FinTech Festival 2022 and Open Finance

This week, MX hosted the 11th Annual FinTech Festival at the Sundance Mountain Resort. The annual event brings together the brightest minds in the financial industry to discuss how open finance is driving customer outcomes and reshaping the future. 

Below are key takeaways. You can also watch the replay of FinTech Festival LIVE for the full keynote sessions. Check back on the MX Blog for deeper dives into key insights from each session.

Empowering the World with Open Finance 

Shane Evans, MX Interim CEO and President

• Recognizing International Women’s Day: This year’s IWD theme is #BreakTheBias. MX Interim CEO & President Shane Evans challenged attendees to make a plan on how they can #BreakTheBias to create a more inclusive world where differences are valued and celebrated. 
• The Stress of Money: Today, money is the No. 1 cause of stress in America. Money struggles have also been linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety, migraines, high blood pressure, and heart attacks. MX is on a mission to change the status quo and empower the world to be financially strong.  
• Open Finance: Open Finance is about more than just providing consumers with access to financial data. It's about extracting more value from the data so that you can deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Open Finance vs. Open Banking: The Future of Financial Data

Simon Taylor, co-founder and Chief Product Officer, 11:FS

• Europe vs. United States: Regulated open banking in Europe is actually just regulated open access to checking accounts for payments and data. But, that same open access doesn’t apply for savings, loans, or investments in Europe. The U.S. may have something better than open banking — open finance. We have an opportunity to create a truly open financial ecosystem where there is access to all financial product types and the space for innovation.
• Be a Good Waiter: With open finance, it’s time for us to stop focusing on not being a bad landlord but instead focus on being a good waiter. Open finance helps organizations become good waiters by driving customer outcomes and delivering exceptional digital experiences.

The Lost Art of Connecting: Building Meaningful Business Relationships

Susan McPherson, best-selling author of The Lost Art of Connecting

• Live Longer with Meaningful Connections: Two years of social distancing or isolation has opened our eyes to the importance of our meaningful connections. In fact, if meaningfully connecting is a priority in your life, you'll actually extend your life more than eating right and running every day. 
• Follow the Gather-Ask-Do Method: To better connect and build meaningful relationships, simply use this approach: Gather (create opportunities to connect), Ask (learn what you can do for others), and Do (hold yourself accountable). 

Other sessions from the event covered everything from open banking to financial inclusion to cryptocurrencies. Highlights include:

• Everyone Wins with Open Banking: Open banking enables a world where financial institutions, fintechs, and consumers all win. It’s about enabling a customer to access their own data. It’s about better leveraging data to drive innovation, mitigate risk, and deliver better customer experiences. 
• The API Era of Finance: Finance is at the beginning of a third era — the API era. API banking will soon become bigger than online or mobile banking. All kinds of banking services will be made available via APIs from opening a bank account to transferring money to downloading your statements.
• Financial Inclusion is also about Belonging: If people don’t feel like they belong, they will move elsewhere. People need to feel that they matter and aren’t an afterthought. Those organizations that put their customers at the center of innovation will win. 
• Why Crypto May be Worth the Risk: Cryptocurrency is an emerging asset class and is showing signs of its place in an investment portfolio. For those looking to diversify their portfolio with investments in cryptocurrencies, it’s important to do your homework and understand that both the industry and investors play a role in managing risk.