Metaverse & Fintech takes centre stage at Money 20/20 Europe
The position of fintechs in the metaverse was the main topic of discussion for four leading experts tacking one of the financial world’s biggest questions.
Main stage speakers exploring finance and the metaverse were Guillaume Vaslin entrepreneur and Strategic Designer for ENNO studio GmbH, joined Steve Suarez, Global Head of Innovation, Global Functions at HSBC, Jelena Zec an investor with Citi Ventures and Zoe Wei, Head of Fan Token and Binance Connect.
Why virtual worlds are attracting fintechs to the metaverse
A number of factors are attracting fintechs and banks into the metaverse. These include;
- Early-stage opportunism - If businesses had known just how successful the internet was going to be in the late 90’s, most of them would have adopted it sooner.
- Branding opportunities - Just as fintechs such as Sokin are gathering up football teams to spread brand awareness in a new demographic, banks and fintechs are doing the same thing with the metaverse. It’s not very likely that people will enter the metaverse to visit their bank because all processes are easily carried out online anyway, and visiting a bank - even a virtual one, just isn’t the height of fun. But by entering the metaverse, these institutions stay relevant and put their stamp on worlds that show growth potentials, such as HSBC in Sandbox and JP Morgan in Decentraland, they will be placed at the heart of areas that do get a lot of virtual footfall.
- A new dimension to customer servicing - Bricks and mortar banks are dying out because online banking services are so good. But many institutions want to still be able to offer what they consider to be face-to-face human services and the metaverse offers that possibility.
- A hub for digital currencies - Many businesses in the metaverse are already trading with a number of different currencies. This trend looks set to continue.
Session summary on banks and fintechs in the metaverse
According to the session description, the speakers explored the hype around the metaverse. It said, “From major retail brands to tech giants, the biggest names in business are planting a flag in the metaverse. Financial services are critical to unlocking the full potential of the metaverse by providing secure and frictionless payments. For fintech startups, this presents a huge opportunity to embed their services into the future of the digital economy.
“We can already see clearly that the infrastructure powering this new digital age will be different from dominant payments solutions deployed today. With the development of the metaverse still at such an early stage, join us in this session to explore where fintechs have the great opportunities for innovation in the metaverse.”
FinTech Magazine at Money 20/20
Bring us all your latest news and events. FinTech Magazine has a stand (Hall 7, Stand E20) and we’re looking forward to having lots of interesting discussions with both new and established market players. As part of the event, we are also offering attendees the opportunity to join us at our own FinTech Live event in London in November, by using our special 50% off promo code, MONEY2020 when registering your attendance.
