FinovateEurope 2025: Fintech Funding Trends, Embedded Lending, and Agentic AI Shine
FinovateEurope 2025 continued with fervor on its second day at the Intercontinental O2, London, spotlighting fintech’s most pressing topics, including agentic AI, embedded lending, and quantum computing advances.
Following Tuesday's demonstrations, the agenda featured rigorous panel discussions and keynote speeches. On the lending stage, industry leaders from HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Rabobank, and Infosys gathered to dissect the burgeoning field of embedded lending, marked by integrating lending options across customer experiences rather than relying solely on traditional models.
Joris Hensen, API programme co-lead at Deutsche Bank, initiated the dialogue by acknowledging past skepticism surrounding open banking. He noted how recent tech innovations are paving the way for personalized services, especially for thinner customer profiles.
Despite recognizing the potential benefits of embedded lending, panelists, including Olaf ten Duis of Rabobank, were candid about the challenges facing the sector. Ram Devanarayanan from Infosys underscored data management hurdles, stating, “Some banks struggle to even have a proper data source where you can run these models.” The sentiment was echoed by Ishtiaq Ahmed from HSBC, emphasizing the need for transparent and clean data to facilitate decision-making.
Continuing the discussion, Devanarayanan highlighted AI's rising role, particularly in credit assessment and profiling, which he said could widen the gap between banks and consumers. “Explainable AI is key,” he asserted. “It gives logical explanations to lending decisions, fostering trust.”
The role of AI was front and center during the event, leading to high-profile discussions on its implementation. The keynote delivered by Nombuso Matsape and Rahul Aggarwal from ICBC Standard Bank outlined the necessity for organizations to establish clear AI strategies tied to business goals and data governance.
Matsape stated, “Your AI model is as good as the data you’re putting in,” reiterverting the importance of data clarity. The talk also navigated the infrastructure needed to support AI, weighing the merits of cloud versus on-premises solutions, with a hybrid model advocated as the future.
Following this, Varun Ghai from NewGen Software presented on agentic AI's potential, explaining how such technologies could restructure business lending processes. Ghai noted, “Agentic AI could create transformative ecosystems utilizing data science and process AI,” with the broader aim being to increase lending productivity through automation.
The day culminated with the Investor All Stars panel, which discussed current sentiment among investors where trends were highlighted, including the allure of vertical Software-as-a-Service and embedded finance. Katherine Wilson from Illuminate Financial announced insights pointing to agentic AI’s significant promise.
Scher from Lloyds echoed similar sentiments about the wealth sector's expansion, also expressing concern over anticipated declines for climate-focused fintech investments.
FinovateEurope 2025 has successfully reiterated the importance of staying abreast of current trends and innovations, paving the way for future dialogue at its upcoming Spring edition scheduled for May 7-9, 2025, in San Diego. What lies at the heart of these discussions is not just technology but the interplay of legislative environments and financial narratives shaping the future of finance.
The global fintech ecosystem is ramping up to embrace advancements with significant financial challenges as it moves forward. Investors and institutions alike must tread carefully, especially with the awareness of shifting dynamics, competition, and the ever-evolving consumer needs.