Day two of Money 2020 in Amsterdam is a wrap. The show is really living up to expectations, with so many innovative companies sharing big ideas and a palpable sense of community among the industry. The Main Stage session this afternoon was packed and the speakers really delivered: new partnerships, emerging channels, and a customer obsessed entrepreneur.
Racing to the finish, a payments adventure
A highlight was the announcement of Payments Race winner, racers are tasked with making their way around world while facing a series of payment challenges along the way. Each racer can only use only one payment method: cash, card, crypto, or mobile. The goal is to visit as many countries as possible, use as many types of transport as possible, and gain as many video endorsements as possible. Team Mobile emerged victorious – and offered an interesting anecdote. They made a stop in Seattle and were amazed at the lack of mobile payment capabilities! Applications are now being accepted for the Money 2020 US Payments Race across North America, from New York City to Las Vegas. Sounds like an adventure, check it out.
Empowering people with financial access in Indonesia and powering the Chinese tourism economy in Europe
Jason Thompson, CEO of OVO shared a story of growth and empowerment in the epicenter of Southeast Asia, Indonesia. Most people in Indonesia lack access to even the most basic financial services and OVO set out to change that and in the past 18-months has grown to be the #1 digital platform in Indonesia. Thompson announced that OVO is now expanding into micro lending, wealth management, and partnering with Prudential to offer insurance.
The Chinese middle class is on the rise and they’re traveling the world, according to Roland Palmer, CEO of Alipay Europe, there were 150 million trips out of China last year. Palmer discussed Alipay’s expansion into Europe and the company’s focus on meeting the needs of the Chinese tourist. As part this, he announced a partnership with Splyt, an aggregator of transportation services.
Science fiction is now real life, customer obsession is contagious
Patrick Gauthier took to the stage and showcased a new global study from Amazon Pay measuring consumer perceptions about voice services and smart assistants. In fact, 28% of European consumers said they are likely to buy a product or service using their voice*. It makes sense when you consider the average person types 65-75 words per minute but can speak 150-125 words per minute. Twice as fast! This is about more than speed, it’s about how being able to simply ask. Alexa will empower people to seize the moment.
People took notice when Patrick Collison, CEO and Co-founder of Stripe described how the company’s obsessive focus on a users needs is the secret to their success. It sounds too easy, talk to your customers, understand their problems, and then build software that addresses them. Collison also discussed how Stripe’s focus on enabling developers was novel when he founded the company in 2010 – and it continues to power their growth today.
Now we’re at the end of another great day at Money 2020, the Taste of Amsterdam last night was awesome so the bar is high for tonight’s Street Party.
*Amazon Pay conducted a double blind online survey in April 2019 among 10,297 consumers in the United States (US, N=1898), United Kingdom (UK, N=1399), Germany (N=1437), France (N=951), Italy (N=953), Spain (N=951), Japan (N=1468), and India (N=1240). All respondents were third-party panelists (not limited to Amazon customers). Questions in the survey covered the topics of cross-channel experience, voice commerce, and security/trust. This summary covers the topic of voice commerce only among consumers in Europe (EU).