MONEY2020: Big Bets on the Future of Emerging Payments

Earlier this month, DWT sponsored, and four members of the DWT FinTech team including PLA contributors Scot Tucker and Karen Ross attended, the second annual Money 2020 conference in Las Vegas. 

Money 2020 is vying to be the premiere conference for the convergence of players in the emerging payments space. This year’s attendees exceeded 4,000 persons, from 60 different countries, and included many of the major banking and technology players as well as new entrants.

During the 4-day conference, attendees had the opportunity to attend over 100 sessions and presentations that included conversations about business strategy, the current regulatory environment, international deployment and risk mitigation in connection with a number of products and services including digital wallets, remittances, virtual currencies and more. 

DWT partner Marc Kenny moderated a panel targeting payments start-ups, called “Preparing for Investors & Investments,” where Marc and the panelists discussed tips for working with investors and understanding investment options.

Some new entrants were offered the opportunity to extol the virtues of their product or service in 360 seconds or less as part of a segment coined "LaunchPad 360." Other, more established, participants chose Money 2020 as the platform to announce the launch of new partnerships and products or new features to existing products. For instance Microsoft announced its partnership with Bank of America, Discover, Deem, Facebook, First Data, Linkable Networks, LivingSocial, MasterCard and others to create The CardLinx Association - a new association to promote card-linked offers.  Similarly, PayPal announced its new PaymentCode service that will generate either a QR code or a four-digit PIN number (depending on the merchant’s equipment) to facilitate mobile payment transactions at the point of sale. 

In sum, Money 2020 served as a meeting place to discuss the hot button issues and showcase the ‘gee-whiz’ technology on the horizon in the payments space.  Those vested in the outcome are likely hoping that “what happens in Vegas” won’t “stay in Vegas.”