The big themes to look out for at Money20/20 Europe

Every year Money20/20 brings the industry together for meaningful conversations about the state of the European financial services industry. Those conversations are more important than ever as the industry reflects on a tricky period since we were last in Amsterdam due to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and market volatility.

The event will provide an invaluable opportunity to discuss the challenges, understand emerging and maturing trends, and embrace the opportunities that the next 12 months will hold.

With such a broad and varied agenda over the three days, not to mention the exhibition spaces, there’s always a lot to take in. Below are some of the big themes we expect to emerge during the event.

Payments are always a hot topic at Money20/20 and, obviously, close to our hearts at ClearBank. This year promises plenty of debate on the shifting competitive landscape in retail merchant and consumer accounts particularly with the growth of alternative methods such as digital wallets and account-to-account payments.

Meanwhile, central banks and regulatory agencies continue to promote the development of public payments infrastructure to enable viable alternatives to cards. Multiple panels will be dissecting the impact of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the open banking ecosystem, and assessing the latest innovations, including the launch of variable recurring payments (VRP) in the UK.

Related to the above, another theme we’ll be following closely is the role of digital and cryptocurrencies and the renewed interest in CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) and stablecoins. With digital money already a mainstay and cash use declining, multiple sessions will be examining on how these new forms of money will affect the payment mix.

There is no consensus on which new form of digital money will become mainstream. But with regulators, central banks and private market participants like ClearBank, working to identify key factors such as interoperability, commercial opportunities for financial intermediaries and defining use cases for consumers, there will be plenty to discuss.

While Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) topics have been discussed at previous editions of Money20/20, it’s encouraging to see it have a much broader presence. The agenda isn't shying away from asking some important questions, particularly around greenwashing – the practice of making a company or product appear environmentally friendly, without meaningfully reducing its environmental impact.

We look forward to hearing the ideas that emerge from these discussions particularly around the social aspects given the current cost-of-living squeeze and the affects it’s having on consumers across Europe. There is undoubtedly a role that fintech can play, particularly through meaningful collaboration as we’ve experienced firsthand through our work with PayPoint in helping unbanked benefit recipients access their payments electronically.

While Banking as a Service (BaaS) has helped firms of all shapes and sizes to build out financial services offerings there are question marks around governance, compliance and controls. With increased regulatory scrutiny multiple panels across the event will look at the changing landscape of BaaS through different lenses.

That includes what we think is the best session name at the event ‘All About the BaaS: Shaping a New Governance Model’ where a panel of experts including Emma Hagan, our Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, will discuss the evolution of the BaaS model. They’ll be touching on topics including data transparency and the role each party must play in getting BaaS governance right.

We look forward to seeing the community in person in Amsterdam. Be sure to come and say hello to us at stand F20.

Authored by Geoff Whitehouse, Content Lead at ClearBank