What’s the State of FinTech Conferences in 2020?
With the world still actively working in reducing the spread of COVID-19, large gatherings and public events are need a dramatic transformation. Organizers have had to choose between cancelling, postponing, or virtualizing their scheduled conference. In FinTech, the second half of the year is packed with headliner conferences such as Money 2020, LendIt, and Finnovate on the calendar — 2019’s June - Dec. conference lineups were the most attended of the year.
Here’s a brief global recap of remaining FinTech conferences in 2020, which have gone virtual or are yet to be postponed. As an event date draws near, we will continuously update the status of conferences (especially with those who have not announced going virtual).
the new normal of Virtual conferences
The world has gone remote as connections take place via Zoom calls and group chats for families, friends, and co-workers. Individuals globally have been on more video calls over the last 4 months than in the previous 2 years. Even though the level of interaction and engagement may not be the same, there is still value in actively participating and creating new or strengthening old connections. For those attending conferences on an annual basis, this is a challenging adjustment to make so quickly. As the COVID-19 infection rate continues to fluctuate, virtual may be the only way to go for industry events in the next 6-12 months.
For attendees still looking to participate and make the most of their virtual experience, here are some best practices:
Being truly present in the event, absorbing material from sessions, engaging with presenters, and using chat and other networking tools to meet with other attendees. Avoid getting distracted or multi-tasking;
Prep your calendar before the conference so you can decide what presentations, partner booths, speakers, and connections you’d like to make. Attending live sessions and having question answered in real-time by industry experts is more valuable over pre-recorded ones;
Get the most out of speaker sessions by offering thoughtful questions and dialogue about the latest industry trends, products, and strategies;
Networking will feel different, but there are multiple tools and features to make it easier to engage with more attendees — using conference hashtags, live chats, slack channels, and the conference directory;
Overall, virtual FinTech conferences offer attendees a chance to engage with more participants, choose what speakers and sessions they want to focus on, and absorb content on a deeper level. As the industry becomes more experienced with remote events, expect the quality and value to increase for both organizers and attendees.
2nd half of 2020 fintech conferences
Many conferences previously scheduled for spring and early summer have been pushed towards the end of the year. Others have already announced cancellations and rescheduled for 2021. Here’s a list of what’s still scheduled to take place (as of July), with most events opting for virtual-only participation:
Dates: August 10-13, 2020
Location: Toronto, Canada
Cost: ???
Canada FinTech Week gathers executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and regulators from across the globe to discuss the latest industry developments. #FintechWeekCA hosts numerous sessions on the most critical topics in FinTech and offers networking opportunities to the Canadian community.
Date: August 24 - 26, 2020
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Cost: FREE with code (formerly $599 )
Mobile Payments Conference (MPC) aggregates experts in FinTech, mobile payments, financial services for learning and networking opportunities. This is a top event for executives in banking, technology, and government.
Dates: September 10 - 11, 2020
Location: New York City, New York
Cost: $795 - $1095
The AI in Finance event covers AI trends and applications for the FinTech industry. Keynotes from leaders at JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, MasterCard, and 90 other speakers to provide quality sessions and workshops. The conference is great for data scientists, regulators, analysts, executives, founders, and VCs.
Dates: September 14-16, 2020
Location: New York, NY (USA)
Cost: $795
Over 1600 influencers, 60 demo sessions, and 120 speakers will be in attendance. New products to be displayed in a short-form demo format. Topics covered include banking, payments, RegTech, wealth management, and AI.
LendIt FinTech USA (Virtual)
Dates: Sep 29 - Oct 1, 2020
Location: New York, NY (USA)
Cost: $695, $895
An industry leading conference due to its top networking programs has gone virtual this Fall. The 1:1 app will especially useful this year to schedule meetings in advance. Over 400 leaders from the top banks, fintechs, and investment companies will be in attendance discussing key topics.
Dates: September 22-24, 2020
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Cost: €2,695
Money20/20 has become a global force in the world of fintech conferences. Expect over 6K attendees, 300 industry-leading speakers, and 60 hours of sessions. The post conference gatherings offer a great setting to connect with other professionals and influencers.
Date: September 30 - October 3, 2020
Location: Long Beach, California
Cost: $250 - $650
The organizers of FinCon2020 describe the event as "money nerds unite” — over 2,500 attendees will network, view exhibits, and listen to over 200 speakers. With a special focus on the industry’s content creators, workshops will cover content creation, promotion, and monetization.
LendIt FinTech Europe (Virtual)
Dates: October 19-20, 2020
Location: London, UK
Costs: £99 - 299
The premier event for LendIt in Europe fuses banking and lending — featuring attendees from over 50 countries and over 150 speakers.
Dates: Oct 21-22, 2020
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Cost: $25 - $500
The fast growing fintech hub in Israel plays host to global leaders from banks, financial institutions, fintechs, startups, accelerators, and an assortment of companies. A variety of sessions will cover the latest trends in open banking, AI, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, regulation, and payments.
Dates: October 25-28, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, NV (USA)
Cost: $995 - $2899
Money20/20 is the marquee industry event of the year and unites veterans from multiple sectors in financial services. This is the must-attend event of the year that draws the largest attendance of founders, professionals, and industry enthusiasts from around the world.
Dates: November 2-6, 2020
Location: Hong Kong, China
Cost: $349 - $649
Hong Kong FinTech Week is the world's first cross-border industry event, happenning in both Hong Kong and Shenzhen (the Silicon Valley of China). Over 8000 executives are expected to attend — including more than 200 top FinTech founders, investors, regulators, and academics from across Asia.
Dates: November 9-13, 2020
Location: Singapore, Singapore
Cost: Registration to open soon
Last year’s SFF had over 60K attendees that included well-known key executives and decision makers from financial institutions, FinTech innovators from start-ups to unicorns, and investors. Key sessions include the FinTech Conference & Exhibition, FinTech Awards, Global FinTech Hackcelerator Demo Day, and Global Investor Summit.
Date: November 16 - 17, 2020
Location: London, England
Cost: £699 - 1,299
In addtiion to keynote speeches, live tech demos, workshops, FinTechTalents also allows attendees to pitch ideas to top industry leaders. The event has more of a global festival experience than conference, with its added networking and entertainment options.
Dates: November 16-18, 2020
Location: San Francisco, CA (USA)
Costs: $1,595 - $4,195
The second of two events for FoF in San Francisco. For over 2 days, influencers and leaders gather for connections and insights on what’s to come with payments, banking, insurance, and AI. The conference includes more than 50 startup presentations from companies at the forefront of disruption.
Dates: November 23-25, 2020
Location: San Francisco, CA (USA)
Cost: $795
Following up from FoF, attendees can stay in San Francisco another week for Finovate West. The conference offers short-form demos from over 60 emerging companies. With over 120 speaker sessions spanning 3 days, expect quality content lending, community banking, payments, AI, and blockchain.
Date: December 2-3, 2020
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Cost: $495 - $695
With speakers from top companies like Uber, expect deep sessions on blockchain, payments, and big data in FinTech. The Symposium includes scheduled time for networking so industry professionals can connect with companies in search of top talent.
Dates: December 2-3, 2020
Location: London, UK
Cost: Registration to open soon
FinTech Connect helps financial institutions get educated on what’s the latest innovations in the market. FinTech providers meet with potential buyers to offer improved solutions in digital payments, cybersecurity, and RegTech.
Dates: December 2-4, 2020
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Cost: €99 - 999
MoneyConf is a meeting place for the world’s top banks, tech firms, and FinTech startups.
American Banker: Digital Banking
Dates: Dec 7-9, 2020
Location: Austin, TX (USA)
Cost: $895 - $2,495
This top brand in banking technology gathers over 1.5K execs from global financial institutions and connects them with fintechs. High quality content from experts, demos, and keynotes from leaders in digital banking take place over 3 days.
FinnoSummit Miami (by LendIt LATAM)
Dates: December 8-9, 2020
Location: Miami, FL (USA)
Cost: $99 - $299
End the year with a stop in Miami, with a top FinTech conference focused on banks, investors, and fintechs from Latin America. Well-known leaders from Brazil, Mexico, and Spain gather to discuss the latest trends, products, and impact from regulation.
As event dates draw near, we will make sure updates are made as soon they’re announced. The expectation is that most events in the next 6 months go completely virtual if current conditions with COVID-19 don’t improve.
For those that do attend these events, we’d love to hear from you! Comment below and let us what worked and what didn’t.
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