Money20/20 President Points to ‘Strong’ 2025 Outlook

In attendance at Money20/20 USA, we speak exclusively to Money20/20 President Tracey Davies and Money20/20 Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Scarlett Sieber, on the success of 2024 and the organisers’ positive outlook for 2025. 

“The atmosphere has been really positive,” says Money20/20 President Tracey Davies. “There's a strong outlook into 2025, and if we think back to a year ago when it felt a little muted, this is definitely a further step up.

“Having organised over 20 Money20/20 events globally, I tend to have a sense for the energy in a room, and it feels very positive and buzzing. I think that reflects the sentiment of the industry today”, she adds.

Money20/20 2024: From AI Hype to Adoption

The event was particularly notable for its focus on artificial intelligence adoption across financial services. 

A joint Money20/20 and Acrew Capital report, released during the conference, analysed over 220 companies and 376 initiatives, revealing the sector's leadership in AI implementation.

It found that 76% of financial services have announced an AI initiative, with 46% of these  institutions actively employing generative AI in their core customer-facing products.

“The findings were astounding,” says Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at Money20/20. 

“As an ex-banker myself, it is a broad conception that financial services move slowly because we're so highly regulated. In fact, the data shows that financial services is actually a leader in AI initiatives.” 

The conference featured prominent AI discussions, including presentations from industry leaders. 

“From OpenAI’s Sarah Friar opening on Sunday night to Daniela Amodei from Anthropic, we're seeing exciting developments,” notes Scarlett. “OpenAI is exciting for consumers, but Anthropic is B2B, so that's a lot of connective tissue for us there.”

One of the event's major news stories came from the convergence of traditional finance and technology sectors, with Google Cloud announcing a significant partnership with Citi. 

The conference also saw the tech giant's CTO take to the stage, highlighting the growing intersection between financial services and technology infrastructure.

Awarding fintech excellence

In what the organisers describe as their biggest launch since inception, Money20/20 announced a global awards programme. 

The awards, which will launch in early 2025, aim to provide crucial third-party validation in an increasingly complex industry. “We've always busted the boundaries on things,” Tracey explains. 

“The judging is absolutely the heart and the integrity of this, so it will be chaired by independent presidents and juries formed from leading experts.”

The show continued its tradition of nurturing emerging fintech companies through initiatives like the Startup Connect programme. 

“Many of the companies that you see here now grew up with us, brands like Marqeta and Revolut. They were all here in their infancy, and we're very proud of that,” Tracey says.

With over 350 broadcasters present, the event marked its highest media attendance to date. 

“The best part about financial services is it keeps growing and there's so many more new entrants that come in every year,” concludes Scarlett. 

“We believe in trying to help accelerate this industry and accelerate growth, and this is a really great opportunity for that to happen.”

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