HES FinTech continuously works on expanding our client outreach in the United States and explores how emerging technologies can help our clients succeed.
Our October business trip across the United States became a journey through the evolving world of modern finance. From early discussions in New York to the vibrant energy of Money20/20 in Las Vegas, each stop brought valuable insights into how technology, collaboration, and trust are shaping the next phase of fintech.
New York: A Conversation About What’s Next
We started in New York with the team at 4M Group, whose approach to building sustainable business strategies for any successful GTM strategy and commercial partnership—Mission, Models, Marketplaces, and Multiples—resonated deeply with our own thinking.
What made the conversation particularly interesting was their work as a Validator on the Canton Network. This privacy-enabled blockchain is creating the infrastructure for asset-backed lending by allowing collateral to be instantly updated and synchronized. With the launch of their Global Synchronizer and Canton Coin in July 2024, we’re starting to see what truly interoperable finance might look like.
Equally exciting is the democratization of investment access, which enables fractional ownership and lower minimums across real estate, commodities, private equity, venture capital, private credit, infrastructure, tokenized funds, collectibles, art, and luxury assets.
For HES FinTech, this technology opens new possibilities. Tokenization allows collateral in asset-backed lending to be updated instantly, enabling faster, more accurate transactions. It also makes investment access broader and more flexible, supporting fractional ownership across sectors from real estate to private equity and even art. These developments show how blockchain can truly support trust and efficiency in finance.
Money20/20 in Las Vegas: Where the Industry Comes Together
The next destination was Money20/20 in Las Vegas, one of the largest and most dynamic fintech events in the world. With more than 12,000 participants from 3,500 companies, the event proved that scale doesn’t have to mean superficial conversations. Over two days and 18 meetings, the discussions were focused, practical, and highly relevant to the lending industry. Here are the key themes that stood out:
1. AI is Now Operational
Lenders are no longer experimenting, they’re implementing. AI is being embedded directly into loan origination systems to power data-led decisioning across every step of the lending workflow.
The next frontier lies in governance and explainability, ensuring every model decision is transparent and auditable. HES FinTech continues to lead in this space with its LoanBox end-to-end lending platform and GiniMachine, an AI/ML-powered decisioning solution.
2. Real-Time Money Movement Is Transforming Lending
Instant payments and tokenized settlement rails are replacing batch processes. For lenders, this means faster disbursements, real-time collateral updates, and far less manual reconciliation. HES FinTech’s recent partnership with Zūm Rails supports this vision of seamless, real-time finance.
3. Trust Is the New Currency
As agentic AI becomes more autonomous, fintech infrastructure must include verifiable roots of trust, either in hardware or software. In a world where “good AI” is increasingly up against AI-enabled fraud, securing every device, human, and network interaction in real time is one of the most critical and promising spaces to watch. Companies like SLC Digital are pioneering in this space, and their work is redefining how the industry protects integrity in the AI era.
4. Tokenization Moves From Theory to Reality
Asset-backed loans connected to tokenized real-world assets can now enable dynamic collateral tracking, fractional ownership, and faster settlement, especially in trade and SME finance, where pilot projects are already live.
5. The Infrastructure Era Has Arrived
Banks, fintechs, and infrastructure providers are now collaborating at a structural level to build common rails. Shared APIs, interoperable data standards, and collaborations pave the way for the next generation of financial services, built not on isolated innovation, but connected, trusted systems that make finance work better for everyone.
Looking Ahead
Beyond the panels and meetings, the trip also reinforced how important collaboration remains in fintech. HES FinTech strengthened relationships and explored new partnerships with organizations including amBaaSsador, Nova Credit, Bloom Credit, SLC, Community Investment Management, ZorroFi, Green Dot, Bloom Analytics, IDEMIA, Plaid, Zum Rails, Southern Communities Initiative, Community Development Bankers Association, ACCION, and Developing World Markets, all working to expand credit access, simplify client journeys and onboarding, improve security and make lending more data-driven and inclusive.
From the first meeting in New York to the last conversation in Las Vegas, one idea stayed constant: the future of finance depends on how well we combine technology, trust, and partnership.
