Luxury Tour of MoneyFest with your Guide, Tracey Davies

You know when you go somewhere exotic and splash out on a local tour guide? Someone who knows the environment intimately and can secure you the best cocktails at the cheapest prices? That’s what this article is! Except it’s even better because we’re not charging you! This super luxury VIP tour is on the house*.

We’ve secured you none other than the spectacular Tracey Davies, President of Money2020 herself to walk you through the very best bits of the latest event. We’ve pressed, pressured and pleaded with her to reveal her FIVE top-of-the-pop, best of the bunch, badass fintech sessions… And here it is, Davies’ definitive run-down of unmissable conversations just for you!

5. The Future of Fintech: Sanjib Kalita

Tracey says: “Sanjib’s MoneyFest sessions are a must-watch! Sanjib was employee number 4 at Money20/20, now Editor in Chief and CEO of his own Start Up. He has already become a MoneyFest firm favourite. This time he appears as Money 20/20’s fintech weatherman and outlines the shift into Fintech 2.0 and what that means for the financial services industry coming out of 2020 and the global pandemic”.

Hannah says: “Firstly, LOVING the green screen shenanigans! Secondly, buckle in buckaroos because Sanjib Kalita will take you on a world wind ride through fintech over the past year and what to expect next. It might be the most efficient eleven minutes and one second you’ll ever spend”

Favourite quote: “If you do not have a cloudy future … you’re gonna get DRENCHED!”

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4. Building Products for a Diverse & Inclusive Customer Base: Allison Barr Allen, Ellen DaSilva

Tracey says: “Allison Barr Allen is a fintech Rockstar: she runs marathons, is an angel investor, co-founded Fast, and worked her way up to Head of Global Product Operations for Uber Money. Her session covers the angel investing scene, the importance of intentionally diverse perspectives and a great story of how one of her investors stalked her on twitter”.

Hannah says: “I normally scribble quotes while these sessions play out. It’s kind of my job. Pen poised like a fishing rod waiting for that golden moment. But listening to Barr Allen and DeSilva’s sparkling conversation was such a delight that I rested my pen and just enjoyed the chat. I found it quite empowering actually. They both speak passionately about female entrepreneurship and inclusion. And they both pepper their dialogue with helpful and non-judgmental advice for companies. A perfect sesh. Really good stuff”.

Favourite quote: “A lot of times, people can do far more than they think they’re capable of”, Allison Barr Allen

Watch here

3. Lessons from a Superapp: Gojek’s Ecosystem of Partners: Hans Patuwo, Ana Gupta

Tracey says: “Gojek is one of the few bona fide superapps, and as their COO, Hans Patuwo, moves over to run the payments business, he shares his perspective about how Gojek saw value in an inclusive ecosystem of partners and how that can deliver more for their customers”.

Hannah says: “Friction. Frictionful. Frictionless. The word came up a lot. As well as laying the groundwork for an excellent potential drinking game, it also gave the talk a clear direction and focus. Gojek, the superapp, are here to reduce friction for customers. Got it? Sure? Good. And how do they do it? Well, with data. Oodles of data analysis actually. As part of a wider eco-system Gojek build incredibly detailed profiles of their customers and use this information to help them overcome daily challenges. It was a solid contribution of a talk. Clear, honest and to the point. I liked it”.

Favourite quote: “We chose areas where there is a problem to be solved – where there is friction”, Hans Patuwo

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2. Plaid’s Vision for a Connected Financial Future: Ginger Baker, Shannen Balogh

Tracey says: “Fresh from the Visa split and a major Series D, Plaid’s Head of Financial Access, Ginger Baker, shares the firm’s vision for making sure people have access to their financial information – regardless of where that resides and making sure financial institutions have the tools they need to power the next generation of services”.

Hannah says: “Stand back, stand back, fintech legends coming through! How many fintechs can say that they turned down super giant king of the finance world Visa?! If that doesn’t earn you Rockstar status, I don’t know what does. So I was pretty intrigued to find out more about their vision for the future. Baker did not disappoint. She delivered a powerful yet invigorating overview of where fintech and finance is going with gusto. Yes Baker!”

Favourite quote: “Money should be easy”, Shannen Balogh, borrowed by Ginger Baker

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1. Better together: Why the Future of Digital Payments Depends on Strong Partnerships: Tarun Bhatnager, Jordan McKee

Tracey says: “Google’s VP Payments Americas, Tarun Bhatnagar explains the value Google sees in partnering with a range of financial institutions, their value proposition for prospective partners and why they don’t have a plan to disintermediate banks. I thought it was a really clear layout of Google’s strategy – including smaller players not just the big partnerships that get a lot of coverage. It also gave detailed insight into their India strategy”.

Hannah says: “Listening to how Google helps street vendors in rural India with contactless payments was both surprising and heart-warming. There’s something novel about a massive corporation caring about ordinary people, right? Bhatnager spoke of collaborating with different kinds of firms – massive, tiny and everything in between – to provide services that benefit everyone. Not just rich people. Everyone. Google don’t want the monopoly, they say (try telling that to Ask Jeeves!). Collaboration not competition, apparently. Hmm… I thought it was a great talk, but the cynic in me is reserving judgement for now. Call me the Fintech Simon Cowell! (Please don’t)”.

Favourite quote: “Building for everyone requires us to work with everyone”, Tarun Bhatnager

Watch here

You can catch up with all the latest industry insights and fintech features with MoneyFest On Demand. Quick, quick… Get yourself there before the videos time out.

*Unless you’d like to buy us a cheap cocktail, in which case Strawberry Daiquiri please!