Top 10 Fintech Events To Attend

Even with LinkedIn, Slack and WhatsApp, nothing quite beats meeting people face-to-face and connecting with others in your industry. Especially in the fintech industry where partnerships and personal relationships are essential for the success of any early-stage startup. That’s exactly what fintech events are there for.

Next week part of the balancr team is traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark for the European edition of Money20/20. With over 400 speakers and 1700 companies, there’s certainly a lot to do during the three-day event. We’re also very excited to be showcasing our API platform at Startup City, stand SU12, and connecting with everyone.

In addition to Money20/20, there are plenty of other fintech events and meetups to choose from — including our own Finfinity meetup in Cologne, Germany. But for an early stage fintech startup, which ones should you attend?

Here, you’ll find a brief overview of the top fintech events to attend.

1. Money20/20

Website: http://www.money2020.com/
Date: 22–25 October 2017 (US), 26–28 June 2017 (Europe), 13–15 March 2018 (Asia)

According to recode, Money20/20 is the reason why more payments business gets done during the month it’s taking place on, than any other month during the year.

Co-founded by Anil Aggarwal and Jonathan Weiner in 2012, Money20/20 is the flagship event for the fintech industry, attracting over 10 000 attendees from 85 countries to its US-edition in Las Vegas. The event brings together people from over 4300 companies under one roof to provide a place for networking and establishing partnerships. Money20/20’s Startup City also gives the most promising fintech startups space to exhibit their latest products. We’ll be there in Copenhagen and you can find us at stand SU12.

In addition to their Las Vegas four-day event, Money20/20 has expanded to Europe and takes place for the second time in 2017. Copenhagen hosts the event again, where balancr along with 4000+ attendees from the European fintech industry are expected to arrive.

In 2018, Money20/20 Asia will be organised for the first time in Singapore. Money20/20 Asia aims to bring the movers and shakers from the region together to highlight the opportunities Asia presents for fintech.

2. MoneyConf

Website: https://moneyconf.com/
Date: 11–13 June 2018

Organised for the first time in 2017, MoneyConf is a newcomer to the fintech events space. The event is brought to you by the people responsible for Web Summit, one of the world’s largest technology events. In 2017, MoneyConf attracted over 1800 people to its inaugural event in Madrid, Spain.

With over 500 companies in attendance, from established global institutions to startups aiming to disrupt the industry — MoneyConf became a place for those shaping the finance landscape to meet. The event took place over the course of two days, which included keynotes, fireside chats, workshops and panel discussions from the top names in fintech and financial services.

In case you missed it, MoneyConf takes place again next year in Dublin, Ireland.

3. Wired Money

Website: http://www.wired.co.uk/event/wired-money
Date: 18 May 2017

Wired Money is an annual event by technology magazine Wired in London, UK.

The one-day event features presentations and fireside chats with key industry experts. They also have a Startup Pitch Competition where eight emerging fintech startups can showcase the products they’re working on, with the winner being featured on wired.co.uk.

Compared to other events, Wired Money provides a more intimate setting for networking. The event mainly focuses on topics such as distributed ledger technology, personal financial management, RegTech, insurance and payments.

4. London Fintech Week

Website: https://www.fintechweek.com/
Date: 7–14 July 2017

Fintech Week is a series of events, exhibitions and workshops organised over the course of seven days.

Each day focuses on a specific theme such as cryptocurrencies, payments and insurance. Events are organised across London, with the main event taking place at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel.

Throughout the week, 3000–5000 attendees from over 50 countries are participating. The aim of Fintech Week is networking and connecting established institutions, regulators, startups, investors and the media together.

Founded by Luis Carrenza, 2017 marks the second year Fintech Week is being organised which includes a weekend hackathon and an exhibition for fintech startups to display their products.

5. Finovate

Website: http://finovate.com/
Date: 7–8 February 2017 (London), 2627 April 2017 (San Jose), 11–14 September 2017 (New York), 7–8 November 2017 (Hong Kong)

Finovate is an event organised four times a year in New York, London, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. Attended by over 1600 people, which includes 270+ financial institutions and 70+ demoing companies — the event presents the latest banking, financial and payments technology.

Companies are able to demo their products at Finovate, where they are given seven minutes to present to an audience mainly composed of executives. However, companies need to apply to present a demo and are selected based on the impact your business has on the industry.

Finovate concentrates on showcasing the newest technology from the following categories:

• Banking and Payments
• Digital Lending
• WealthTech and Investing
• RegTech
• Insurtech
• Small Business Fintech
• Future Technologies

In addition to the demo-sessions, there’s ample time for networking where you have the possibility connect with other startups and executives from the largest financial brands.

6. Future of Fintech

Website: http://events.cbinsights.com/future-of-fintech
Date: 26–28 June 2017

Future of Fintech is organised by tech market intelligence platform CB Insights in New York, US.

The event is an exclusive gathering of the world’s financial institutions, best fintech startups, and most active venture capitalists from around the world.

During the two-day event, Future of Fintech also recognises the 250 most promising fintech startups. The conference covers trends such as AI, blockchains and robo-advising.

7. EXECfintech

Website: https://exec.events/fintech/
Date: 5–6 April 2017

EXECfintech is an invite only fintech conference which takes place in Germany. Regarded to be the largest of its kind, the conference aims to bring startup founders, corporates and venture capitalists.

Founded by Till Ohrmann, who is also the person behind the Pirate Summit, EXECfintech attracts approximately 800 people to its event. Now in its fourth year, the conference centres around the following topics:

• Payment
• Lending
• Cryptocurrencies
• Big Data
• Security & Privacy
• Robo-advisory
• Personal Finance
• Banking Infrastructure

Even though you’ll find the majority of speakers coming from the DACH region, you will find global speakers too. The conference is held in English which makes it perfect for anyone who wants to get familiar with German fintech scene.

8. FinDEVr

Website: http://findevr.com/
Date: 21–22 March 2017

FinDEVr looks under the hood of fintech products and is another event from the Finovate group.

The conference focuses on the technology aspect of fintech and attracted 850 people to its event in 2016. FinDEVr brings together developers, software architects, CTOs, VPs of engineering to connect with each other and share insights.

Over the course of two days, the conference showcases the latest technology, case studies and tutorials from the fintech world. Each presentation is 15-minutes long and presented in a TED-style format.

9. LendIt

Website: http://www.lendit.com/
Date: 15–16 July 2017

Founded by Jason Jones, Dara Albright, Bo Brustkern and Peter Renton in 2012, LendIt has grown to become one of the leading events in lending and fintech.

The conference takes place three times a year in China, Europe and the US. Their US event attracted over 5000 attendees in 2017, with 2400 companies represented and 1000 investors present at the event.

LendIt also organises a competition for startups called PitchIt where 8 fintech startups pitch their products in front of industry experts and investors. What’s more, the competition also provides the finalist with access to industry expertise through a network of mentors and exposure at the event itself.

10. Dot Finance Africa

Website: http://www.dotfinancelive.com/
Date: 21–22 February 2018

While the events listed above are mainly in Asia, Europe or the US — Dot Finance Africa is a fintech conference which takes place in Africa.

Described to be Africa’s main event for digital banking, payments and fintech, Dot Finance Africa has been running for three years. The aim of the conference is to bring together the key players from Africa’s fintech scene, to help build strong partnerships that will define the future of finance in Africa.

In 2017, the event attracted 500 people from over 60 countries and 50 exhibitors to showcase what they were working on. During the two-day event, Dot Finance Africa features keynotes and panel discussions on topics such as payments, APIs and blockchain.

Did we miss your favorite fintech event? If we did, let us know by commenting below.

Don’t forget, we’ll be at Money20/20 Europe in Copenhagen next week. If you would like to meet up and discover more about what balancr can do for you, just send us a quick email at info@trimplement.com.

Originally published at trimplement.com on June 22, 2017.