Citi's 8th Annual Digital Money Symposium

March 2021

This year the event took place virtually over a series of sessions on 8th, 15th, 22nd 24th & 29th March 2021. The event consisted of a series of fireside chats, presentations and panel discussions on a range of global FinTech topics including Cryptocurrencies, the Future of Money, Embedded Finance, Payments, RegTech, Open Banking, Inclusion, FinTech and the Cloud, BigTech and Banking plus many more.

Agenda | Monday 8th March 2021

Welcome Remarks with Jane Fraser, CEO, Citi

  • Jane Fraser, CEO, Citi

Citi’s CEO, Jane Fraser opens Citi’s 8th Annual Digital Money Symposium.

Women in FinTech: Reshaping the Industry

  • Shruti Ajitsaria, Partner and Head of Fuse, Fuse
  • Elly Hardwick, Non Executive Director, Digital & Fintech
  • Beth Devin, Strategic Advisor, HearstLab
  • Host: Emily Turner, Head of Innovation and Business Development, Institutional Clients Group, Citi

FinTech may have shaken up finance, but in terms of diversity, there's a way to go. Leading women in the world of FinTech share their views.

Building A New Digital Bank: In Conversation with Anne Boden, CEO Starling Bank

  • Anne Boden, CEO, Starling Bank
  • Host: Ronit Ghose, Global Head Banks Research & Co-Head FinTech Group, Citi

The story behind Starling Bank, the digital banking landscape and the future of banking.

Empowering Female Entrepreneurs in the Digital Age

  • Dirk Brouwer, CEO, ASA International Group
  • Ms. Haridarshini, VP – Operational Excellence, Credit Access Grameen
  • Nicole Reich, Board Member, Gentera Compartamos & CEO, BNP Paribas Cardif Mexico
  • Host: Kyla Gineitis, Inclusive Finance, Citi

Digitalization offers a variety of opportunities for female empowerment and for a more equal female participation in labor markets, financial markets, and entrepreneurship.

Bank of the Future

  • Dr Leda Glyptis, Chief Client Officer, 10x Future Technologies
  • Michal Kissos Hertzog, CEO, Pepper
  • Megan Cooper, Head of Digital Strategy, Barclays
  • Host: Ronit Ghose, Global Head Banks Research & Co-Head FinTech Group, Citi

The traditional banking industry is undergoing a seismic shift with advances in technology, big data, and AI. Our panel of experts discuss what more there is to come.

Agenda | Monday 15th March 2021

Social Trading Revolution: The Pioneers

  • Yoni Assia, CEO, eToro
  • Host: Ornit Shinar, Head of External Innovation and Venture Investing, Israel, Citi

Everyone is a day trader now. Social media platforms and digital communities have transformed into virtual trading desks enabling millions of people to trade financial markets on day-trading apps like never before.

Retail Brokerage & Trading – Temporary Surge or Permanent Market Expansion?

  • Alessandro Foti, CEO & GM, Fineco Bank
  • June Felix, CEO, IG Group
  • Rikard Josefson, CEO, Avanza Bank AB
  • Host: Jens Ehrenberg, European Banks & Diversified Financials Research, Citi

Retail trading activity has increased significantly and platforms have seen record levels in trading volumes. We host a panel of industry experts to get their views on the market environment and expectations for the future of the industry.

Asset Managers Prepare for a Digital Future

  • Peter Strikwerda, Global Head of Digitalization & Innovation, APG
  • Charlotte Wood, Head of Innovation and Fintech Alliances, Schroders
  • Host: Sandy Kaul, Global Head of Business Advisory Services, Citi

How is the asset management industry positioned for a digital future?

Banking Made Easy: In Conversation with T S Anil, CEO Monzo

  • TS Anil, Global CEO, Monzo Bank
  • Host: Ronit Ghose, Global Head Banks Research & Co-Head FinTech Group, Citi

Learn more about the Monzo journey, the company’s future and outlook on the industry from Monzo’s CEO.

Banking on Innovation

  • Annerie Vreugdenhil, Chief Innovation Officer, ING Neo
  • Claire Calmejane, Chief Innovation Officer, Societe Generale
  • Macgregor Duncan, Chief Development Officer, Westpac
  • Host: Laura Noonan, The Financial Times

In recent years banking innovation has been a major industry trend, but has it hit a potential roadblock? As the world reels from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic additional demands on resources threaten to de-prioritise parts of the banking innovation agenda.

What is Next for Open Banking?

  • Imran Gulamhuseinwala, Implementation Trustee, Open Banking
  • Daniel Kjellén, Founder and CEO, Tink
  • Monika Liikamaa, Co-Founder, Group CEO & Chair, Enfuce
  • Host: Anna Maj, FinTech leader & Advisor; Senior Lecturer, Creative Link

As we enter into the second year of the landmark directive, we wanted to quickly take stock of where we are while looking at what’s next for Open Banking in 2021, both in Europe and beyond.

Awakening the Sleeping Giant: The Future of RegTech

  • Shruti Ajitsaria, Partner and Head of Fuse, Fuse
  • Nicola Yiannoulis, Senior Policy Expert, Digital Finance, European Banking Authority
  • Ian Hollowbread, Head of RegTech, ING Labs
  • Dan Schleifer, Co-Founder and CEO, Cosaic
  • Host: Sophia Bantanidis, Head of Regulatory Strategy and Policy TTS Innovation, Citi Innovation Lab

The transformational potential to address regulatory challenges with technology making regulation more efficient and compliance simpler.

Digitising Governments

  • Naveed Sultan, Chairman, Institutional Clients Group, Citi
  • Julie Monaco, Global Head, PSG, Citi
  • Peter Kerstens, Advisor for Financial Sector Digitalisation and Cybersecurity, European Commission
  • Host: Gary Schneider, Regional Head, NAM PSG, Citi

Together with economic and social imperatives, digital policy is fast becoming the third pillar of good governance for governments. Considerations range from having the appropriate networks, platforms, digital money and payment systems in place to ensuring that any digital identity scheme and regulation can enable inclusion and societal benefits.

CBDC’s: Digital Currencies and the Future of the Financial System

  • David Birch, Global Ambassador, Consult Hyperion
  • Benedicte Nolens, Centre Head, BIS Innovation Hub
  • Andres Wolberg-Stok, Global Head of Strategy, Office of the CTO, Citi
  • Host: Joumanna Bercetche, Co-anchor Street Signs Europe, CNBC International

Retail Central Bank Digital Currencies as an alternative to physical cash is an enticing prospect for many countries. What will this mean for the future of the monetary system?

Carpe Diem: Facebook, Libra and A New Digital Coin

  • Christian Catalini, Co-Creator of Diem/Libra. Chief Economist, Diem Association
  • Host: Andres Wolberg-Stok, Global Head of Strategy, Office of the CTO, Citi

Christian Catalini, chief economist at the Diem association, discusses the launch of Diem, outlining the stablecoin’s key features and uses, the regulatory response and associated risks.

Agenda | Monday 22nd March 2021

Embedded Finance in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

  • Wale Ayeni, Acting Global Head - Venture Capital and Disruptive Technologies, IFC - International Finance Corporation
  • Karen Adie, Director, Merchant Services, TradeDepot
  • Sergio Barrero, Citi Inclusive Finance, Citi
  • Host: Matthew Saal, Lead Financial Sector Specialist, IFC / World Bank

Embedded finance is emerging as a set of solutions that increase convenience, improve credit quality, and broaden access to finance. This session will look at embedded finance from a technology, business and financial services perspectives, to highlight drivers, trends, and impact.

E-commerce, Lending & Payments: In Conversation with Bhavesh Gupta, CEO PayTM

  • Bhavesh Gupta, CEO – Lending, Paytm
  • Host: Vira-Anong Phutrakul, Managing Director, Head of Consumer Banking, Citi

An overview of how India’s payments ecosystem is evolving and the role Paytm plays in bringing lending and payment solutions to the mainstream economy.

Asia FinTech Champions

  • David Messenger, CEO, Lianlian Global
  • Michele Ferrario, Co-Founder and CEO, StashAway
  • Walter de Oude, Founder and Group CEO, Singlife
  • Host: Olivia Soo, Equity Sales, Citi

Asia has emerged as a leading force within FinTech, who can catch up?

Banking the Next Billion: Digital Financial Inclusion in Action

  • Kamal Quadir, Chief Executive Officer, bKash
  • Ashraf Sabry, CEO, Fawry Egypt
  • Eran Feinstein, Group CEO, DPO Group
  • Host: Jorge Rubio, Head of International Inclusive Finance, Citi

We explore digital financial inclusion initiatives which are helping to increase the number of ‘banked’ individuals across the globe.

Digital Reboot: How Digital Transformation is Changing the Insurance Industry

  • Mark Saunders, ‎Group Executive, AIA Group
  • Host: Will McLane, Vice Chairman, Global FIG and Asia Technology, Citi

Digital technologies are allowing insurers to connect with customers in exciting new ways providing customers with greater financial security and better health outcomes.

Embedded Finance: A Conversation with Reuben Lai, Co-Head Grab Financial Group

  • Reuben Lai, Co-Head, Grab Financial Group
  • Host: Morgan McKenney, Chief Operating Officer, Global Consumer Banking, Citi

Grab is one of a cluster of FinTechs revolutionizing grass-roots financial services in Asia. We discuss their launch of a dedicated financial services businesses off the back of a ride-sharing platform.

LatAm Leaders: Taking the Pulse of Latin America’s FinTech Landscape

  • Sergio Furio, Founder & CEO, Creditas
  • David Arana, CEO, Konfio
  • Host: Dave Nangle, Managing Director, VEF

A detailed look at what is happening in Latam FinTech.

Agenda | Wednesday 24th March 2021

Leading Responsibly in a Digital World

  • Nelson Phillips, Professor of Innovation and Strategy, Co-Director, Centre for Responsible Leadership, Imperial College Business School
  • Naveed Sultan, Chairman, Institutional Clients Group, Citi
  • Morgan McKenney, Chief Operating Officer, Global Consumer Banking, Citi
  • Host: Celia Moore, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Co-Director, Centre for Responsible Leadership, Imperial College Business School

Digital transformation extends beyond the introduction of new technologies. Issues such as productivity, employment, investment, corporate responsibility are all topics for consideration. But what is the impact on leadership? How do we equip our current and future leaders to lead in a world characterized by an ever-accelerating pace of digitization matched with an ever-increasing concern with values, ethical decision-making, and sustainability.

FinTech in Africa: The Growth of the Payments Gateway in Africa

  • Ham Serunjogi, Co-Founder & CEO, Chipper Cash
  • Olugbenga Agboola, Chief Executive Officer, Flutterwave
  • Tayo Oviosu, Group CEO, Paga
  • Host: Sibongile Mbongo, Equity Sales, Citi

Let’s discuss the future and opportunities of FinTech in Africa as African FinTechs are plugging large gaps on the continent as a means to drive financial inclusion.

Crypto in Africa – Digital Money Use Cases

  • Monica Singer, South Africa lead, Consensys
  • Tope Alabi, CEO, Afriex
  • Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-Founder & COO, Piggyvest
  • Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO and Founder, AZA
  • Host: Ronit Ghose, Global Head Banks Research & Co-Head FinTech Group, Citi

Cryptocurrency transactions in Africa are growing rapidly. On a continent that already embraces mobile money, virtual currency offers advantages for a young, tech-savvy population.

Crypto-currencies in the Mainstream

  • Pavel Matveev, CEO and Co-Founder, Wirex
  • Jonathan Levin, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Chainalysis
  • Marcus Swanepoel, Co-Founder and CEO, Luno
  • Morgan Beller, General Partner, NFX
  • Host: Shobhit Maini, Director, Market & Securities Services Transformation, Citi

After the ‘crypto-winter’ of 2018-19, crypto-currencies have bounced back strongly. While institutional participation is increasing, we explore the present and potential future uses of crypto-currencies in the real world by consumers.

Silicon, Satoshis, and Superpowers: Why Bitcoin Mining Matters

  • Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Office, CoinShares
  • Host: Ronit Ghose, Global Head Banks Research & Co-Head FinTech Group, Citi

While bitcoin is a digital asset, its physical network is still a fundamental driver of the network’s security. We explore the rise of the digital age and the implications for semiconductors, compute and connectivity. The importance of capital markets in managing and mitigating compute and connectivity costs, and the growing importance of cybersecurity to global superpowers, and how this might impact the evolution of the bitcoin network.

Payments Innovation: In Conversation with Tom Zschach, Chief Innovation Officer, SWIFT

  • Tom Zschach, Chief Innovation Officer, Swift
  • Host: Melissa Tuozzolo, Payments Financial Market Infrastructure and Industry Head, Citi

We take a deep dive into payments innovation and infrastructure with Swift’s Chief Innovation Officer.

Future of Faster Payments

  • Domm Holland, Co-Founder & CEO, Fast
  • Kaushalya Somasundaram, Head of UK Payments Partnerships & Industry Relations, Square
  • Lola Adebanji, Director, Spring by Citi (Consumer Payments), Citi
  • Host: Robert Lamb, Fintech Research, Citi

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to digital payments from both greater ecommerce and less cash usage in offline payments. The pace of the shift has also revealed some of the shortcomings of the current digital payments infrastructure and solutions. What will the future of smoother and faster payment experiences for merchants and consumers look like?

Embedded Finance: Separating Fact from Fiction

  • Tui Allen, Senior Product Lead, Banking, Shopify
  • Simon Taylor, Co-founder & Head of Ventures, 11:FS
  • Jonathan Larsen, Chief Innovation Officer, Chairman & CEO, Ping An Global Voyager Fund
  • Host: Sophie Guibaud, Chief Growth Officer, OpenPayd

Over the past year we’ve seen an explosion of embedded finance use cases, as brands and businesses look to take ownership of their customer journeys and generate new revenue from their own financial service offerings. We try to understand the impact that embedded finance is having on different sectors across the digital economy.

Embedded Finance & the Pace of Innovation: In Conversation with Karim Temsamani, Stripe

  • Karim Temsamani, Head of Financial Products, Stripe
  • Host: Tony Mclaughlin, Emerging Payments and Business Development, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi

Join a conversation with Stripe leader Karim Temsamani and Citi's Tony Mclaughlin to discuss the power of embedded finance. Innovation today is happening at break-neck speed. While this is certainly due to an abundance of smart people with great ideas, it is powered by excellent tooling making it possible for anyone to build a business with an idea and a laptop. Today there are countless platforms that allow innovators to get off the ground without weeks of coding like Shopify, Squarespace, and Woocommerce. The more innovator-must-haves these platforms can offer, the faster innovation can happen. Join us to discuss how companies like Stripe and Citi can partner to build financial-fabric solutions like embedded banking and lending, accelerating economic and technological progress.

Buy Now Pay Later

  • Christer Holloman, CEO, Divido
  • Gary Rohloff, Managing Director, Laybuy
  • Charlie Youakim, CEO, Sezzle
  • Host: Hanna Raftell, CEO, Fimento

BNPL’s have exploded in popularity particularly in the Covid economy, they allow consumers to break up their purchases into instalment payments without interest or fees.

Agenda | Monday 29th March 2021

Is Crypto an Asset Class?

  • Nic Carter, General Partner, Castle Island Ventures
  • Harish Natarajan, Lead, Payment and Market Infrastructures, World Bank
  • Mona El Isa, Founder, Avantgarde Finance
  • Omid Malekan, Blockchain Innovation Expert, Citi Ventures
  • Host: Peter Christiansen, US Payments, Processors & IT Services Research, Citi

Can Cryptocurrencies become a bonafide asset class in the next 10 years?

The Future of Money

  • Ajit Tripathi, Head of Institutional Business, Aave
  • Henri Arslanian, Global Crypto Leader, PwC
  • Monica Singer, South Africa Lead, ConsenSys
  • Host: Ronit Ghose, Global Head Banks Research & Co-Head FinTech Group, Citi

The possibility of a trusted global digital currency has sparked political, economic and regulatory discussions worldwide. What trends are shaping the future of digital currencies?

Embracing Digital Identity in Financial Services

  • Greg Wolfond, CEO, SecureKey Technologies
  • Nat Sakimura, Charman, OpenID Foundation
  • Dave Birch, Global Ambassador, Consult Hyperion
  • Host: Gulru Atak, Global Head of Treasury & Trade Solutions Innovation, Citi

Deep dive into the identity landscape and understanding the crucial role of digital identity in the next phase of evolution of online financial services.

How the Pandemic is Shaping Payments

  • Mark Nelsen, Senior Vice President of Europe Products and Solutions, Visa

With the pandemic driving increased use of digital commerce, many across the payments industry are looking for the next innovation. But before we look forwards, we must also look at the lessons the pandemic has taught us around security, consumer expectations and acceptance, and ensure that we put the right foundations in place as payments evolve.

From Threat to Opportunity: Cybersecurity in Times of Crisis

  • Sean Puhalovic, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI
  • Amy-Anne Fairhurst, Head of EMEA Cyber Investigations and Global Crisis Management, Citi
  • Todd Moore, SVP, Encryption Solutions, Thales
  • Sol Cates, Principal Technologist, CTO, Thales
  • Host: David Rose, Digital Security Head EMEA, Citi

Companies were and are facing an increasing number of cyber-attacks. The pandemic has caused many to work from home, hence the attack surface is dramatically increased bringing Cybersecurity to the forefront of business continuity for all.

Tech, Payments and Leadership: In Conversation with Anita Mehra, Microsoft

  • Anita Mehra, Corporate VP, Global Treasury & Financial Services, Microsoft
  • Host: Vanessa Colella, CIO, Citi

We discuss payment trends, infrastructure and leadership within financial services and technology.

Re-imagining Core Banking in the Cloud

  • John Kain, Worldwide Financial Services Business and Market Development - Banking and Capital Markets, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Deep Varma, CTO, Varo
  • Alexa Guenoun, Chief Operating Officer, Temenos
  • Host: Ida Chen, Consumer Banking, Citi

Is banking on the cloud the new normal in financial services?

Big Tech & Banking: In Conversation with Zac Maufe, Google

  • Zac Maufe, Head of Retail Banking, Google
  • Host: William Artingstall, Emerging Payments and Business Development, Citi

Have we reached a tipping point for Big Tech and Banking?

Citi’s Digital Money Index

  • Naveed Sultan, Chairman, Institutional Clients Group, Citi
  • Host: Tania Collingwood, Marketing Director, Citi

Launched in 2014, Citi’s Digital Money Index – produced in partnership with Imperial College London – provides an 84 market perspective on digital money readiness. This session highlights some of the key revelations from the last couple of years, the importance of digital money within a broader digital policy framework and what’s next for the Index.

eCommerce & Payments: In Conversation with Alyssa Cutright, Global Payments, eBay

  • Alyssa Cutright, Vice President of Global Payments, eBay
  • Host: Carla Hassan, CMO, Citi

We discuss eBay’s new payment experience and what it means for e-commerce and payments.

FinTech Investing: Trends to Watch in 2021

  • Hugo Bongers, Managing Director, ABN AMRO Ventures
  • Caroline Woodworth, Principal, General Atlantic
  • Alix Brunet, VP - Venture Investing, Citi Ventures
  • Host: Mark Litz, Head of EMEA FinTech Banking, Citi

Investment experts discuss COVID-19 trends, signals and opportunities within FinTech.

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