What’s next for fintech? A look at the closed-door event where ideas take shape

Behind closed doors and away from the cameras, a group of up to 3,000 leaders from the public and private sectors will meet ahead of the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) to discuss the risks and opportunities in the next wave of fintech innovation.

Is there an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble? What are the remaining safety and ethical issues around AI? What are the regulatory, technical and operational frameworks needed to scale digital assets responsibly?

And what potential does quantum computing – which could solve complex calculations that today’s classical computers cannot – hold beyond its security risks?

The discussions will be recorded, but views shared will be unattributable.

This is the Insights Forum, an invite-only series of roundtable discussions that sets the stage for SFF. It will be held on Nov 10-11 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, ahead of the main festival taking place later in the week at Singapore Expo.

The forum follows the Chatham House Rule – where information disclosed can be freely used and reported after the event, without revealing the source – to foster open dialogue.

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The last innovation cycle was fuelled by mobile and social technology, cloud computing and application programming interfaces (APIs), observed Pat Patel, chief executive officer of US, Latin America (Latam), Middle East and Africa at the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), and co-CEO of its forum organiser arm GFTN Forums.

APIs are rules and protocols that enable different software applications to communicate.

Many countries missed the last cycle which started around 2004, but the US did not: “They innovated, and you saw these giants emerge, whether it is Facebook, WhatsApp, Airbnb, or Uber.”

“We’re on the cusp of (the next) innovation cycle,” he said, citing AI, tokenisation and quantum computing. “We want people to (know that) wherever you’re based, they can be a part of the next wave of innovation, experimentation and knowledge.”

That is what Insights Forum aims to achieve, he added.

Tokenisation is the process of issuing a digital version of an asset, like money, that can be used on a blockchain, which is a decentralised digital ledger. Stablecoins – digital currencies pegged to traditional assets like the US dollar or gold – are one example.

GFTN organises the Insights Forum, as well as the SFF with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and exhibition organiser Constellar, in collaboration with The Association of Banks in Singapore.

Year-long discussions

The Insights Forum, with over 30 roundtable discussions and workshops, is a culmination of a year’s work, said Patel. The discussions are substantive, he said, typically lasting about 90 minutes each.

Throughout the year, GFTN hosts smaller forums in countries including Japan, Australia, China, India, Rwanda and Switzerland. These events help shape the Insights Forum agenda.

“We’re really keen to create a cross-pollination of ideas and thoughts, and you only get that when you have the right dialogues that are reflective of different regions,” he said.

Unlike SFF, which features keynote speakers and broad panels, Patel sees the Insights Forum as smaller and more intimate, designed to include both veteran and emerging leaders.

SFF had about 65,000 attendees in 2024, while the Insights Forum limits the number of attendees to around 3,000.

Patel described the Insights Forum as a “safe space” where “the technologists, innovators and dreamers can come together and have an open dialogue with regulators” to better understand each other’s views.

The goal: to bring the key stakeholders from public and private sectors together to forge new pathways.

Those interested in joining can apply on the Insights Forum website (insightsforum.gftn.co).

Driving action

Discussions at the forum are intended to drive action, said Patel. After the Insights Forum, GFTN will release a series of FutureMatters reports compiled from the roundtable discussions.

The public can then access the reports on GFTN’s website (gftn.co/insights/tag/futurematters), helping to shape the fintech ecosystem’s priorities in 2026.

Questions raised and conclusions made at Insights Forum will also feed into GFTN’s next round of global forums, said Patel.

Patel, who led the spin-out of Elevandi from MAS in 2021 and oversaw its transition into GFTN in 2024, noted that the Insights Forum is one of its most successful launches. “It’s got a cult following,” he said, “and I think it will only continue to grow.”

While GFTN already hosts smaller forums worldwide throughout the year, Patel wants to do more work in Latam, one of the fastest-growing fintech markets.

The number of fintech companies in Latam and the Caribbean grew from 703 in 2017 to 3,069 in 2023, according to a 2024 report by the Inter-American Development Bank and Mexico-based venture capital firm Finnovista.

“(Latam is) facing a lot of similar challenges and uncertainties that South-east Asia did in growing its fintech capabilities, and I think a lot of learning can be done in that aspect,” said Patel.

This was produced in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Global Finance & Technology Network.

For more stories, go to https://bt.sg/sff2025