Major insights from Money20/20 USA Conference
Money20/20 USA, the biggest payments conference on the calendar, was held this week, attracting a well-attended crowd at the C-suite level. The event served as a platform for discussions about various aspects of the financial industry, with a significant focus on cross-border transactions.
Transparency was a major focus at the event, with many players emphasizing its importance in cross-border payments. This emphasis on transparency could be attributed to the FSB's recent G20 cross-border payments report, which provided much of the data that fueled these discussions.
Cross-border payments are seen as a significant growth area in the financial industry, and the event indicated a mix of the industry growing up and the current state of capital markets. Infrastructure and delivery solutions were a key area of interest, with companies like Conflux positioning themselves in cross-border payments by introducing yuan-pegged stablecoins to facilitate transactions along China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Alipay+ and Kaspi.kz were also highlighted for expanding international payment acceptance, particularly in Kazakhstan, indicating strong activity in cross-border mobile and e-wallet payments.
Conflux and TokenPocket are known for leveraging cryptocurrency in cross-border payments, providing blockchain infrastructure and multi-chain crypto wallets for stablecoins and digital assets. However, crypto companies were largely absent, but those that were present are using the underlying technology for practical applications outside of digital currencies.
Latin America received greater focus at Money20/20, with many players from the region present and discussions about its potential in cross-border transactions. AI was a topic of discussion, but the focus was on practical applications rather than high-concept impacts.
Networking was a key aspect of the event, with our platform available to assist with post-Money20/20 plans. There were fewer stands featuring well-funded but either early stage or under-developed products due to a lack of active VCs.
In conclusion, Money20/20 USA 2023 was a significant event that brought together industry leaders to discuss practical solutions for cross-border payments and transparency. The event indicated a maturing financial industry with a strong focus on capital markets and practical applications of technology.
