Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

8 August 2025

Estimated Read time

7Mins

Read in brochure format

FinTech Strategy spoke with Veritran’s CMO, Jorge Sanchez Barcelo, at Money20/20 Europe to find out more about the tech firm’s partnership with Manchester City reimagining CX to create a frictionless digital experience for fans

Money20/20 Europe Exclusive

In an era where technology defines the customer journey, Jorge Sanchez Barcelo, Chief Marketing Officer at Veritran, is leading a bold charge into a new frontier: one where financial technology fuses with fandom, and CX becomes both frictionless and deeply personal.

Jorge’s professional journey has always followed the arc of digital transformation. From his earlier roles at AT&T and Banorte to now helming marketing at Veritran, a global technology company, his mission is clear: make life easier, better, and more secure for end users – whether they’re banking customers or football fans.

“Our technology without a purpose is nothing. It’s just code,” Jorge says. “We build for people. And that purpose has taken us far beyond banking.”

From Buenos Aires to Global Ambitions

Founded in Buenos Aires almost 20 years ago, Veritran started building mobile applications before the iPhone even existed – when, as Jorge jokes, “phones were just for calls, texts, and the occasional game of Snake”.

“Our guys were visionaries,” he continues. “They were talking about applications when we didn’t even have smartphones. Back then, you had to build a separate app for every phone model because we didn’t have iOS or Android,” he recalls.

Despite those early technical hurdles, the company maintained a singular focus: democratising access to financial services. “Once a person starts managing their own finances, they gain control,” reasons Jorge. “And control is the first step toward growth.”

That mission has proven timeless, and borderless. Today, Veritran has a solid footprint across Latin America and has expanded into the US and Europe.

Why Experience Matters More Than Ever

Jorge is acutely aware that in financial services, trust is everything. A slick PowerPoint is not enough to win over banks.

“When I meet with a financial institution, they don’t want theory. They want proof. They want to see our tech working in the real world. But many banks are reluctant to share their strategies, even with non-competitors.”

This desire to demonstrate capability led Veritran to seek a bold new marketing approach – one that would provide a visible, secure, and non-competitive environment to showcase its tech.

Enter Manchester City: A Blueprint for CX Innovation

The solution arrived via the pitch, not the boardroom. Veritran entered into a partnership with Manchester City, one of the best football teams in the world.

“Manchester City is digitally five to seven years ahead of most clubs,” says Jorge.

Veritran’s technology now supports key digital operations at Manchester City, helping the Club streamline processes such as user registration, membership management, and ticketing. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to innovation and operational excellence.

What began as a strategic partnership has evolved into a strong example of how financial technology can reinforce digital infrastructure in the sports sector. As more organisations seek reliable and scalable solutions, the model developed with Manchester City demonstrates the value of secure, efficient platforms designed to support long-term digital growth.

Breaking the Sponsorship Mold

Unlike traditional sports sponsorships, which often come with hefty price tags and limited strategic collaboration, Veritran’s deal with City was rooted in partnership.

“Our partnership is beneficial for both companies, we share value,” explains Jorge.  “With the brand reach of Manchester City’s clubs we have been able to promote our company worldwide.”

This model has opened the door to future collaborations, not only with sports clubs, but also with entertainment companies in the US who are eyeing similar digital transformations.

Applying FinTech Learnings in New Territories

As Veritran enters new markets, they carry the lessons of regulated finance into less restricted sectors.

“In banking, every innovation has to pass through layers of regulation,” notes Jorge. “But in entertainment or sports, you can think outside the box and start with the experience, not the compliance checklist.”

That freedom has allowed Veritran to experiment with new ideas, such as smile-based stadium access or face-based payments.

“We call it ‘mouthful access’ – just smile, and you’re in. You can’t do that in banking… yet.”

Blending Brand and Utility: A New Era for Embedded Finance

What sets Veritran apart isn’t just its technology stack – it’s the way it applies that stack to create emotional resonance and operational value in new settings. For Jorge and his team, the convergence of financial services and lifestyle touchpoints is the most exciting, and underexplored, frontier.

“When we embed finance into a stadium or a music festival, we’re not just processing payments,” he explains. “We’re creating seamless, branded experiences that extend customer relationships beyond the bank branch or app.”

This philosophy echoes a wider FinTech trend: the shift from siloed services to contextual, embedded finance – delivered where customers already are, not where institutions want them to be.

As financial brands seek new ways to engage digitally-native consumers, Jorge believes partnerships with lifestyle, sports, and entertainment brands offer huge untapped potential.

Jorge notes that younger generations expect everything to be digital, instant, and intuitive. They don’t separate banking from shopping or attending an event, it’s all part of one journey. “If we can integrate services invisibly into those moments, that’s where the magic happens.”

He’s quick to add that the financial industry still has work to do in aligning with this shift – both culturally and technologically.

“It’s not just about APIs or infrastructure. It’s about mindset. The organisations that embrace this new way of thinking – who see CX as a shared responsibility across ecosystems – will lead the next decade.”

With Veritran’s cross-industry collaborations accelerating, Jorge is confident they’re not just shaping financial journeys – they’re reshaping everyday experiences.

Embedding Finance in the Fan Journey

Jorge sees a massive opportunity to embed financial services into sports and entertainment ecosystems, particularly in underbanked regions like Latin America.

“In the UK, stadiums are already cashless. In Latin America, we still have guys walking around selling Coca-Cola for cash from their pockets. We want to change that.”

By introducing digital wallets, biometric payments, and embedded insurance services (e.g., ticket protection at the point of sale), Veritran enables clubs to become financial service providers.

“Imagine buying a match ticket and adding travel insurance in one click. That’s the level of seamless we’re aiming for.”

Pain Points Driving Demand

So what are clients asking for?

Jorge says it comes down to three priorities:

  1. Integrated Payments Ecosystems
    Clients want unified platforms that support seamless payments across channels and partners
  2. Digital Onboarding & Identity
    Reducing friction while enhancing security is top of mind – especially in customer acquisition
  3. End-to-End Security Suites
    With AI-driven fraud and evolving regulations, security isn’t optional; it’s a strategic asset

Veritran’s flexibility as a tech partner, not just a vendor, allows it to co-create with clients. This often means integrating with their existing partners, such as banks, card networks, or insurers.

What’s Next for Veritran?

According to Jorge, the company is at a pivotal moment. Its technology is gaining traction in new verticals with strong investment appetite – such as entertainment and live events.

“These sectors have the budget and the ambition. No one’s serving them with the kind of Fintech-grade CX we provide.”

The company is also exploring opportunities in public transportation and other infrastructure-heavy sectors where transactions are frequent and still inefficient.

“Everywhere there’s a transaction, there’s an opportunity to simplify.”

FinTech is set to play an expanding role in everyday life whereJorge believes the very definition of FinTech is evolving.

“It’s not just about banks anymore. If you buy a coffee, book a train, or enter a concert – those are all transactions. And if we can simplify them, that’s FinTech too.”

That’s why Veritran sees future growth in collaborative ecosystems where banks, brands, and non-traditional players converge to serve the customer journey holistically.

Why Money20/20?

Jorge credits the annual Money20/20 Europe conference with helping shape Veritran’s partnerships – including the initial connection with Manchester City.

“It’s one of our top five global trade shows. We don’t just send a team – we send our top execs, including our CEO. It’s where deals happen.”

Building with Purpose for the Future

In an industry flooded with features and hype Veritran differentiates by staying grounded in user value.

“Tech for tech’s sake is meaningless. But tech that improves how someone lives, spends, or connects – that’s everything,” says Jorge.

From its Argentine roots to a global stage, Veritran’s journey underscores one enduring truth: In customer experience, the future belongs to those who build it with purpose.

Veritran: A CX FinTech Trailblazer

  • Embedded Finance
  • Events
  • Together in Events

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

4 August 2025

Estimated Read time

8Mins

Read in brochure format

FinTech Strategy met with Standard Chartered’s Head of Digital Assets – Financing & Securities Services, Waqar Chaudry, at Money20/20 Europe to discuss how the bank is connecting traditional with digital, collaborating with FinTechs directly and via SC Ventures, and taking a measured approach to entering the crypto market

Money20/20 Europe Exclusive

There is a buzz in the air at Money20/20 Europe. Waqar Chaudry, Head of Digital Assets – Financing & Securities Services at Standard Chartered, has just spoken on Mastercard’s Horizon Stage about the great digital assets opportunity. We meet up with him at his bank’s stand in the heart of the action at the Amsterdam RAI Arena.

Waqar works in custody to secure digital assets at Standard Chartered. It also has a fund accounting business and offers transfer agent services. “The financing in the Financing & Securities Services elements are in our FX Prime offering,” he explains. “At the moment my sole focus is on crypto custody, tokenisation and building an ecosystem around those products.”

The Rise of Digital Assets

It’s an exciting time for Standard Chartered with crypto custody and the rise of stablecoins and tokenisation… Whether the asset is Bitcoin, a tokenised money market, or anything tokenisable, there have been a lot of conversations with the bank’s partners in terms of the technology quest.

“Most of the conversations historically have been led by the fact that technology does give you the capability to do 24/7 trading and settlement. Risk management from the technology side is much better. The blockchain dream is sold to everyone, which remains true,” notes Waqar. “The issue has been that on the business side, tackling the areas that actually can work with this technology. You have your near instant settlement availability on blockchains. On the other side you have a T+1 or T+3 cash settlement time – that doesn’t gel very well.

“Entrenched in the day-to-day business of these really large institutions is to be able to inject a new piece of technology. And then suddenly say, hey, all these things are solved. For all the inefficiencies in the system it doesn’t work that quickly. We’re actually taking one step at a time. That’s why it’s exciting that we can see in five or ten years from now what the world will look like. Basically, in our vernacular that means we have near instant settlements and near instant international transfer of value. So, that’s the kind of stuff that we are really interested in for the future.”

Meeting the Blockchain Challenge

Waqar explains that when something like a blockchain comes into a traditional bank, and especially blockchains like the ones that support an asset like Bitcoin, you don’t know who the counterparties are (which are clear on the SWIFT network).

“You have to build capability from a technology side, operations side, risk management side,” he continues. “You need to develop the governance of all those functions to be able to get the value of the asset in the ecosystem. And then be able to add value to that to transact on it. We don’t yet have those ingredients, so it becomes very challenging for us to accept the assets. A lot of the work that the bank has done over the past five years has been around embedding those elements into our day-to-day operations. It’s about understanding the risk profile of the coins and understanding the risk profile of the blockchains.”

Waqar’s team works on how to protect the ecosystem from risks from both an AML and KYC point of view. “We’re also making sure that by doing that we don’t create such a burden to the client that the service becomes useless,” he adds. “We’re trying to balance that out and that’s where the challenges lie at the moment. The next stage is to also be able to integrate all of our traditional cash and assets rails into this. And that’s where the next level of risks will come in… Where people are not used to seeing things on the blockchain… They are used to seeing things on the SWIFT network or a CSD. But when the blockchains come in, profiles will change and that’s where we have to meet the challenges.”

Traditional Meets Digital

For an asset manager with a variety of equities and bonds, but keen to start in crypto and other digital assets, the rails are very different… “The liquidity venues and the way you settle the instrument are very different. And they don’t naturally talk to each other,” confirms Waqar. “It’s a big challenge. But to be able to go with the provider that has all the capabilities, which includes the cash side, the asset side, the crypto side and the blockchain side, is something people are looking for now. Without having the end-to-end picture, it would be very difficult for our clients to have an equitable strategy for their clients. We need to be able to service them appropriately based on the rails they operate in.”

For Standard Chartered’s clients it’s increasingly important for payments to facilitate activity on-chain regardless of the use case of digital assets. “There is a key challenge with payments at the moment. If you do transfer value across geographies or between B2B and B2C, what do you do with that value afterwards?” asks Waqar.

“Are you going to keep it on the books for your treasury or account purposes or are you going to find a way to liquidate the position to pay your employees or pay your service provider? Without the capability to store the asset appropriately and then convert it into a usable form, you can’t do much with it. The only thing you can do is actually transfer value. So, for us what’s important in payments is that we get the transfer value happening immediately. Or as quickly as possible. And then also connect our payment infrastructure and the banking behind. We aim to support the transfer of value from a digital asset into an actual cash asset.”

Building on Success

Standard Chartered’s work with OKX in Dubai has spurred demand the bank didn’t expect. “The key ingredient is that a really large crypto exchange has come together with a really large bank,” reasons Waqar. “When you combine the product features of a large bank like ours with the liquidity of OKX it creates a unique proposition in the market. The traditional players have started to show interest in that because now they can buy diverse assets, pledge them as collateral and start trading while the assets remain safe in a genuine large institutional bank. And at the same time, they also have access to a highly regarded institutional exchange. That story is for us quite important and we’re fostering these relationships more and more…”

It’s been a real success story for Standard Chartered on the money market fund side which is also connected to what the bank is doing on the collateral side. “Money market funds are used to gain value and have an asset that does generate yield on the one side, but also the capability to use the asset as collateral is important,” adds Waqar.

“The money market fund that we launched for China Asset Management in Hong Kong, albeit it’s a retail use case for a start, but then the ambitions are big. The next thing is how do we start using that same asset for pledging for trading purposes and then how do we inject that into a portfolio basket of assets that people buy? At Standard Chartered, we aim to create a supermarket of tokens in a centralised ecosystem. So, our collateral story and the tokenised money market funds is connected, and we want to continue building around it. We’re thinking about other assets now too… We’re looking at equities, bonds and enabling more cryptocurrencies in the same ecosystem as well. It’s just the start of all the things we need to build in the future.”

Why Money20/20?

“This is my first time coming to Money20/20 Europe. Digital asset companies are here alongside financial services and related FinTechs. It’s great that they’re able to talk to each other and it’s quite evident there are lots of great meetings happening. There are many companies here we are either supporting or we’re working with. We’ve also had meetings with UK government representatives geared to attracting talent into the country. They’re trying to make sure that their FinTech ecosystem grows quite significantly for us in the UK and for other footprint markets in Asia; Middle East and Africa are also quite important in how we do that and continue to grow.”

The Evolution of Collaboration between Banks and FinTechs

Standard Chartered is also working in harmony with its ventures partner SC Ventures. The bank is working closely with Libeara for tokenisation and with Zodia Custody as Saas. “Our core institutional bank and our Ventures business are quite tightly coupled from that point of view,” says Waqar. “And it’s quite obvious that the reason for that is how we’ve made significant investments into them. We’ve given part of our DNA into this ecosystem and now, at the bank, they’re building the ecosystem around these capabilities, so we’re keen to bring them in and use their solutions for our services as well.”

Standard Chartered may be a traditional bank but it is a seasoned collaborator with innovative FinTechs. “They need traditional services too,” reasons Waqar. “Once they get to a critical mass, a FinTech may not have the bandwidth to manage certain client sizes. By partnering with some of the FinTechs, we’re seeing that once a certain size of a client comes in, they prefer to work with a large institution like ours. So, that partnership is proactively managed as well from our side. From our ventures side, bringing their innovative approach to product development and technology into the bank, building the ecosystem around risk management and governance from the bank side and then connecting into the FinTechs outside of that ecosystem is something I think is quite an interesting proposition for us. We’re going to keep building on top of that.”

Standard Chartered – Financing & Securities Services

Promoting your future in global securities

We’re ready to help you flourish in emerging and frontier securities services markets

In today’s fast-moving markets, especially  across Asia, Africa and Middle East, success isn’t just about the solutions you choose – it’s about the partnerships you build.

Standard Chartered has been committed to these regions for decades. We understand both the promise and challenges. That’s why we go beyond delivering end-to-end custody, fund, and fiduciary  solutions – we actively help shape the markets themselves.

By working with local governments and industry associations, we bring you early insights and access to new opportunities. Partnering with leading asset managers, fintechs, and infrastructure providers, we connect you to the best of the industry, via a single partner. Because in a world of complexity, collaboration is your greatest advantage.

Learn more at sc.com/en/corporate-investment-banking/financial-markets/financing-and-securities-services/

  • Blockchain
  • Events
  • Together in Events

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

5 June 2025

Estimated Read time

3Mins

The final day at Money20/20 Europe 2025 was packed with more insights on the future of FinTech, from banks to borderless innovation.

Money20/20 Conference Themes & Tracks

Money20/20 Europe 2025 is structured around four thematic content tracks:

  • Digital DNA – Exploring core infrastructure, platform strategies, and foundational technologies.
  • Embedded Intelligence – AI, machine learning, data strategies, and real-time analytics.
  • Beyond Fintech – Partnerships between fintechs and other sectors like retail, health, and climate.
  • Governance 2.0 – Regulation, digital identity, privacy, and ESG compliance.

Day three featured more impactful sessions across all four pillars, offering attendees more valuable insights and strategies for innovation.

Highlights from Key Sessions at Money20/20 Europe:

How to Create and Leverage FinBank Partnerships

The discussion focused on the evolution and success of FinTech partnerships with banks. Key points included the shift from transactional partnerships to more collaborative, value-driven relationships, emphasizing joint KPIs and product creation. 

Alex Johnson, Chief Payments Officer, Nium

“You really have to differentiate. You really have to stand out for a bank to say, ‘Yeah, I like what you offer enough to go through, six months of onboarding.’ Dare I say, maybe more.”

John Power, SVP, Head of JVs & AQaaS, Fiserv

“The legacy system, it’s a fact of life. They’re there. They’re pervasive. They’re going to be here for a long time, and banks historically have made huge investments in those platforms and systems. So I think both the challenge for the for the bank and the opportunity for the FinTech is, how do you at the front end of those legacy systems develop new products that can scale and that you can bring cross border easily and readily.”

Cecilia Tamez, Chief Strategy Officer, Dandelion Payments

 “It really is cutting the line to be able to deliver opportunity for customers and to be able to expand propositions for new customers.”

“The economic development supply chains shifting to low to middle income countries are incredibly important right now, and cross border payment rails have not been good in low middle income countries.”

Where Fintech goes Next: Tapping into Platforms and Verticals 

The discussion centred on the democratisation of financial services through embedded finance. The panel emphasised the importance of data quality, personalisation, and strategic partnerships in delivering seamless financial experiences – ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and improving business efficiency.

Hiba Chamas, Growth Strategy Consultant – Independent

“Embedded finance is going to be defined by region and use cases.”

Amy Loh, Chief Marketing Officer – Pipe

“Small businesses don’t want to manage their business through a bunch of different tools that are stitched together. They’re looking to platforms to do everything for them and keep high end services.”

Zack Powers, VP Commercial & Operations – Mangopay

“Most platforms or merchants out there trying to diversify revenue, and they will get auxiliary revenue, or maybe get primary revenue through FinTech activity.”

The Neobanks Strike Back

​​In a dynamic exploration of neobanking’s evolution, Ali Niknam revealed bunq’s remarkable journey from a tech-driven startup to a sustainably profitable digital bank. By leveraging AI across every aspect of their operations, bunq has transformed traditional banking, reducing support times to mere seconds and creating a hyper-personalised user experience. Niknam emphasised the power of user-centricity, showing how innovative features like simple stock trading and multi-language support can democratise financial services.

The bank’s strategic approach – focusing on user needs rather than investor expectations – has enabled them to expand thoughtfully, with plans to enter the UK and US markets. By embracing technological change and maintaining a relentless commitment to solving real customer problems, bunq exemplifies the next generation of banking.

Ali Niknam, Founder & CEO, bunq


“Somewhere in the 70s, we let go of the gold standard, and now currencies are basically floating. The only reason why a dollar or a euro is worth what it’s worth is because of trust and perception. Philosophically, it’s very logical that we have found another abstraction layer by introducing stablecoin, which is not much else than a byte number that has a denomination currency as a backing asset that itself doesn’t have anything as a backing asset. A lot of people might ask, ‘Why would you need a stablecoin? We have euros. I go get a coffee, pay with Apple Pay or cash.’ But there are many countries on this planet where the local currency is not stable. If your country has an inflation rate of 30,000% like Zimbabwe, you would really love to use a different currency. The US dollar has been the currency of choice, but as a normal person, you cannot access the US dollar. A US dollar stablecoin that you can access by simply having a mobile phone – that’s going to be transformational for large groups of people.”

Innovating When Regulation Can’t Keep Up: Lessons from NASA 

Lisa Valencia covered an array of topics, from her 35 year career at NASA and Guinness World Record to the rise of private entities like SpaceX, which has launched 180 missions this year, and the increasing role of public-private partnerships in space exploration. The speaker also touched on international collaborations, particularly with the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, and the potential for space tourism and colonization of the moon.

Lisa Valencia, Programme Manager/Electrical Engineer – Pioneering Space, LC (ex NASA)

“Back in the day, NASA got 4% of the national budget. Now it’s down to just 0.1%, so we’ve had to get creative with private partnerships. SpaceX is the perfect success story. They came to us in 2007 needing money after some rocket mishaps, and look at them now! From my balcony, I see their launches every other day. They’re planning 180 launches this year alone.Talk about a return on investment!” 

“We’re planning to colonise the South Pole on the moon. The idea is to extract water and hydrogen from the regolith—both for living there and for fuel.”

Scaling Internationally in 2025: Funding, Innovating, and Breaking into New Markets

The conversation focused on the growth and strategy of fintech companies, particularly those with a strong presence in Europe and the US. The panel featured Ingo Uytdehaage, CEO and co-founder of Adyen, and Alexandre Prot, CEO of Qonto. Both leaders expressed a preference for organic growth over acquisitions, emphasizing the importance of scaling efficiently before pursuing an IPO.

Ingo Uytdehaage, CEO and co-founder of Adyen

“I think an important part of scaling a company is not just thinking about your product, but also considering the markets you want to address, and how you ensure you become local in each country.”

“We realised over time that if we really want to bring the customers, we need to have the best licenses to operate. A banking license gives you a lot of flexibility.” 

“Being independent from other companies, other financial institutions, that gives you flexibility to build what your customers really want.”

“I think it’s very important, also in Europe, that we continue to be competitive. If you think about regulations and AI, we shouldn’t try to do things completely differently compared to the US.”

Alexandre Prot, CEO of Qonto

“We need to be very strict about tech integration and avoiding legacy which slows us down.”

“We still need to scale a lot before we have a successful IPO. A few team members are working on it and getting the company ready for it. But, the most important thing is just scaling efficiently in the business, and maybe an IPO would be welcome in a couple of years.”

Putting The F in Fintech

The panel discussion focused on the role of women in FinTech based on personal experiences.

Iana Dimitrova, CEO, OpenPayd

“At times, being underestimated is helpful, because if you’re seen as the competition, driving an agenda is becoming more difficult. So what I found, actually, over a period, is that bringing your emotional intelligence, leaving the ego outside of the outside of the room, and just focusing on execution is is incredibly helpful.” 

Megan Cooper, CEO & Founder, Caywood

“The moment we start defining ourselves as like a female leader or a female entrepreneur, you almost kind of put yourself in a bit of a box. And so I think just seeing yourself on an equal playing field and then operating it on an equal playing field and interacting in that way is quite advantageous.”

“We can’t just want diversity and hope it happens. We actually have to be intentional about creating it.”

Valerie Kontor, Founder, Black in Fintech

“Black women make up 1.6% over the FinTech workforce, but when we look at the financial reality of black women by the age of 60, only 53% of black women have enough money in their bank account to retire. We need to start marrying people in FinTech and the people that we need to serve.”

Money20/20 Europe 2025 closed its doors but the next edition of the conference will return to Amsterdam from June 2–4, 2026, promising to continue the tradition of shaping the future of financial services…

  • Artificial Intelligence in FinTech
  • Blockchain
  • Cybersecurity in FinTech
  • Digital Payments
  • Embedded Finance
  • Host Perspectives
  • InsurTech
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

3 July 2024

Estimated Read time

4Mins

Read in brochure format

This month’s cover story sees our sister brand Fintech Strategy reporting from Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam – a pivotal event…

This month’s cover story sees our sister brand Fintech Strategy reporting from Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam – a pivotal event in the fintech calendar, drawing over 8,000 participants from 2,300 companies worldwide.

Welcome to the latest issue of Interface magazine!

Read the latest issue here!

In this month’s issue…

Money20/20 Europe Review

The RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre was the location for the world’s leading fintech conference. Money20/20 Europe offered a unique blend of insightful keynotes, panel discussions, and networking opportunities that underscored the transformative power of emerging technologies in financial services. We met with SC Ventures, Lloyds Banking Group, OSB Group, AirWallex, Plaid, Paymentology, Episode Six, Mettle (Nat West Group) and more to take the pulse of the latest trends across the fintech landscape.

Under the theme of ‘Human X Machine’, Money20/20 Europe explored the relationship between humans and intelligent machines, focusing on how the partnership between artificial and human intelligence will forge a new era in finance…

Publicis Sapient: Global Banking Benchmark Study

Interface was also proud to partner with Publicis Sapient at Money20/20 Europe for the launch of its third annual Global Banking Benchmark Survey. The survey draws on the insight of over 1000 senior executives in financial services across various global markets and focuses on the goals, obstacles, and drivers of digital transformation.

We spoke with Head of Financial Services Dave Murphy about its findings. “The survey focuses on how to think about solving problems end-to-end. Banks are dealing with legacy issues and taking a customer first view into solving the challenges. The practical application of AI across the banks is a significant theme as they look to automate decision-making and deliver better credit risk models.”

At the launch event for the study, Eoghan Sheehy, Associate MD, and Grace Ge, Senior Principal, highlighted that banks are primarily focused on improving existing processes rather than introducing new ones. Data Analytics and AI are identified as key priorities for digital transformation, with a focus on internal use cases and efficiency.

Eoghan and Grace also discussed the challenges faced by banks, including regulation, competition from companies like Amazon, and the need to attract talent. They emphasised the importance for financial institutions of modernising core infrastructure and building cloud infrastructure to support ongoing digital transformation. The study also notes the prevalence of the development of custom-made tools and the prioritising of internal use cases for AI implementation. Eoghan and Grace also provided examples of repeatable use cases and discussed the success factors for Data Analytics and AI.

STO Building Group: Enabling and Empowering People

Claudia Healey, Chief Human Resources Officer at STO Building Group, spoke to Interface about the HR platform empowering its people in pursuit of a strategic vision… “Culture is the number one priority in a people business like STO Building Group (STOBG). If you’re not nurturing and inspiring your folks, well, they can just vote with their feet. They don’t have to stay. Or they could do worse, they could quit and stay. And that’s something we would never want. Meeting your people where they’re at, understanding their goals and aspirations, and how you can help them reach their potential is vital. Realising how you can really see your people and truly understand what matters to them, is an incredible priority.”

Also in this issue, AI hype has previously been followed by an AI winter, we hear from Scott Zoldi, Chief Analytics Officer at FICO who asks, ‘Is the AI bubble set to burst?’ Elsewhere, we round up the top events in tech and learn how businesses can ensure their cloud storage is more sustainable in an age of rising demand for data and AI. Cloud storage without the climate cost is possible explains Fasthosts CEO Simon Yeoman.

Enjoy the issue!

Dan Brightmore, Editor

  • Digital Strategy