Thredd CEO Highlights Tokenisation Milestone at Money20/20

In an exclusive interview with FinTech Magazine at Money20/20 USA, Thredd CEO Jim McCarthy shared his insights on the evolving payments landscape and the significant milestone of tokenisation technology.

The Unstoppable Growth of Fintech Innovation

The vibrancy of the payments sector continues to impress industry veterans, with Jim noting the palpable energy at Money20/20. “You look at Money20/20 and just the transformation and growth in the space – the energy continues to astound me,” he says. 

“While fintech has been around for quite a while – I'd actually argue Visa was the first fintech – the industry isn't tired by any means. There's a tonne of new innovations like BNPL and cross-border payments.”

The resilience of the sector particularly stands out to McCarthy: “No matter what regulatory pressures or changes arise, the innovations, the entrepreneurs and the incredible inventions continue to make this an exciting place to be.”

A Decade of Digital Transformation

Marking the tenth anniversary of tokenisation's introduction with Apple Pay, Jim, who played a pivotal role in the 2014 announcement alongside MasterCard's Ed McLaughlin, reflects on the transformative impact of this technology. 

“In 2014, Visa had been about a 50-year-old company with approximately 3 billion pieces of plastic floating around the planet. Today, Visa has announced they have about 10 billion tokens,” says Jim.

This exponential growth has enabled unprecedented innovation across the payments ecosystem. “These virtual credentials now power everything from transport systems to connected cars, enabling new use cases that weren't possible with traditional plastic cards,” Jim notes.

The Evolution of Commerce

McCarthy emphasises the fundamental role of payments in human interaction, positioning Thredd at the intersection of commerce and technology. 

“Commerce is at the core of human interaction, whether it's business-to-business or business-to-consumer. At the heart of the way we live, money movement affects us all—we all have our personal P&Ls and cashflow challenges.”

This understanding drives Thredd's strategy in the embedded finance space. “We want to be embedded into those experiences, and those experiences are getting better,” Jim explains. “The best companies, whether it's Apple Pay or retailers, are trying to make payments disappear into seamless experiences.”

The implications of this evolution extend beyond traditional financial services. Jim views every business and consumer as part of this transformation: 

“We're all kind of little mini embedded finance machines. Businesses have embedded finance because payments are at the heart of that. 

“That's how embedded finance should work—we're trying to help our clients embed those experiences into what they're doing in a way that makes the payment process feel magical.”

Looking Ahead

For McCarthy, who has been in the industry since 1987, the sector's potential continues to expand.

The energy at Money20/20 reflects this ongoing transformation: “You look around Las Vegas, the amount of energy, the investors, the investment bankers, the entrepreneurs, the incumbent players – the energy that flows into these couple of days, it's exciting, it's exhausting. It's a love-hate relationship, but it's a tonne of fun and I wouldn't have it any other way.”

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