Money20/20 Europe: Day 1 Digest

David Tirado Blanco from Revolut revealed that they have spent $250 million on marketing in 2023 and are close to reaching 50 million customers soon. Five key product areas include Travel (remaining a core offering), Loyalty and Rewards which includes air miles, Investments, Savings products and Credit including personal loans, which they are approaching with caution.

In the Digital Wallets from Payments to Passports of the Future, Paolo De Rosa ( European Commission ) said that the three most important functions of a digital wallet is to act as your legal identity so you can act online, to exchange data with people and organisations, and thirdly to make payments. Kristina Yasuda ( SPRIND - Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen ) stated that its goal for the next one to three years is to determine the tech stack for the future. Ownership of the ID was a hot topic with Pramod Varma ( Beckn Protocol ), emphatic that neither the state or private sector should own your digital ID. Customer choice needs to be paramount so any third-party wallet can access the essential infrastructure.

The prize for most entertaining and forward-looking session of the day goes to David Birch ( Consult Hyperion ) and Kirsty Rutter ( Lloyds Banking Group ) for The Rise of the Custobot.?The always candid Dave dismissed current AI use as just a productivity tool. Kirsty explained that consumers will need to decide how they want to be represented by their bots – what values and criteria will be important when dealing with banks and buying their services. There was speculation that consumers may be able choose an Elon Musk or Greta Thunberg bot or perhaps a Martin Lewis or Warren Buffet bot. ‘I want an avaricious b*st*rd like an investment banker,’ noted Dave. ‘This is a direct threat to retail banks.’ It opens up a debate about who will own customer relationships in the future. Fascinating marketing questions were raised. ‘Bots won’t care about your brand or logo or if you sponsor the rugby league.’ Kirsty noted that there will need to be more creativity in product design in this future state. Dave left us with this big question - why would bots even need banks if they have agency and access to financial infrastructures to perform these tasks themselves?

We spent some valuable time with Geraint Jones (Global VP of Marketing, Money20/20 ) and Kathryn Frankson (Global Director of Marketing, M20/20) and heard about the future of Money20/20. We can expect the brand to expand its offering to year-round content publishing under the umbrella of ‘Content 365’ which is being launched soon. Partners of Money 20/20, including us at Blue Train Marketing Limited , will be pleased to learn that Money20/20 is hiring a Partner Marketing Manager to help us forge closer relationships and greater collaboration.

A cautionary note regarding the rapid rise of Instant Cross-Border Payments was shared by Emilio F. Rocchi ( LexiNexiAI ). The price of speed is risk, in terms of fraud and compliance. The EU is promoting instant cross-border payments and mandating that all PSPs, and others currently offering transfer services, must offer instant payments for the same or less cost than regular services for payments up to €100k. The challenge is the authentication of both payer and payee (including sanction screening) in the ten seconds it takes to make an instant transfer.?Emilio shared some eye-watering statistics that suggest instant payment fraud cost business $185 billion last year.

Looking forward to more insights tomorrow on day 2 of Money20/20 Europe 2024.

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