4 key takeaways from Money20/20 Europe 2024

People. Partnerships. Payments. Money.

This year’s edition of Money20/20 had it all, bringing merchants, banks, regulators and payments providers together for a week of insights in beautiful Amsterdam.

Featuring more than 120 panels with guests from across the payments landscape, the event had a little bit of something for everyone. So now that the dust has settled and everyone’s recovered from their post-conference blues, we’re looking back on a few of this year’s key themes.

Open banking was the talk of the conference

Money20/20 Europe put open banking back on the marquee in a big way. 

Which isn’t to say it ever really fell off — there were plenty of great discussions on the topic last year, including a session on card alternatives featuring our very own Co-Founder and CEO Francesco Simoneschi. But in 2022 and 2023, it was easy to miss out on those insights as subjects like crypto, blockchain, AI and PSD3 dominated the conversation. 

Not so this time around. In fact, open banking got its own dedicated strand on day two, "The Next Frontier", where providers, banks, consultancies and merchants from all over the globe gathered to bring the topic back into the spotlight.

So what were the big talking points? The consensus was that 2024 will be a pivotal year for Pay by bank. 

Consumer adoption has risen consistently over the past 12 months, showing customers recognise the payment method and are keen to use it. Now, the biggest goal is to get merchants to embrace Pay by bank — instant payments taken directly from a customer’s bank account via API — in the same way.

“It took contactless 10 years, the London Olympics and a pandemic to become an overnight success,” says Nadja Bennett, TrueLayer’s Director of Strategic Accounts. “In just six years, open banking has nearly 6 million monthly users.”

Luckily, leading retailers and ecommerce merchants have recognised the benefits of Pay by bank and are already rolling it out to their checkout pages. With no intermediaries or interchange fees, it’s an enticing option for businesses at a time when card transaction fees continue to eat away at their bottom line.

“Even when major merchants can negotiate for better rates, they’re still losing a significant chunk of revenue to card fees,” Nadja notes. “Pay by bank offers a way around that while making payments and returns easier for their customers.”

Merchants need more flexible payment options

While the benefits of Pay by bank were widely discussed, speakers also highlighted the need to venture beyond one-off payments to cater to merchants who need one-click checkout functionality.

That’s why multiple sessions talked up the potential of commercial variable recurring payments (cVRPs). They let customers send businesses repeat payments of varying amounts directly from their bank account.

As with Pay by bank, merchants can use cVRPs to avoid costly fees associated with cards. But cVRPs can also facilitate frictionless checkout experiences and faster returns compared to cards.

“Cards weren’t built with digital commerce in mind, and recurring payments have changed a lot in the last decade,” says Nadja. “In an age where consumers are used to purchasing with a single click and use a lot of subscription services, cards don’t give customers a lot of visibility over where their details are stored and where they’re subscribed. cVRPs solve that problem while providing a truly frictionless digital experience.”

That last point is especially important because, as a few talks showed, making payments smoother and more customer-centric is a primary concern for industry-leading merchants.

Personalising the customer experience

With Pay by bank and cVRPs, open banking-based payments give businesses greater control over their payments at a lower cost. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all proposition; merchants need to tailor the solutions to their customers’ preferences.

That was a key theme at the “Everything, Everywhere, Instantly?” panel moderated by Nadja Bennett. Featuring panellists from Just Eat Takeaway, lastminute.com and Kingfisher, the talk showcased the need for flexible payment methods that are fit for online, mobile and omnichannel experiences.

Each speaker had a different reason for exploring Pay by bank. Just Eat Takeaway’s Yasmin Ferdousbarin wanted to let customers in different markets order with their preferred payment method. 

Pay by bank appealed to lastminute.com’s Nicola Bettari because it provides ample fraud protection while making it easier for customers to purchase higher-ticket items like hotels or flights.

And for Kingfisher’s Fiennes Davey, it has the potential to bridge the gap between online and in-store shopping while also making it easier for customers to pay for large orders.

Across all of these diverse shopping experiences, the customer must be the priority. And that goes beyond just the interface. Understanding the shopper, their desired experience, and how they interact with the checkout is key to preventing dropoff and lost revenue.

“Don’t forget the user,” recommends Yasmin. “Think from the user’s perspective on the macro level and not the micro level, because that's where it goes wrong. Whatever you build, build it in the most convenient, optimal way with minimum steps, clear explanation and consistency.”

By working with a knowledgeable open banking provider, merchants of all sizes can adjust their Pay by bank integration to meet their customers’ exact needs.

Banks & fintechs aren’t competitors — they’re partners

Of course, merchants aren’t the only partnerships that open banking providers need to build. Banks will also be key to driving Pay by bank adoption in the coming years.

“We have to help each other out in the broader sense, end to end,” Yasmin advocates. “So merchants, service providers and banks must integrate in order to make Pay by bank a success.”

That may seem like a big ask. Ever since the first wave of fintechs disrupted traditional banking, there’s been a tendency to pit challenger brands against incumbent financial institutions.

But as newer competitors mature and their traditional counterparts modernise, is greater cooperation between the two sides on the horizon?

That was a key question whenTrueLayer CEO and Co-Founder Francesco Simoneschi joined a panel that included guests from Lloyds Banking, Mambu and PwC. 

The issues at hand: what can banks gain from partnering with agile, innovative fintechs? And how can these new players gain purchase in a traditional and complex banking environment?

The conversation centred around digital transformation, and it quickly became clear that effective partnerships don’t just help banks modernise their offerings. Instead, they can help incumbent brands maintain ever-important customer relationships. 

With products like Apple Pay gaining traction while skimming revenue off issuers, partnerships can help banks improve their customer experience and mitigate the threat.

“I think that the banks are already regretting giving Apple all that importance in the payment journey of consumers,” Francesco says. “Open banking actually gets back a lot of that consumer relationship to the banks and makes them more relevant and in a position to deliver incremental value, incremental service to their consumers.

So between bolstering banks’ relationship with their customers and changing the face of online shopping, Pay by bank has the potential to gain a significant foothold in 2024. One thing’s certain: there’ll be plenty to talk about at next year’s Money20/20 Europe.

For more information on why you should add Pay by bank to your checkout, read our latest report, "The time is now: 5 scenarios where open banking can accelerate growth at checkout"