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A taste of Money20/20 – 2017

China. Fintech and this show represent a powerful wave
sweeping the payments system that will be around for a
long time.
The organizers of the sixth iteration of this giant show
(15,000 attendees) described its genesis as follows: "We
started Money20/20 because the industry needed a space
where the smartest, most inventive, and ambitious people
could come together and explore the ever-new possibilities
in the payment ecosystem. … As a Money20/20 attendee,
we firmly believe that you are the creators of the future of
money."

Attendees, called "creators," can be characterized, organiz-
ers said, as some subset of the following: explorers, evan-
gelists, taskmasters, pioneers, protectors, alchemists, or
connectors. I found it interesting to contemplate the titles
By Brandes Elitch of some of the presenters. These are not your typical pre-
CrossCheck Inc. senters at banking conferences. Here are several examples:
Director of Innovation; Chief Identity Officer; Head of
nyone reading The Green Sheet has at least a Awareness; Security Maven; SVP, Internet of Things; Glob-
passing familiarity with financial technology al Innovation Lead; Russian Hacker & Director, Research
(fintech) companies that are disrupting tradi- & Data; GM Global Digital & Incentives; Fintech Invest-
A tional bank business models with new solu- ment Lead; Chief Science Officer; and Renowned Futurist
tions that provide easy access, speed, convenience and & Professor of Theoretical Physics.
efficiency – typically by employing smart devices. These
innovative services are powered by artificial intelligence Pitches and prizes
(AI), machine learning, mobile wallets, distributed led- Besides the vendor booths, kiosks, and meeting cubes and
gers, and crypto currencies (I hesitate to mention bitcoin, pods (about 300) there was Startup City, with 24 startup
which I've long characterized as a speculative commodity finalists vying for the first place award of $40,000. In
– with additional incentives for criminal activity).
addition, a 24-hour Hackathon featured teams competing
for $125,000 in cash prizes using APIs, SDKs and other tools
In 2016, the investment bank Financial Technology Part- from the show. The showdown for the winning startup
ners estimated fintech companies raised $36 billion world- was compelling. Four finalists, YayPay, Steady, Tomorrow
wide, spread out over 1,500 deals from 1,700 investors. The and CreditStacks, each received three minutes to present
PwC Global Fintech Report 2017 projected the cumulative their pitch and three minutes to answer questions from
investment in global fintech will exceed $150 billion this judges. The audience voted in real time.
year. Comments like "Silicon Valley is the Wall Street of
2017" are now common.
Top honors went to Steady and its CEO, Adam Roseman.
Steady addresses an important issue: the gig economy.
These are serious numbers. All payment professionals In the near future, as many as half of all adults in their
should pay attention to developments in this space. twenties will have no career trajectory and no employee
Banks and ISOs won't be disintermediated directly or benefits; 40 percent will experience large fluctuations
immediately, but thousands of talented entrepreneurs in their monthly income. The Steady platform allows
are seeking ways to disrupt the existing order and, not people to plan and reach their income goals by matching
incidentally, to create new revenue streams for their them with jobs that require their skills when and where
partners and themselves.
available. Steady is paid by employers.
Inventive, ambitious creators
I was also impressed by Tomorrow, which provides a free
One way to keep informed is to attend the Money20/20 online platform for creating wills, trusts and guardian-
conference. This year's show was held in Las Vegas at the ships that are maintained in the cloud in perpetuity. To-
Venetian Hotel conference area. Additional Money20/20 morrow earns compensation by selling insurance to con-
events are slated for Amsterdam, Singapore and mainland sumers who find they need it. Given that most Americans

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