Money20/20 Europe returned to Amsterdam this month with a record 9,000-plus attendees and one clear message: the next era of lending will be built on smarter data, faster decisions, and cross-border scale. Across three days of keynotes, product launches and hallway deals, the show framed how consumer lenders can turn emerging tech and policy shifts into growth. Below is a lender-centric recap of the biggest themes.
Action Checklist for Consumer Lenders
- Invest in data plumbing — open-banking and alternative data pipes now drive the biggest AI wins.
- Pilot agentic credit policies that self-tune approval thresholds and pricing.
- Embed lending where customers shop: BNPL, marketplaces, and lifestyle apps are the new storefronts.
- Prepare for cross-border scale — align KYC, collections, and currency strategy early.
- Partner with specialists (risk orchestration, lead-gen, compliance) to accelerate time-to-market.
1. AI Moves From Buzz to Balance-Sheet Impact
Talk of “performative” versus “transformative” AI dominated the stages and side-events. Real-world wins — 80 % fewer false-positives, sub-90-day partner onboarding, and double-digit NPS gains — came from lenders that rebuilt risk stacks around intelligent automation, not one-off models. Sessions on “agentic AI” showed how self-optimising credit policies are shrinking approval times without loosening controls.
The takeaway: fund the data pipelines and orchestration layer first; the flashy models follow.
2. Open Banking Turns From Compliance Box to Revenue Engine
Speakers urged banks and fintechs to “reframe open banking from cost centre to growth driver.” Panels highlighted the untapped value of PSD2 and emerging PSD3 data — real-time income, transaction categorisation, subscription insights — that can lift acceptance rates and cut fraud for unsecured lending. For lenders, the new play is using consented data to pre-qualify prospects and personalise APRs in-session, rather than relying on traditional bureau pulls alone.
3. Payments & Cross-Border Flows Redefine Market Size
A fresh Money20/20/FXC report projects European cross-border payment volumes to nearly double by 2035, powered by real-time rails, wallets, and CBDCs.
For lenders, that means larger addressable markets — if onboarding, servicing, and collections can keep pace with multi-currency consumers who expect “near-instant everything.” APIs that unify KYC, credit scoring, and disbursement across SEPA, the UK, and wider EEA were demoed on-stage as plug-ins rather than multi-month integrations.
4. Banking & Fintech: From Vendor Deals to Joint Products
The Holland Fintech recap captured the show’s vibe best: “the future of finance is collaboration, customisation, and purpose.” Announcements such as Klarna-Visa’s flexible debit pilot in the US and Deutsche Bank’s open-banking merchant suite underscore a shift from point partnerships to co-built revenue lines.
For consumer lenders, that means opportunities to embed credit directly into e-commerce, travel, and gig-work platforms instead of fighting for direct-to-consumer traffic alone.
5. Why Lending Still Leads the AI League Tables
The AI Adoption Index released earlier this year showed Banking, Credit & Lending and Payments accounting for 192 of 376 initiatives — over half of all activity. Inside lending, AI is boosting volume through sharper risk models, automated underwriting, and hyper-personalised offers. That surge mirrors Draivi’s mission: pairing lenders with high-intent consumers via smarter, insight-driven lead generation. The ecosystem momentum in Amsterdam suggests this curve will steepen, not flatten, through 2026.
Money20/20 Europe made it clear: for lenders ready to blend AI with collaborative rails, the runway for growth has never been longer — or faster. See you in Amsterdam next year.
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