President of Money20/20, Tracey Davies, on fintech for social good and diversity in tech
It’s difficult to choose a highlight from an event on the scale of Money20/20. Over four days in Las Vegas, more than 400 speakers graced the many stages to discuss, debate and engage with the audience on every conceivable topic facing the financial services sector under one unifying theme: The Future of Money.
But then, having too much relevant, interesting and engaging content is not a bad problem to have, particularly in the case of Tracey Davies, President of Money20/20.
FinTech was fortunate enough to have some time with Davies on the final day of the event, during which we reflected on the past four days, talked in more detail about the important work she leads on female leadership initiative Rise Up and asked what, if anything, the latest iteration of Money20/20 can tell us about the future of the sector.
She described an event with “really high energy” that showed a market characterised by positivity and excitement. As for highlights, Davies pointed to the Monday morning keynote speeches delivered by Uber’s Head of Payments Peter Hazlehurst, Head of Calibra, David Marcus, and Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal.
These, she told us, “gave three very different perspectives that really sum up the direction in which tech and innovation is heading. There’s been a definite shift over the past few years that has seen the sector move away from ‘shiny and new’ technology, to thinking more about fintech for social good and how technology and financial services can impact people’s lives for the better.
“Dan Schulman was discussing the work that PayPal is doing for its employees and how it relates to the wider struggles of the middle class in the US, for example,” she explained, “whereas Uber’s session talked about how the company’s new launches are helping its drivers and Calibra too had a large focus on social good. It’s representative of where we’re at in the industry - it’s no longer just about what it is, it’s about what it can do, how we can use it and the impact it can have.”
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