This year’s FTT Fintech Festival once again proved why it’s a standout event on the calendar. Held over two days at The Brewery in London, the festival brought together leading voices, innovative companies, and a highly engaged audience across multiple stages and an exceptionally full agenda! Marqeta was proud to return as a sponsor and to contribute to the energy and the insights that defined this year’s event.
Engaging conversations and a prime location
Our team enjoyed connecting with so many attendees at our booth—ideally (and intentionally) located next to a much-needed caffeine hub. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to discuss the future of payments, grabbed a Payments Nerd T-shirt, or simply said hello!
We were proud to show off our booth headline from our ‘choose AND, not or’ campaign, reminding everyone that compromise is a choice, and you don’t have to make it!
As conversations unfolded, one theme stood out clearly: companies across banking, lending, corporate spend, and fintech as a whole are all looking for ways to improve their customers' experience and build loyalty through payments. These discussions mirrored what we see across the market; businesses want to move faster and differentiate, and rely on partners who understand the nuances of the market and their customers.
Thought leadership across the stages
We were delighted to have two Marqetans participate on the Embedded Finance Stage:
Marcin Glogowski shared his perspective on driving B2B growth and unlocking new opportunities for SMBs across the embedded finance ecosystem.
Deanna Fernandez moderated a panel focused on how financial innovation can deliver better customer outcomes, exploring what “good” truly looks like for both businesses and end users.
Also, Will Lord shared his insights on what successful B2B marketing looks like in 2025 and beyond.
Their sessions contributed to the broader conversations shaping the future of embedded financial services and marketing to businesses.
Conversations shaping the industry: AI, CX, sustainability, compliance, and more
Across the festival, panel sessions reflected the most pressing topics and opportunities in financial services. Themes included:
- AI in financial services: from how to use it responsibly, to how teams build trust in AI systems, to the ever-pressing question of whether AI will replace humans in the value chain.
- Customer experience + AI: discussions explored how AI can improve personalization, streamline back-office operations, and enhance real-time decisioning while maintaining transparency, trust and customer confidence.
- Sustainability: speakers emphasised the ongoing importance of embedding ESG considerations into financial products, payments, and operational decision-making.
- KYB/KYC, fraud prevention, and open banking: panels explored how data access, real-time verification, and shared infrastructure are enabling safer, more efficient onboarding and compliance in an ever-increasingly digital landscape.
- Core fintech innovation: from the evolution of embedded finance to the next chapter in payments infrastructure, the agenda covered an impressive breadth of topics.
It was encouraging to see the industry openly discuss not only the technology, but also the ethics, governance, and customer-led thinking required to move it forward.
For us at Marqeta, it was encouraging to see how many of these themes map to what our customers are prioritizing today: real-time decisioning, more configurable, compliance- centric card programs, and the ability to rapidly test and scale new financial features. The industry’s direction of travel is clear, flexible, intelligent, and customer-centric design.
Supporting the festival experience
Marqeta was also pleased to sponsor the festival’s cocktails, adding a celebratory touch to Day 1, and we were ready with detox kits at our booth on Day 2 for those who embraced the Monday evening hospitality wholeheartedly.
In addition, we were proud to support the charity basketball game benefiting Comms for Good, helping to bring the community together for an important cause.
The atmosphere was elevated even further by the festival DJ, also sponsored by Marqeta, whose sets added energy and connection (and some head bopping) to the networking sessions.
A standout two days
It was a busy one! From engaging panels and thoughtful discussions to exceptional speakers, great food, and an enthusiastic audience, this year’s FTT Fintech Festival was a true celebration of innovation across the industry. It was a pleasure to participate, meet so many valued partners as well as new faces, and support an event that continues to push the conversation forward.
We look forward to returning next year and continuing to champion the future of payments and embedded finance.