I’ve attended several excellent in-person industry conferences over the past few weeks, but none of them delivered the size and scope of Money20/20, fintech’s largest show. Kevari president Adam Elliott and I recently returned from Las Vegas, armed with several key takeaways from this massive gathering of fintech experts, leaders and up-and-comers.
Fraud companies made their presence known.
Much more than in previous years, the large number of fraud vendors — and particularly ID-verification companies — attending this primarily payments conference made an impact. One possible reason? Because of the pandemic, fraud became more prevalent and moved up the priority list. So, companies are looking toward integrating fraud protection more aggressively into their overall operations, which would be a positive sign for both the industry and consumers.
Collaboration is becoming increasingly important.
We had numerous conversations with payment companies and potential partners about the growing need for collaboration to fight fraud. We’re seeing a shift: Companies are becoming more accustomed to working with several complementary vendors – or a single organization that seamlessly brings together multiple data sources – to weave together a stronger, more efficient fraud-protection process.
The appetite for investment is growing.
We talked with many attendees who were walking the halls of the Venetian Resort and The Convention & Expo Center searching for fintech companies to invest in. Traditional banks are continuing the migration to digital, nontraditional financial institutions are aggressively looking to solve problems, and many are well-equipped to invest in fraud solutions.
Will all this represent a massive shift toward bolstering fraud policies and technology? In the immortal words of ‘80s rock band Journey, who performed during the conference, “Don’t stop believin’.”
