It’s a new year that brings with it numerous predictions about the growth and direction of fintech in 2016. While many industry publications and blogs will cover these trends, the best way to get a firsthand account of what the future of fintech looks like is to attend one of the many upcoming conferences and events slated for 2016. This is also a good strategy if you want to ramp up your networking and contacts for your startup or growing fintech company.
Here’s a roundup of the top fintech events, meetups, and conferences scheduled for this year arranged in date order so you can update your calendar and start planning where to attend:
- Finovate Europe will be held in London, February 9-10, 2016. The event is set up as a demo-only format where banking and financial technology companies will showcase their solutions. The audience consists of venture capitalists, startup founders, banks and financial institutions, and major corporations. Other Finovate conferences will be held throughout the year, including Finovate Spring from May 10-11, 2016 in San Jose, California as well as Finovate Fall from September 8-9, 2016 in New York City. These events also follow the demo-only format.
- NEXT: Money will be held March 14-15, 2016 in San Francisco, California. It will focus on policy, compliance, technology, markets, management and currency.
- LendIt USA will be held April 11-12, 2016 in San Francisco, California. This event offers exhibitors, panels, keynote speakers, company demos, networking and a China track that examines international lending opportunities.
- FinTech 2016 is scheduled for April 13-14, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sponsored by the Digital Finance Institute, it is the only show in Western Canada dedicated to fintech, including payments, finance, and innovation.
- The Annual Conference on Financial Education is set for April 13-15, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. This is an ideal event for those looking to enhance their professional development, financial literary knowledge, and fintech skills.
- The Women’s Money Conference takes place on April 16, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event is focused on women in various financial industries as well as on how women can become more skilled at making financial decisions and using various types of financial technology solutions.
- The Fintech Exchange is planned for April 21, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. This one-day conference features speakers, an exhibit hall, networking, and presentations. It is directed at venture capitalists and other investors as well as fintech executives and startups.
- The Empire Startups Fintech Conference will be held in New York City on April 26, 2016. This conference is an opportunity specifically designed for fintech startups and their founders to network and connect with investors looking for disruptive opportunities to back. The conference also provides numerous tips and information to help these founders more effectively launch and run their fintech firms. A West Coast version of this conference will be held in San Francisco in November 2016 with a specific date yet to be announced.
- The Financial Brand will be held May 16-18, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event focuses primarily on financial marketers, including technology solutions geared toward finding, converting, and managing customers interested in what fintech companies have to offer.
- PayExpo London 2016 will be held June 7-8, 2016 is geared specifically to the trends and issues within the European payments technology market.
- InVest 2016 is planned for June 16-17, 2016 in New York City, focusing primarily on wealth management practices, trends, and technology solutions. Compliance issues and saving strategies will also be featured topics.
- Digital Banking 2016 will be held June 20-22, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It offers tracks and information related to mobile payments, cybersecurity, innovation, and omnichannel.
- FinCon16 is scheduled for September 21-24, 2016 in San Diego, California. It brings together attendees from various financial services and financial technology industries and niches to discuss and share ideas about personal finance and investing, including how to create engaging online content, social media strategies, and online marketing tactics.
- Money 20/20 will take place October 23-26, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is considered to be the world’s largest event for payments and financial services technology. It brings industry executives and personnel together from more than 75 countries. Earlier in the year, there is also a Money 20/20 Europe that will be held April 4, 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- The Future of Money and Technology Summit was previously held on December 2, 2015 and has yet to release its 2016 date. It is a one-day conference held in San Francisco, offering speakers and panels covering all types of financial technology issues and trends.
Which ones will you attend this year? There are so many opportunities here to further expand the fintech industry and benefit from the collaboration and networking between so many brilliant minds.
