Money 20/20: Takeaways for Jersey

From 2 to 4 June, I attended Money20/20 Europe at the RAI in Amsterdam. It is regarded as one of the biggest events in the fintech calendar because it brings together a top top quality conference programme, exhibition floor and attendees all in one place.

For Digital Jersey, this gives us a chance to meet potential technology partners and relocation prospects, strengthen relationships and uncover the latest technological developments.

The clearest message from the event was that providers are starting to combine AI, digital money, identity and payments inside existing financial services.

At a glance

• Stablecoin capabilities are appearing within payment and account products, though evidence of sustained demand is still limited.
• Agentic AI is moving from conversation to controlled use cases, with authority, approval and accountability at the centre.
• Payment infrastructure depends on rules, provider access and operational processes as much as technology.
• Jersey’s strongest fit is likely to be in institutional workflows across funds, private wealth, treasury and fiduciary services.

The rise of stablecoins

Stablecoins featured heavily throughout Money20/20. The event’s official content pillars described a “Money Stack Rewired”, connecting stablecoins, payment rails, data, identity and trust.

The main development discussed was their appearance inside services businesses already use.

Checkout.com announced at the conference that eligible enterprise merchants would be able to accept consumer stablecoin payments through Coinbase Payments. It’s going to sit right alongside cards, bank transfers, digital wallets and local payment methods on the same platform.

Triple-A also announced a European rollout of multicurrency accounts that combine euro accounts with stablecoin and local-currency payouts.

These are useful signs of integration but must still be considered in their context as company announcements. The evidence of widespread usage, transaction volumes, and long-term commercial demand is yet to be seen.

I think the strongest potential fit for Jersey in this area is going to be around: fund cash movements and settlement linked to tokenised assets.

Fund administrators, banks, and fiduciary business will increasingly meet clients and counterparties using stablecoins, so it’s worth getting ahead.

If you are wanting to explore stablecoin integration then we’re happy to help wherever possible.

Who’s running the Agents?

Agentic AI was unsurprisingly another one of the most discussed topics at the conference.

Worldline, ING and Mastercard announced a live end-to-end agentic payment involving an ING cardholder and a merchant in the Netherlands.

An AI agent found concert tickets within the customer’s budget, the customer approved, ING handled authentication and authorisation, and the transaction carried identifiers showing its agentic origin.

The companies describe this as Europe’s first such transaction in production.

The majority of the discussion actually centered on the controls around the payment. Who gave the agent authority? How was the customer authenticated? Who carries the liability when something goes wrong?

The JFSC’s guidance on AI explains how existing legal and regulatory obligations apply to AI use, with controls that reflect the impact of the use case. JFSC guidance on AI

Payments, payments, and more payments

Payments are becoming more multi-rail. Cards, account-to-account payments, local payment methods, digital wallets and digital-money infrastructure will each suit different transactions.

The launch of the UK Payments Initiative was a good example of the work needed around a new rail. The scheme is designed for commercial variable recurring payments, allowing a customer to authorise recurring or variable amounts directly from a bank account within agreed limits.

Participating banks and fintechs have agreed a rulebook, commercial model, operational standards, safeguards and dispute processes.

The Great Rebundling

Money20/20’s ‘Great Rebundling’ theme captured a more connected provider market. Banks are adding fintech capabilities. Fintechs are broadening their offers. Infrastructure providers are bringing together accounts, FX, payments, identity and digital-money services.

That can make it easier to access new capabilities. It can also create deeper dependencies.

A single service may rely on several underlying providers. Seemingly separate suppliers may use the same cloud platform, identity service, AI model or payment network. That matters when you are assessing resilience, concentration risk and your ability to switch provider.

If you are assessing a provider, look beyond the front end. Ask where money and data move, which third parties are critical, and what happens if a part of the service fails.

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Takeaways for Jersey

– Financial infrastructure is converging. The value is increasingly in connecting money, data, identity and compliance across a transaction. That is highly relevant to Jersey’s institutional businesses over consumer fintech.

– Stablecoins are here. The important developments will be those that improve fund flows, cross-border payments, transfers and liquidity management.

– Successful AI adoption depends on control. The challenge is safely connecting AI to records, workflows and decisions. Identity, permissions, audit trails and accountability will shape what firms can deploy.

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If these themes raise questions for your organisation, Digital Jersey can help connect you with relevant firms, providers and expertise.

Get in touch to discuss a specific use case, explore a potential pilot or join the wider conversation on what these developments could mean for Jersey.