We all cherish those networkers with a superpower for connecting people. Now there’s a conference that’s honed in on meeting the need: Fintech Meetup. Here’s our take on the show.

The Skinny

Weeks prior to the conference, you comb the attendee list and send your interest in a meeting to others. Those people then rank you as a strongly preferred or preferred meeting (or not), and you do the same. The conference gets to matchmaking and schedules you to meet in 15-minute increments with a few minutes in-between meetings to rush to the next table.

It’s intense, in a good way. If a normal business interaction may begin after three meetings– the first serendipitous, the second purposeful and the third detailed– Fintech Meetup may be a shortcut through the first two. 

What's New

In its second year in person, Fintech Meetup grew from roughly 3,000 to 4,000 attendees, and the show moved into the Venetian Convention Center, which made Money20/20 veterans feel at home. Many people were first timers, although some had someone else from their company attend last year.

What's Funny

Everyone called the meetings speed dates, even those who have never come close to the seemingly cringe-worthy cultural experience. They loved it.

We even caught people using the lightning rounds to connect with old colleagues who they could have easily texted. Perhaps this speaks to the convenience of the app to find a time and secure a meeting location.

Top Tips

Fintechs can pay for more banker meetings, some may benefit from leaning into this.

You must plan and schedule in advance for this show, don’t show up at the last-minute expecting dividends.

Think of this platform as an opportunity to market your brand, use the meetings for networking rather than hard sells. Hopefully you can share useful insights and form connections that last.

The Theme

Digitization. Companies from start-ups to Mastercard were focused on real use cases that will make finance better, faster, and smarter. AI was addressed more as a tool than an actual product, which is nice to see. One keynote said, “the whole exhibit hall is AI.” Possibly so, which is great for the acceleration of innovation.

WMA enjoyed expanding its partnership with Fintech Futures at the show. There are strong interviews coming up with Matera, Mastercard, Fiat Growth, Symend, Quinte and AtData. We’ll keep you posted on all the conversations– from banks embedding consumer POS solutions, to better personalized experiences and, of course, fraud prevention.