Fintech innovation is growing at an exponential rate and the need for financial institutions to embrace digital transformation has never been more urgent. We are at the beginning of a new S curve; just as the smartphone began to transform financial services in 2007, we now face unprecedented change driven by artificial intelligence, 5G and quantum computing.
In Berlin in February, FinovateEurope brought together 140+ expert speakers; 50+ cutting-edge demoing companies and 1,000+ attendees to explore the road to success in a brave new digital world.
The first day got off to a rousing start with a keynote address from Steven van Belleghem, author of Customers The Day After Tomorrow. His key message? The number one resource that we are all short of is time; the companies that save customers time are really solving a problem for them. The tech giants are excelling at this – how can financial institutions emulate their approach? If they don’t address real customer pain-points they risk losing them to new competitors.
In a new initiative for 2020 we then offered the audience the choice of five industry stages to attend – Digital Future, Open Banking Future, Future Tech, Future Payments, and Future Insurance. Themes that cropped up repeatedly across all five stages were the critical importance of the customer experience, the ability to effectively leverage data, and the need to embrace new technologies for real business reasons– not just for window dressing.
Two days of over 50 live demos followed, once again putting innovation front-and-center on the stage. Our unique demo model showcased the most transformative solutions currently being created across the whole fintech value chain and gave the audience the chance to speak to the innovators behind the most exciting tech in finance.
Across the whole event we covered a myriad of topics – from digital journeys to customer experience, open banking to payments, challenger banks to insurtech, digital identity to financial crime, AI to blockchain – and we launched three new initiatives.
Our Start-up Booster program was a huge hit with startups seeking expert advice around funding, scaling, and partnerships.
The Executive Reboot program allowed C-suite executives to brainstorm how to address their legacy culture and find a path to change with our keynote speakers.
And our Women in Fintech program brought together a highly engaged audience to explore the critical need for of diversity in financial services.
It was a jam-packed three days and the feedback was amazing – we look forward to returning to Berlin for more next year.
-Katie Gwynn-Williams, FinovateEurope 2020 Director
Catch the photos from FinovateEurope 2020 >>
