Money20/20 Europe: RealFi, DeFi, and the Future of Payments
Last week, Georgia, Milorad and I attended one of the world’s biggest financial services events: Money20/20 Europe.
This year’s agenda felt more relevant than ever - bringing together regulatory leads, crypto innovators, central bankers and government advisors alongside the brightest minds in fintech. Between interviews and meetings, we caught some of the most thought-provoking panels and podcast recordings.
Here’s our wrap-up of the standout sessions:
National Payments Visions: UK vs Europe
In a lively discussion on the future of national payment systems, Oliver Hanmer (Payments Systems Regulator) and Henk Van Hulle (Open Banking Limited) joined Fernando Rodriguez Ferrer (Bizum) and Madalena Cascais Tomé to discuss the UK’s recently announced National Payments Vision and how it compares with emerging frameworks across the EU.
Key highlights:
UK Focus: In the document launched late last year, the UK Treasury has taken the lead on open banking to help build trust and provide consumers with genuine choice, most notably by backing account-to-account (A2A) payments. Panelists highlighted how this cohesive strategy brings together regulators, infrastructure providers, and private firms to streamline payment rails and foster innovation
EU Progress: While the European Commission and ECB have each published their own payment frameworks addressing both domestic and pan-European objectives, their core values align with the UK’s approach. Still, fragmentation persists across member states due to uneven compliance standards. Over the next few years, however, central banks and EU bodies expect these national visions to converge
Ultimately, the panel argued, Europe should advance toward a single, industry-wide vision that mirrors the UK’s coordinated effort.
Breaking Banks Europe: Bridging Web2 and Web3
We dropped into a live recording of Breaking Banks Europe, hosted by Don Ginsel with special guest Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Cardano.
The conversation covered:
RealFi in action: Imagine underwriting a tiny loan to a shopkeeper in Nairobi by tapping into alternative data - utility payments, airtime usage, social signals - instead of a traditional credit bureau. Within minutes, a borrower could be underwritten, collateralised, and disbursed an on-chain loan. This is the approach of RealFi, a decentralised lender with a $50 million book operating across Africa
Geopolitics of blockchain: With CBDC pilots, shifting sanctions, and evolving compliance regimes, fintechs may be nervous about integrating crypto functionality. The crypto leader is adamant, however, that blockchain adoption means that fintechs never have to pick a side; decentralised governance is a proven approach, keeping the Linux foundation on track while balancing contributions and competing interests from Chinese, Russian, European, American and other actors
Selective privacy: The standout idea was compliance on-chain. In order to bring large companies and institutions on chain, there must be a method of rationally disclosing what to share, and with who. With infrastructure like the Midnight Network, Charles imagines a world where compliance is on-chain and automated, sharing live data with regulators without disclosing it to the public. This scale of innovation could streamline the $500 billion compliance industry.
A glimpse into the future: real-time, selective data sharing with regulators could transform the $500B compliance industry.
Pockit’s Surprise Acquisition of Monese
Virraj Jitania, co-founder and CEO of Pockit, shared the company’s founding story and its latest bold move: acquiring Monese’s customer business.
What stood out:
Born from necessity: He outlined Pockit’s founding story, born from first hand experience of people falling outside the remit of traditional banks: gig workers who couldn’t open a basic checking account, migrants without local credit histories, and individuals who simply needed a more flexible way to manage money. Virraj pointed out that many incumbent banks in Europe have doubled-down on high-net-worth clients, leaving everyday consumers stranded. Pockit’s original proposition, a prepaid card and basic digital wallet solved part of the problem, but Virraj insisted that offering a simple stored-value card is only half the story
Strategic acquisition: Last year, Pockit executed a strategic acquisition, striking a deal for Monese’s customer business. With terms agreed in July 2024, Virraj and team had just 6 weeks to execute the purchase, working around the clock. He highlighted that the acquisition enabled Pockit to avoid applying for new licenses in the UK and across multiple European countries, leveraging Monese’s full e-money licenses in the UK and Single Euro Payments Area
Looking ahead: Now, Viraj is overseeing a quiet migration of Pockit’s entire deposit volume onto that partner’s platform, set to complete next year. For fintech founders, his takeaway was clear: build a culture of agility, enabling you to take advantage of unexpected opportunities like this one
Airwallex: Solving a Global Problem by Accident
In a fireside chat with Sophia Furber (S&P Global), Ciaran O’Malley of Airwallex explained how the fintech unicorn was born - not out of ambition, but frustration.
The backstory:
From beans to banking: The founders originally set out to launch a Melbourne coffee brand and scale it across APAC. However, they encountered a large barrier: international payments to suppliers. Instead of pursuing their initial business idea, they opted to solve the cross-border settlement problem that stopped them in their tracks - and the rest, as they say, is history. Since then, Airwallex has expanded rapidly, winning licences in Australia, APAC and across the globe
Built global from day one: Ciaran was asked whether launching in Australia helped or hindered their growth, and he didn’t hesitate: it was a catalyst. In a market of just 26 million people, they had to think global from day one. Rather than building for the local market, Airwallex had international expansion in mind from day one. Australia provided a strong talent pool and startup capital, but not the TAM, drawing the startup into a rapid campaign of global launches
Lesson learned: solving your own pain point might just lead to a billion-dollar business.
Project Nemo: Accessibility in Payments Can’t Be an Afterthought
One of the most meaningful sessions came from Joanne Dewar, founder of Project Nemo, alongside Jonathan Hughes of AlixPartners.
The key stat:
70% of disabled shoppers abandon purchases due to poor payment experiences.
Their call to action:
Fix the UX: If payments are too difficult in a store, cafe, restaurant or any other business, disabled people are likely to abandon their purchase or not return. Alongside excluding the customer, this payment experience also creates missed revenue. 70% of disabled shoppers will abandon a purchase if the payment experience is too difficult
Drive education: Project Nemo recently partnered with HSBC to improve education for fintech professionals on how they can address the issue, and encouraged the audience to become champions for boosting accessibility in their projects
Improving accessibility isn’t just ethical - it’s a smart business decision.
Until Next Year…
That’s a wrap on this year’s Money20/20. Already looking forward to 2026.
Have a panel, story, or stat from the show that stood out to you? Drop us a message - we’d love to hear it.
