After another Money20/20 in Las Vegas, one thing stands out to me: the best part of this show isn’t the announcements or the buzzwords. It’s the people you get to talk to.
This year’s show at The Venetian drew roughly 11,000 attendees from more than 85 countries, and I was lucky to be among them.
For anyone in B2B fintech marketing or PR, Money20/20 is a chance to sit down with the people building the future of fintech and walk away with ideas you didn’t have when you arrived. It’s also a reminder of the value of in-person networking at fintech conferences. For me, it was a pleasure to reconnect with familiar faces and meet so many new ones.
Here are the lessons from Money20/20 that stood out most for fintech marketers.
The conversations that mattered most
Some of my best moments weren’t on any agenda. They were candid conversations, and two themes kept resurfacing:
Everyone wants to cut through the noise. With so many companies chasing the same buzzwords, the question I heard most was how to stand out when every fintech company claims AI. Brand differentiation in fintech comes down to telling a story that’s specific, credible and different.
Trust is the new differentiator. Whether the topic was AI, stablecoins or fraud, people kept coming back to how to earn and keep the confidence of customers, partners and regulators.
These conversations are a big part of what makes fintech interesting to me. There’s no shortage of innovation, but explaining why it matters, and why people should trust it, is often the harder part.
The biggest trends on the show floor
Here are a few key takeaways from what I saw and heard the most.
Agentic AI was everywhere
If one word defined the 2026 floor, it was “agentic.” AI replaced stablecoins as the show’s main focus, with particular attention on agentic payments. The most interesting conversations went a step further: When an AI agent buys something, who verifies it, and who’s liable if it goes wrong? Liability when AI agents make payments is still an open question, and several companies showed tools built to solve that problem.
Stablecoins got practical
Stablecoins didn’t disappear; they got practical. The pitch shifted from “why stablecoins” to “here’s how they plug into what you already use.” Many announcements focused on partnerships that let consumers spend crypto and stablecoin balances at established merchants and help institutions assess risk before funds move.
Fraud, identity and AI agent authentication got serious
As money moves faster, and increasingly without a human pressing “buy,” fraud prevention was front and center. The fraud risks when AI agents make purchases came up again and again. Identity verification, risk scoring and “know your agent” tools were everywhere, with a growing focus on AI agent authentication for payments: how an agent can present a verified credential before paying a merchant.
Cross-border payments showed up in force
Cross-border players had a strong presence, making it one of the most visible themes. Conversations centered on risk mitigation, processing and caution about new infrastructure. One point came through clearly, and it explains why real-time payments don’t fix cross-border friction: Faster payment rails don’t yet translate into better cross-border payments on their own.
Bank-fintech partnerships and embedded finance
Much of the floor was about joining forces rather than building alone. Banks, fintechs and tech companies announced a range of partnerships, and conversations focused on how bank-fintech partnerships, embedded finance and shared infrastructure can speed up innovation.
What it all means for fintech storytellers
When every booth says “AI” and every panel mentions stablecoins, the companies that win attention are the ones that explain, in plain language, what they do and why it matters.
That may be the most important of the fintech PR trends I saw this year. Buzzwords won’t earn a reporter’s interest or a buyer’s trust. What reporters look for in fintech announcements is clear proof points, credible spokespeople and a point of view, and those same ingredients are the foundation of real fintech thought leadership.
I left Money20/20 with new connections, plenty to think about and a long list of conversations I’d like to continue. Thanks to everyone who made time to catch up or introduce me to something new. I’m already looking forward to seeing where these conversations lead.
