A few weeks ago, I was at the Innovate Finance Global Summit, where three themes kept coming up again and again: stablecoins, AI and targeted support.
Each matters in its own right. Stablecoins could change how money moves, AI could reshape how firms operate and targeted support could help more people move from interest to action.
But since IFGS, I’ve found myself thinking less about each theme in isolation and more about what they have in common: their value will depend on the infrastructure firms have in place to support them.
That feels especially relevant as the industry heads to Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam. These themes will no doubt keep coming up in conversations with the fintechs and wealth firms we meet there, but the underlying question is much the same: do firms have the infrastructure, control and flexibility to turn good ideas into live, trusted customer experiences?
From our perspective, that’s where the real challenge sits.
Stablecoins: faster money still needs joined-up investing
Stablecoins were everywhere at IFGS. The appeal is easy to understand: faster settlement, lower payment costs, more efficient cross-border movement and the possibility of more transparent payment flows.
For investment platforms, the opportunity is not the payment rail in isolation. It’s what faster money movement could unlock across the wider journey: quicker funding, smoother withdrawals, clearer cash positions and fewer manual steps.
That matters because the biggest frictions in investing rarely sit in payments alone. They show up when accounts are opened and funded, product rules are applied, data is reconciled, trades are instructed, assets move between providers and customers try to see what’s happening.
Speeding up one part of the journey helps. But it doesn’t automatically make the whole experience faster, clearer or more reliable.
That’s the practical gap. Stablecoins are an enabling layer, and their value depends on the systems they connect to. If the infrastructure underneath still relies on overnight updates, manual intervention or disconnected workflows, the benefit is constrained. Money may move faster, while the rest of the journey waits to catch up.
Payment innovation will raise expectations across the whole investment experience. The stronger proposition will come from firms that can connect faster money movement with faster account opening, cleaner transfers and more transparent servicing.
AI: the opportunity depends on control
AI was another dominant theme at IFGS, as it is everywhere else right now. When it comes to investing, the most interesting question isn’t what the technology can do, but what firms need to use it well.
While the early productivity gains are already clear, the bigger opportunity in our sector is what AI could make possible beyond the back office: better journeys, smarter support and more scalable operating models that still feel controlled and trustworthy.
That could mean helping firms spot patterns in customer behaviour, monitor compliance, surface operational exceptions, support advisers more efficiently or help customers understand their options.
But all of this relies on firms having the right foundations in place: reliable data, clear permissions, well-understood boundaries, audit trails and explainable outcomes. They need to know where automation starts, where it stops and how someone reviews it when the answer matters.
Without that control, promising use cases tend to stay stuck in pilots or narrow internal tools. With it, AI becomes something firms can use with confidence in the parts of the journey where trust matters most.
(If you’re interested in how this plays out in the financial advice sector, by the way, you should check out our recent whitepaper.)
Targeted support: intent needs somewhere to go
Targeted support stood out at IFGS because it speaks to a long-standing problem in the market: many people are close to investing, but the final step still feels bigger than it should.
They may be saving regularly, learning more or building confidence. But the move from interest to action is often where momentum breaks down.
Done well, targeted support can help customers understand their options, build confidence and take the next step without pushing every interaction into full advice.
The risk is that the moment of intent is lost. A customer receives a useful prompt, understands why investing could be relevant and decides they are ready… but then the journey slows down. They have to re-enter details, wait for checks, navigate unfamiliar terminology or leave one experience for another.
The support may have worked, but the operating model has slowed the customer down at the exact moment they were ready to act.
For fintechs, I think that creates a major opportunity. The firms closest to customers already understand the behaviours, context and moments that matter – so if they can connect that insight to an investment journey that feels immediate, reliable and coherent, targeted support becomes more than a prompt. It makes investing feel like a natural next step inside an experience customers already trust.
The real test is delivery capacity
Stablecoins, AI and targeted support may sound like separate conversations. In practice, they all test the same thing: a firm’s ability to deliver.
The industry will keep talking about new capabilities, and rightly so. But the firms best placed to benefit will be the ones asking more practical questions.
How quickly can we launch? How easily can we adapt? How much control do we have over the data and customer experience? And how much of our energy is still spent working around legacy constraints?
Those questions matter because fintech innovation is becoming more connected. Faster money movement changes expectations for investment journeys, AI depends on clean data and auditable processes, and targeted support only works when customers can act in the moment.
That’s the conversation I’ll be carrying from IFGS into Amsterdam: how do firms turn the ideas everyone is talking about into investment propositions customers can actually use and trust?
If you’re heading to Money20/20 Europe and thinking about the same question, I’d love to compare notes.
We’ll be hosting three events across the week, including a drinks reception on Tuesday and a networking boat tour on Wednesday morning. Spaces are limited and filling up fast, so reserve your spot now: seccl.tech/amsterdam
