Fintech Connect Europe 2026

Attendees, exhibitors & solutions

Who this event is for

Industry trends

Key trends shaping this market and its wider industry.

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A range of accommodation options near the venue and across key areas.

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Get around the city with these convenient transport options.

Frequently asked

Glossary

1

Open Banking

UK framework that lets customers share bank account data with regulated third parties through APIs, enabling account aggregation, payment initiation and credit decisions.

2

Open Finance

Extension of open banking principles to pensions, investments, insurance and other financial data, so customers can share and use a wider set of records.

3

Embedded Finance

Financial services integrated into non-financial customer journeys, such as lending at checkout, insurance bundled into a platform or accounts offered inside a software product.

4

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS)

Model where licensed banks or infrastructure providers supply accounts, payments, cards or lending to brands through APIs, often with the brand owning the customer relationship.

5

Payments Orchestration

Software layer that routes transactions across acquirers, gateways and payment methods to improve approval rates, reduce cost and add resilience.

6

Merchant Acquiring

The service that lets a merchant accept card and digital payments, covering authorisation, clearing, settlement and often fraud and chargeback support.

7

Card Issuing

Creating and managing payment cards or virtual credentials for consumers or businesses, often through BIN sponsorship and processor partnerships.

8

Real-Time Payments (RTP)

Payments settled in seconds and available around the clock, such as UK Faster Payments or instant payment schemes in other markets.

9

ISO 20022

Global standard for financial messaging that uses structured data; it is being adopted for high-value and cross-border payments to improve interoperability.

10

Faster Payments

UK real-time payment system for bank transfers, commonly used for account-to-account payments, payroll and merchant payouts.

11

SEPA

Single Euro Payments Area: harmonised euro payment schemes for credit transfers and direct debits across participating countries.

12

SWIFT

Cooperative messaging network used by financial institutions for cross-border payments and securities messages; it carries instructions rather than funds.

13

KYC

Know Your Customer: identity verification and risk checks performed before onboarding a customer or counterparty.

14

AML

Anti-money laundering: controls to detect and prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions evasion.

15

Sanctions Screening

Checking customers, payments and counterparties against sanctions lists and politically exposed person lists before and during a relationship.

16

RegTech

Technology that helps firms meet regulatory obligations, from transaction monitoring and reporting to compliance workflow and controls testing.

17

Tokenisation

Replacing sensitive data such as card numbers with tokens, or representing assets on a distributed ledger, depending on the context.

18

Stablecoin

Cryptoasset designed to maintain a stable value against a reference asset, often a fiat currency; regulatory treatment varies by jurisdiction.

19

CBDC

Central bank digital currency: digital money issued by a central bank; most major economies are researching or piloting it.

20

DeFi

Decentralised finance: financial applications built on smart contracts and public blockchains, often without traditional intermediaries.

21

WealthTech

Technology for wealth management, investing and advice, including robo-advice, portfolio tools and client reporting.

22

InsurTech

Technology for insurance distribution, underwriting, claims and risk assessment.

23

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)

Short-term instalment credit at checkout, usually regulated as consumer credit depending on the market and product structure.

24

Digital Wallet

App or platform that stores payment credentials and enables in-app, online or in-store payments.

25

Payment Rails

Underlying networks and schemes that move money, such as Faster Payments, CHAPS, SEPA, card networks and SWIFT.

26

API

Application programming interface: machine-to-machine interface that lets software request services or data, central to open banking and BaaS.

27

Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)

Multi-factor authentication for electronic payments under PSD2-style rules, typically combining something you know, have or are.

28

Regulatory Sandbox

Supervised environment where firms test innovative products with real or simulated customers under regulator oversight.

29

Core Banking

Back-office system that records accounts, balances and transactions for a bank or embedded finance provider.

30

Cross-Border Payments

Payments between jurisdictions, involving FX, correspondent banking, local rails and compliance checks.

31

Fraud Detection

Real-time analytics and rules that score transactions or onboarding attempts for fraud risk.

32

Challenger Bank

Newer bank, often app-first, competing with incumbents on user experience and niche propositions.

33

Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments

Bank transfer initiated directly from a customer account, often via open banking, bypassing card networks.

34

Variable Recurring Payments (VRP)

Open banking mechanism for recurring payments with customer-defined limits, used for subscriptions and sweeping.

35

Confirmation of Payee

UK name-checking service that helps payers verify the account holder before sending a bank transfer.

36

Embedded Lending

Credit offered inside a software platform or merchant journey, often underwritten using platform data.

37

Payment Facilitation (PayFac)

Model where a provider onboards sub-merchants under its own acquiring relationship and manages settlement and risk.

38

Merchant of Record

Entity that takes legal responsibility for a transaction, including tax, refunds and chargebacks, often used by software platforms.

39

Identity Verification

Checking that a person or business is who they claim to be, using documents, biometrics, databases or device signals.

40

Data Aggregation

Collecting and normalising account or financial data from multiple providers, often through open banking APIs.