rewrite this title My Thoughts on the Dopamine Rush of Money20/20

74 hours, 52,012 steps, 6 cups of coffee, 8 selfies, and one unforgettable experience.

I am, of course, talking about Money20/20, the mega fintech and banking event that has been taking place in Las Vegas since 2012. With over 10,000 attendees and 300+ vendors, this year’s U.S. event was just as brilliant as in years past.

Themes

Money20/20 is a choose your own adventure type of show, with six stages and two podcast recording studios that each host a range of rotating content throughout the course of four days. Given the wide variety of content available, it was hard to see everything. However, there are three major themes that stand out as highlights: open banking, AI, and the evolution of the payments experience.

Open banking

Open banking– specifically the recently released Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act– was one of the hottest topics of the show. The majority of people on the networking floor I spoke with had not read the entire, 594-page ruling. However, everyone seemed to agree that the scope of 1033 extends far beyond simple account switching capabilities. Panel discussions surrounding the rule also tended to agree that the purpose of the rule is data ownership, and not necessarily data portability.

AI

The topic of AI pulsed throughout almost all on-stage conversations, and was very visible in sponsor pitches on the exhibit hall floor. Money20/20 even featured its own AI bot named Aiana who interacted with the MC on one particular stage. At times, Aiana’s conversation with the MC seemed to be quite coherent and relevant, but the bot occasionally missed the mark.

Perhaps the thing about the AI discussions that surprised me the most was that it was rarely the main feature of a discussion. Instead, conversations tended to pose AI more as a technological enhancement to current offerings, rather than featuring it as the main technology that firms should focus on. This shift gives me some hope that we have moved past talking about the hype of AI and into thinking of it as an enabling technology.

Payments

Payments was a huge focus for multiple on-stage discussions at the show. Among the hottest topics were cross-border payments, stablecoins, and instant payments. What was missing from many conversations that I saw in this realm, however, were discussions of the impact of fraud and regulation. I think this may have been because many speakers on stage represented larger firms or fintechs in the payments space who wanted to get a more positive message across without bringing up the topic of risk.

AI Adoption Index

In addition to these on-stage themes, I was able to review data published in Money2020’s very first AI Adoption Index report, All in on AI: Financial Services Adoption Index 2024. Produced in conjunction with Acrew Capital, the index surveys 221 leading financial institutions and combines that with data about all publicly announced AI initiatives since the start of 2023. Here are some of the top highlights:

76% of companies indicated they have announced an AI initiative

46% of companies have announced GenAI initiatives

Out of all initiatives, 57% are put in place to generate revenue, while 43% aim to reduce costs

Public companies announced 40% more initiatives compared to private companies

Block, Intuit, JP Morgan, Chime, and Stripe account for 15% of the total AI initiatives

51% of companies surveyed have built AI into their core customer-facing product. This figure does not include AI usage in a CRM setting.

Conversations

As always, the highlight of the event was the people. After working in this space for 15 years, I’ve found a diverse network that fosters community and works to build each other up. During last week’s event, I met Finnovator Founder Michelle Beyo, who discussed the benefits of personal data ownership; caught up with Sam Maule, who talked about the downsides of pay-by-bank (and was forced into yet another conversation about Walmart); Tiffani Montez, who explained why open banking is far superior to ye olde account aggregation; as well as multiple others who added depth and color to the topics being discussed.

Experience highlights

Money20/20 is now part of a newly launched Informa division called Informa Festivals, and the conference fits this description quite nicely. There are multiple elements of the conference that are all about the experience. And while not all of them are officially sanctioned by Money20/20, each element comes together to craft an amazing conference experience.

Throughout the event venue there were multiple photo opportunities, including a talking selfie wall that lit up, greeted conference goers, and invited them to get their picture taken. Then there was the connection wall, where attendees could scan their badges in conjunction with others, see their names projected onto a wall, and receive a Money20/20 branded coin that they could use to exchange in a merchandise store. There was also a video studio where the conference recorded a video of attendees in front of an animated “honey wall,” complete with a live beekeeper who danced at the end (yes, you kind of had to be there for that one).

Outside of the event, I enjoyed a morning of yoga sponsored by Mesa, Visa, and JP Morgan; a women in fintech happy hour event (complete with a Dolly Pardon impersonator) sponsored by Alloy; and a Halloween-themed happy hour with costumes and Beetlejuice selfies sponsored by SentiLink. Thanks to everyone for putting on such great events, and a huge thank you to Money20/20 for hosting me!

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