Scaling Trust, Speed, and Compliance: Executive Takeaways from Money 20/20 Europe

Money 20/20 Europe 2025 convened over 8,000 participants from more than 90 countries, bringing together global leaders across fintech, banking, compliance, and infrastructure. Hosted in Amsterdam, the event served as a strategic checkpoint for where the industry is headed and what will define success in the next chapter of financial services.

Across panels, demos, and executive sessions, one message was consistent: the expectations for financial services have changed. Real-time, digital-first, and compliance-aligned is no longer a differentiator. It is the new baseline.

Below are our reflections and key takeaways.

Real-Time Payments Have Become Infrastructure

Real-time, account-to-account payments have officially moved from pilot stage to mainstream infrastructure. From retail to institutional flows, customers expect instant value transfer, full transparency, and minimal friction.

Mastercard and several major banks showcased how payment systems are being reengineered to remove legacy constraints. For many institutions, enabling fast, secure, and borderless money movement is no longer optional. It is now critical to competitiveness.

Perpetual Compliance is the Direction of Travel

Compliance is shifting from periodic review to continuous oversight. The idea of perpetual compliance was repeated across multiple sessions, reflecting growing regulatory expectations and operational demands.

AI is no longer used only to automate screening tasks. It is being embedded into the full compliance lifecycle. This includes real-time risk assessments, automated escalations, and adaptive workflows that evolve as customer or jurisdictional profiles change.

This shift is not about efficiency alone. It is about building compliance processes that can withstand regulatory volatility without slowing down the business.

Onboarding is a Strategic Risk Lever

Onboarding has become one of the clearest points of exposure for regulated firms. Delays, friction, and inconsistent decisioning are no longer viewed as minor operational issues. They now carry reputational and financial risk.

What stood out this year is how clearly onboarding has moved into strategic territory. Friction erodes trust. Slow execution delays market entry. Manual back-and-forth between compliance and operations is no longer sustainable. The standard is moving toward intelligent, responsive onboarding that is built for scale and defensible from day one.

Collaboration Is Becoming the Default

The industry is moving away from siloed architecture and toward composability. Platforms are becoming more open, more modular, and more integrated. API-first design is now expected, not optional.

This ecosystem-level approach extends to regulators and infrastructure providers as well. Collaboration across systems and borders is emerging as a key lever for resilience, agility, and regulatory alignment. In this context, partnerships are not a growth tactic. They are part of the operating model.

Global Reach Requires Built-In Governance

Financial inclusion and global accessibility were recurring themes. But the tone has shifted. The focus is no longer just on promise. It is on measurable outcomes.

With that shift comes increased emphasis on trust, security, and defensibility at scale. GDPR compliance, auditability, and embedded controls are now foundational. Regulated entities and infrastructure providers alike are being asked to prove not only how they innovate, but how they govern.

Final Thoughts

Money 20/20 Europe 2025 marked a clear inflection point. The conversation has moved beyond digital transformation. The new focus is architecture. Financial services must now be designed to be real-time, secure, scalable, and ready for regulatory scrutiny from day one.

As the bar rises, competitive advantage will belong to those who can align compliance, customer experience, and operational efficiency within a unified model. That means one system of record, one risk posture, and one customer journey that works across jurisdictions.

At Mesh ID, this is exactly the infrastructure we are focused on building: one flow, every rule, zero friction.