Money 2020 - Day Two
Money 2020 – Day Two
Day two in Amsterdam certainly did not disappoint. With the buzz of new connections being made and the loudspeakers once again broadcasting the latest thoughts on fintech and the future of payments, there was a great atmosphere in the air.
Hot off the press from day two, here are a few of our thoughts…
Speaker of the day: Nan Ransohoff, Stripe
Sustainability and broader social impact in the fintech sector is something that is discussed a lot at the conference. However, it is not a topic where clear communications comes easily. Nan Ransohoff, Head of Climate at Stripe, did a great job in clearly communicating the challenge ahead and the action being taken during a fireside chat with Mayowa Kuyoro, McKinsey’s Leader of Africa Fintech. Drawing on the example of how the pharma industry worked on vaccine production, she clearly set out the vision of Frontier in driving innovation in carbon removal. Critically, she talked about how this was driven by “customers asking about climate spend options.” Nan closed by urging the audience and the sector to “apply your creativity to climate” which feels like an impo
Purpose, purpose, purpose
Beyond sustainability, lots of the conversations at the conference are about how fintech can make a difference. This was very clear from Zilch CEO Philip Belamant in his fireside chat with Innovate Finance’s CEO Janine Hirt - a conversation which covered everything from UK regulation to pre-paid electricity in developing countries. Philip was clear about Zilch’s role in the midst of a cost of living crisis and the impact that affordability data can have. “Credit is powerful if used correctly and the technology can be transformative.” This was clearly not just words as Zilch backed it up by announcing the official rollout of its Ad-Subsidised-Payments-Network (ASPN) to third parties through open APIs. A clear vision, with real action is great to see.
Working around the world
The global nature of Money 2020 is what makes the conference so exciting, whether it’s the large stand with the latest innovators from Estonia or representatives from regulators across the globe discussing the challenges they face. The idea of a globally connected world was explored during a panel on cross-border payments by Payoneer, Tencent, Terrapay and Zumo Money. Hosted by Fintech is Femme’s Nicole Casperson, the panellists agreed that collaboration is key. Tencent’s Wenhui Yang put it best when he said “we can’t make borderless payments work on our own” but quote of the day has to go to Payoneer’s Jody Perla when discussing the work need behind the scenes when said that “someone has got to be in the kitchen making the sauce.” A brilliant way of putting it!
The future is e-wallets
Jenny Cheng (Vice President for Google Wallet) orchestrated a fascinating discussion with Christophe Beckenbauer (General Manager at LEGIC Identsystems Ltd.) and David Levy (Head of Product Management at SNCF Connect and Tech). A message that all panellists were keen to draw out was around building trust. If e-wallets are to be adopted more widely among consumers, it’s critical that they trust e-wallets and understand that there are watertight privacy functions in place. Build trust, or risk failure. If that’s achieved, the future looks bright. E-wallets will be capable of holding both payment and non-payment cards like train tickets, hotel room cards or loyalty cards, allowing consumers to have all of that information in one place. A final point was around securing partnerships rather than acting alone in the development of e-wallets in order to achieve the widespread adoption of e-wallets among consumers. The need to build trust and gain industry support means that communications
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