For the first time ever, Ireland’s business development agency Enterprise Ireland will host a pavilion at Money 20/20 Europe, one of the world’s largest global fintech events, which takes place in Amsterdam in June.
Billed as the place ‘where money does business’, the international conference and exhibition brings together leading players from all aspects of financial services innovation, including fintech, payments, regtech, insurtech and more.
Ireland is already a leading hub for fintech, with Irish company Fexco having pioneered payments technology as far back as the early 1980s.
Since then, the country has successfully developed a strong cohort of successful innovators, including global payments unicorn Transfermate, ecommerce financing giant Wayflyer, and Stripe, a global leader in online payments with dual headquarters in Ireland and San Francisco.
In the regtech space, Ireland is home to pioneers such as ID-Pal, a multi award winning leader in identity verification and AML screening, Corlytics, a world leader in regulatory risk intelligence, and Fenergo, a developer of client life cycle management technology that is used by major banks worldwide.
Value for Money 20/20
This year’s Money 20/20 Europe event is focused on the fundamental shift taking place in the world of money as new governments, regulators and business leaders respond to unprecedented AI-driven generational change.
A huge part of the value in attending is the opportunity it offers businesses to develop leads, partnerships and deals. For Irish companies, travelling under the umbrella of Enterprise Ireland allows them to amplify their profile significantly.
That’s thanks to Enterprise Ireland’s strong reputation worldwide. Known not only for its mentorship, skills development and grant support for export-focused start-ups at home, Enterprise Ireland is also recognised globally as an active venture capital investor. In fact, data analyst’s firm PitchBook ranked it as Europe’s most active VC by deal count last year.
The importance of fintech and the wider financial services sector to Ireland’s economy can’t be overstated.
It is worth more than €22 billion in exports each year, or around 4.4 per cent of Ireland’s GDP, and employs some 120,000 people, according to the latest EY analysis of the Irish Financial Services sector. It is on the crest of a wave too, currently recording year-on-year revenue growth of more than six per cent.
“Ireland has become a key hub for financial and fintech services, which comes from the deep-rooted knowledge we have in this sector here in Ireland,” says Anna-Marie Turley, head of fintech, financial services & cybersecurity at Enterprise Ireland.
“Money 20/20 is a chance for us to really showcase the best of what we have here in Ireland, both on the payments and regtech side in particular.”
European opportunities
As part of its strategy for success, Enterprise Ireland is currently focused on increasing the amount of business its client companies do within Europe, including the UK, which is the sector’s second biggest market and currently accounts for 23 per cent of its exports.
The US is the sector’s biggest market, at 43 per cent, and one in which it will continue to pursue growth, she points out.
After all, the success of Irish fintech in the US is a clear demonstration of the sector’s capacity for innovation and success. Enterprise Ireland’s position has always been to develop a diverse spread of market and, it’s a strategy that is paying dividends.
“It’s important to hold on to what we have but equally to exploit other opportunities where possible,” says Turley.
To facilitate that, Enterprise Ireland client companies will be able to take advantage of a specially developed app that enables them to book meetings with potential clients, investors and suppliers at the event. Staff at the pavilion will also help enable and facilitate meetings and introductions, she adds.
World beating
Among the Enterprise Ireland client companies participating at Money 20/20 Europe this year is ID-Pal, which offers businesses an easy to use, online identity verification and anti-money laundering screening service.
Designed to set up in minutes and tailored to an individual business’s needs in just a few clicks, the platform uses a unique blend of checks to instantly verify identities across all channels and jurisdictions. As such it takes away the hassle, high costs and risks that traditionally come with regulatory compliance.
Clevercards will also be present in the Pavilion. The global digital payments platform enables businesses and public sector organisations to send digital Mastercards to anyone, anywhere at any time, downloadable instantly.
Because of its ability to provide instant distribution of configurable cards, it is used by employers to enhance their team’s productivity by streamlining expense management, as well as to hand out benefits. Other client companies showcasing their innovations include Know Your Customer, an award-winning Regtech company that specialises in next-generation business verification solutions for financial institutions and regulated organisations worldwide. It has built a global customer base across 11 verticals in 18 jurisdictions. Continuum is a company showcasing its innovative multimulticurrencyents processing solutions, including Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) and Multicurrency Pricing (MCP). EngageHub provide a range of solutions including a Regulatory change management solution RegSolv which helps financial services organisations to seamlessly track regulatory change management requirements to simplify compliance and protect stakeholders, using AI, machine learning and automation. Facilipayis a leader in complex payment convergence providing omnichannel payment options to businesses and organisations. Its solutions enable streamlined payments acceptance from multiple channels into one easy to manage system.
Ministerial support
Around 100 people will travel to Money 20/20 Europe with Enterprise Ireland, accompanied by Minister of State Robert Troy TD.
“It’s all about seeking out future opportunities for our clients, ensuring that they can stay ahead in their own innovations and enabling them to identify and answer the challenges that are coming down the track in their sectors,” says Turley.
Right now, AI is transforming the entire sector. “For us it’s about recognising the opportunities AI can bring and seeing how it can be integrated into their business,” she adds.
“Because the agenda at Money 20/20 is so cutting edge, with enormous opportunities for networking, there is huge knowledge value to be gained by attending. It’s about generating new business opportunities, sourcing potential investors, finding out what’s coming down the tracks, keeping up to date with their innovation, and staying ahead of the competition.”
