Last week I attended the Women in Payments EMEA Symposium 2024. This event took place at the beautiful De Vere Grand Connaught in London, on 29th and 30th April. The theme of “Get future ready now” covered not just the future landscape of payments but also delved into topics like women’s health in the workplace, hidden barriers for women’s careers, Allyship in a multigenerational workforce.

During the two-day event, there were inspiring talks from women leaders sharing their personal and career journeys, award ceremony celebrating incredible accomplishments by women in the payments industry and a number of panel sessions discussing the future of payments landscape. This event provided an excellent platform to network with established leaders, experts and innovators of the payments industry.

Personal Journeys

Inspirational leaders shared their personal journeys offering insight into how they dealt with the obstacles in their careers. It was amazing to hear about their determination, resilience and the importance of taking the time to know what really matters to you.

• Kristy Duncan - CEO, Women in Payments: Kristy inspired us all with her journey of building “Women In Payments” with such grit and persistence. She talked about the power of networking.
• Marion King - Chair and Trustee, Open Banking Limited: Marion painted a beautiful picture through words about her incredible career journey that took her around the world. 
• Kate Fitzgerald - Head of policy, Payment Systems Regulator: Kate laid out the 3 most important things that matter to her and her career as she talked about her personal journey.

Panel sessions

In line with the theme of “Get future ready now”, some of the panel sessions included “The future of the Payments industry, digital everything”, “Impact beyond payments – connecting consumer to causes”, “The evolving digital landscape – new technologies, new challenges”, “Is Generative AI changing the world”.  

• “The future of the Payments industry, digital everything”: This panel session shed light on the evolving payments ecosystem, including the impact of instant payments, BNPL, open banking, CBDCs, and the rise of digital banks on the financial landscape.
• “Impact beyond payments – connecting consumer to causes”: delved into how payment providers are connecting non-profit organizations with the Payment ecosystem and enabling merchants to accept donations at checkout. These micropayments leave a mega impact and help organizations combine their social mission with a commercial ambition.
• “Is Generative AI changing the world”: The panelists discussed the risks associated with Generative AI and the challenges for PSPs to get consumers & merchants to trust the technology. The next chapter in payments, thanks to Generative AI, could be taking us to automatic payments without any clicks whatsoever.

The New Frontier: ISO 20022 and AI

I had the privilege of moderating the panel session 'The New Frontier: ISO 20022 and AI'. The panel comprised esteemed experts who shared their insights on this compelling topic. Joining me on the panel was Isabelle Bouille, Director and Principal Product Manager at BNY Mellon; Amanda Mickleburgh, Director of Product, Merchant Fraud at ACI Worldwide; and Egle Skomskyte, Senior Payments Expert at Swift.

During the session, we covered a wide range of topics related to ISO 20022, including its benefits, the challenges of implementing it, lessons learned from its migration, use cases of artificial intelligence (AI) leveraging ISO 20022's rich and structured data, and the importance of data quality throughout the payment chain. The session attracted a significant audience and generated engaging questions.

Summary

All in all, what an incredible event organised by Kristy Duncan and the Women in Payments team. I came away from this event filled with inspiration, enthusiasm and a stronger network. The closing cocktails at the end of day 2 provided platform for some passion filled chats about stablecoins and CBDCs over red wine. That’s how you get future ready!!!