it over the course of five weeks to customers with less than $5,000 in assets held at the bank.”

Loan and credit underwriting

While generative AI is able to analyze customer profiles to assess creditworthiness, AI agents can take the process a step further by completing tasks in a workflow analyzing credit histories, transaction patterns, and market analysis to make instant, accurate decisions about potential borrowers.

Potential prompt: “For every new small business loan inquiry that comes in, analyze the individuals’ credit and overdraft histories. For small businesses with a physical location, analyze foot traffic of similar businesses in the same region and make a credit decision based on this information.”

Administrative tasks

Because AI agents are able to “think” for themselves and operate independently, they can easily complete tasks such as organizing and making a reservation for a client dinner, placing an order for a new computer keyboard, or placing a catering order for an office party.

Potential prompt: “Make a dinner reservation at a restaurant my client would like, given their Instagram account, for 10 people on May 2 at 7 p.m. Tell the restaurant that two people in the party have a gluten allergy.”

Customer communication

Banks can deploy AI agents to communicate with customers to send personalized messages about their preferences, needs, or simply to autonomously notify them of account changes. They can also reply to customer responses. And because AI agents can generate answers without being trained, they can even reply to customers in cases where they do not have a specific, canned response template.

Potential prompt: “Email all of my wealth management clients that have been with me for over three years asking them to update their risk tolerance. Use their replies to update their portfolios.”


While it is fun (and a bit spooky) to think about all of the potential use cases of agentic AI, we are far from the reality of putting most of these potential prompts to use in a seamless manner. Operator and other AI agent technologies are still in their early stages; even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted they still have “a lot of improvements to do” on Operator.

Because of how new the technology is, there still needs to be a manual confirmation for most of the use cases, especially when it comes to making transactions. Similarly, even though there is no current AI regulation for banking operations, banks should use caution and keep humans in-the-loop, especially when making underwriting decisions and communicating with customers.


Photo by cottonbro studio

Three Quick-Fire Keynotes at FinovateEurope You Won’t Want to Miss

Three Quick-Fire Keynotes at FinovateEurope You Won’t Want to Miss

This year, FinovateEurope will host a trio of quick-fire keynote addresses covering topics in fintech that have been gaining traction in recent years. Presented on Day Two of the conference, these three speeches will help inform attendees about recent developments — and future opportunities — for banks and financial services companies in fields such as quantum computing, wealth management, and B2B fintech.


How quantum computing could transform banking; it can process data 10 million times faster than supercomputers — what are the use cases for banks? Could quantum computing break the encryption keys used in current security protocols and leave sensitive data vulnerable to attack?

Syed Hasan Jafar, Associate Dean at the School of Business, Woxsen University

Jafar is the Area Chair/HOD of Finance at Woxsen University. He has 14 years of experience in finance and worked as a Deputy Research Head and corporate trainer before joining academia. Jafar’s areas of expertise include security analysis, equity and derivative research, technical analysis, and valuation.


Disruption in the direct to consumer wealth market. The great wealth transfer has started and new heirs are demanding faster digitization and more personalized offerings. Will AI be the catalyst to transform wealth management?

Jurgen Vandenbrouche, Managing Director, everyoneINVESTED, KBC

Vandenbroucke is Managing Director at everyoneINVESTED, the wealthtech spin-off of KBC Group. He is also expert general manager at KBC and former head of innovation at KBC Asset Managment, Belgium. Further, Vandenbroucke is a lecturer in financial engineering at University of Antwerp, digital household finance at KU Leuven, and financial securities at Ehsal Management School.


Moving beyond B2C fintech to B2B fintech — is this a bright new future for the fintech industry & will it be transformative for the banking industry?

Michael Salmony, CEO of Payments Innovation

Salmony is an internationally recognized leader on the strategy of business innovation in digital and financial services with a focus on payments, open finance, fintech, digital identity, e-invoicing/SCF, fraud/cybercrime, AI for financial services, and electronic money/CBDC. Salmony is also a board-level advisor to major international banks, industry associations, regulators, and finance bodies across the world.


FinovateEurope is only a month away — 25 and 26 February! Visit our FinovateEurope hub today and take advantage of early-bird savings of up to £400.00 on your ticket price if you register by 24 January.

2025 is the Year of Fintech Spring: 5 Trends to Watch at FinovateEurope

2025 is the Year of Fintech Spring: 5 Trends to Watch at FinovateEurope

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

Tales from the Crypto: Stablecoin vs Stablecoin , El Salvador vs the IMF on BTC, and More!

Tales from the Crypto: Stablecoin vs Stablecoin , El Salvador vs the IMF on BTC, and More!

This week’s edition of Tales from the Crypto features an update on Ripple’s newly launched stablecoin RLUSD, El Salvador’s negotiated commitment to Bitcoin, as well as an acquisition and a new partnership.


Ripple’s RLUSD challenges PayPal’s PYUSD, Circle’s EURC

With a self-reported market cap of more than $53 million, Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD recently surged past rival coins from PayPal (PYUSD) and Circle (EURC) in 24-hour trading volume. The volume, which topped $607 million, is all the more impressive given RLUSD’s relatively smaller market capitalization. PYUSD has a market cap of more than $491 million. EURC has a market cap of more than $82 million.

“As the U.S. moves toward clearer regulations, we expect to see greater adoption of stablecoins like RLUSD, which offer real utility and are backed by years of trust and expertise in the industry,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in December when RLUSD was launched.

RLUSD is an enterprise-grade, USD-denominated stablecoin. Each RLUSD token is fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, U.S. government bonds, and cash equivalents to ensure stability, reliability, and liquidity. Ripple will use RLUSD to facilitate global payments for its enterprise customers via its Ripple Payments division. There has been some curiosity over Ripple’s decision to limit RLUSD circulation. At least one analyst has suggested the move may be an effort to keep the price of RLUSD relatively stable — and less vulnerable to a rapid decline in value.

Ripple’s RLUSD news comes as the company is announcing that it has adopted the Chainlink standard for verifiable data on the Ethereum blockchain. The move will boost the utility of RLUSD throughout the “on-chain economy,” the company noted in a statement this week. Also recently, Ripple reported that its CEO along with Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, met with President-elect Donald Trump.

“Great dinner last night with Donald Trump & Stuart Alderoty,” Garlinghouse wrote on X, “Strong start to 2025!”


El Salvador forges ahead in its Bitcoin acquisition

How has recent strength and interest in Bitcoin impacted El Salvador, which embraced the cryptocurrency like no other country when it elected to allow Bitcoin to be used as legal tender in 2021?

On the one hand, the value of Bitcoin has soared in recent years. In June 2021, when El Salvador enacted the new policy, BTC was roughly $35,000. Today, the cryptocurrency is valued at more than $94,000, after topping the $100,000 mark in mid-December.

On the other hand, the windfall has reached relatively few individual Salvadoreans. While the government tried to incentivize Bitcoin ownership with $30 in BTC for those who signed up for digital wallets, it turns out that many who received the $30 in Bitcoin quickly cashed out their holdings. Additionally, as the country’s former Central Bank president Carlos Acevedo noted, any BTC gains remain unrealized until sold.

Further, El Salvador is in some ways still wrestling with the International Monetary Fund over the Fund’s preference that the country reduce, or at least limit, its exposure to cryptocurrencies in exchange for financial support. A recent financing deal valued at $1.4 billion (£1.1 billion) was secured between the two parties, but the extent to which El Salvador will curtail its Bitcoin policies remains a bit unclear. While the deal specifies that tax payments will be made in the U.S. dollar, for example, which is El Salvador’s other official currency, the government has insisted that it will continue to buy BTC.


Backpack acquires FTX EU to expand in the European crypto market

International cryptocurrency exchange Backpack has acquired FTX EU, the former European arm of FTX. The transaction was approved by the FTX bankruptcy court as well as the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and will enable Backpack’s EU division to offer a full suite of crypto derivatives throughout the EU.

The fact that FTX EU was a MiFID II-licensed institution played a significant role in Backpack’s acquisition decision. “As many international exchanges exit the European Union, becoming a MiFID II-licensed entity demonstrates our dedication to meeting the highest regulatory standards and is a significant step to bringing transparent, secure, and regulated crypto trading to an underserved European market,” Backpack Exchange Founder and CEO Armani Ferrante said.

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Singapore, Backpack Exchange serves cryptocurrency customers in more than 150 countries and regions. With more than $60 billion in trading volume, Backpack Exchange offers a range of products and services including its noncustodial Backpack Wallet, Backpack Exchange, and Solana-based NFT community Mad Lads.

As part of the acquisition, Backpack EU will be responsible for distributing previously court-approved FTX bankruptcy claims to FTX EU customers. Ferrante underscored this in a statement, adding that “customer restitution is a crucial step to rebuild trust and confidence in the industry, and Backpack is committed to returning FTX EU customers’ funds as fast and as safely as possible.”


Trillium Surveyor partners with Kaiko

Trade surveillance and best execution software provider Trillium Surveyor has forged a strategic partnership with cryptocurrency market data provider Kaiko. The goal of the partnership will be to deliver “best-in-class solutions” to financial institutions and exchanges involved in cryptocurrency trading. The two companies will provide an integrated solution that blends Trillium’s trade surveillance technology with Kaiko’s crypto market data in order to help financial institutions quickly, accurately, and efficiently identify and stop inappropriate trading activity.

“A robust, easily configurable trade surveillance tool is essential to support institutions as they navigate the rapidly changing crypto regulatory environment,” Kaiko CEO Ambre Soubiran said. “This partnership with Trillium Surveyor underscores our commitment to providing the critical data needed for transparency and trust in the crypto ecosystem.”

Founded in 2014 and maintaining offices in New York, London, Singapore, and Paris, Kaiko is a leading provider of cryptocurrency market data, analytics, and indices, ensuring businesses have access to institutional-grade, regulatory-compliant solutions. With global connectivity to real-time and historical data feeds across the top exchanges in the world, Kaiko recently announced an enhancement to its market data platform courtesy of an integration with leading European cryptocurrency exchange Bitvavo.

Trillium Surveyor helps capital markets firms save time and money — and remain compliant — with a trade surveillance platform that balances power with ease of use. The company’s technology enables companies to monitor their trading health, learn about key new events, access and analyze relevant data surrounding these events, and then act on that data with built-in workflow tools. Featuring actionable insights across equities, derivatives, fixed income, and cryptocurrency markets, Trillium Surveyor helps its customers build compliance programs that are both efficient and cost-effective. Headquartered in New York, Trillium Surveyor was launched in 2014.


Photo by beytlik