Marie Walker, Raidiam’s Open Futurist, looks back at this year’s Fintech Americas conference.
Recently I had the pleasure of speaking at Fintech Americas in Miami. For those of you who aren’t familiar, this is the largest banking and fintech conference in Latin America, attracting well over 1,000 senior executives from the region and beyond. The event, held in Miami from May 15-17 2024, focused on the theme of surviving and thriving in the digital jungle, exploring how the financial industry can adapt to the rapid changes brought by technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI).
Attending region specific events is always a great way to understand how market dynamics affect global tech trends. One of my biggest takeaways was a very non-technical emphasis on the power of collaboration, perhaps matching nicely the hybrid balancing act of regulator led/market driven change in this part of the world. This was certainly a key theme of the really enjoyable regulator panel I chaired with Federal Reserve System’s Sunayna Tuteja, Comisión para el Mercado Financiero (CMF)’s Claudia Sotelo Videla and Banco Central do Brasil’s Aristides Cavalcante Neto.
On the panel we spoke about the:
- Importance of collaboration between regulators and industry.
- Testing ideas and possibilities together to better understand the complexities and requirements.
- Using this experimentation and consultation to shape policy and ultimately delivering better results for consumers.
It’s all about the ideas leading to solutions – not necessarily focusing on the tech which can come later!
Looking at the event as a whole, here are some of my other key takeaways.
Three Key Takeaways from Fintech Americas 2024
1. Infinite Adaptation: The New Imperative for the Financial Industry
One of the key messages of the conference was that the traditional approach to digital transformation, which involves implementing a set of predefined actions and goals, is no longer sufficient in the dynamic and complex environment of the digital jungle. Instead, the financial industry needs to embrace the concept of infinite adaptation, which means constantly learning, experimenting, and evolving to meet the changing needs and expectations of customers, regulators, and competitors. This requires a shift in mindset, culture, and strategy, as well as the adoption of agile and flexible methodologies and tools.
2. AI: The Game-Changer and the Challenge
Another major topic of discussion was the potential and the challenges of AI for the banking sector. AI is seen as a game-changer that can enhance customer experience, optimise operations, reduce costs, and generate new revenue streams. However, AI is also a challenge that requires careful and ethical implementation, as well as continuous monitoring and evaluation. AI also poses a threat to the human workforce, as it can automate and replace many tasks and roles. Therefore, the financial industry needs to invest in reskilling and upskilling its employees, as well as fostering a culture of lifelong learning and innovation.
3. Human Interaction: The Key to Integrating Technology and Humanity
A third important point from the conference was the importance of human interaction in the era of AI and digitalisation. The speakers and panelists emphasised that technology should not replace human contact, but rather augment and complement it. Human interaction is indispensable for building trust, empathy, and loyalty with customers, as well as for collaborating and networking with other stakeholders in the ecosystem. Moreover, human interaction is vital for integrating technology and humanity, as it allows us to understand the needs, values, and emotions of ourselves and others, and to use technology in a responsible and ethical way.
Encouraging stuff.
And finally, as many Latam regulators explore how best to implement Open Finance, it was noteworthy that several large financial institutions spoke with me privately about their hope that their countries would provide access to a centralised Open Finance stack. They asked value versus cost questions, to help them steer and influence market-creating decisions.
Quite a change from some of the conversations I had in Europe at the beginning of the ‘Open’ journey and an extremely positive indication of how far we have already come!
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Marie Walker is Raidiam’s resident Open Futurist. She is a globally recognised fintech influencer, module author and tutor for Cambridge University’s Open Banking & Open Finance course, and curator of the Open Data daily news and insights round-up open-conversations.org.
