David White, Global Head of Product and Data, LSEG Risk Intelligence
David White, LSEG Risk Intelligence
David White shared his perspective on how AI is moving beyond experimentation and into production environments. While enthusiasm for AI remains high, he explained that the next phase will focus on delivering measurable return on investment and scaling solutions that can support critical financial decisions.
He highlighted how AI is expected to reduce friction across customer journeys, particularly in areas such as onboarding, making processes faster, smoother and more consistent. However, he stressed that achieving these outcomes depends heavily on data quality. Strong, trusted data remains the foundation of successful AI deployment, especially as organisations adopt increasingly sophisticated agentic systems.
David also discussed the growing importance of trust in AI driven decision making. He argued that organisations must be able to demonstrate where data originates, how it has been processed and how decisions are being made. While fully autonomous decision making is becoming more achievable, he believes regulated industries will continue to rely on carefully managed human oversight to ensure governance and compliance standards are maintained.
Sovan Shatpathy, SVP Product Management and Development, Oracle
with Sovan Shatpathy, Oracle
Sovan Shatpathy explored how financial institutions can build fraud prevention and cyber resilience directly into their infrastructure rather than treating them as separate functions. With real time payments becoming the norm and AI increasingly embedded across financial services, he argued that organisations must focus on creating resilient and trusted systems from the outset.
Discussing the future of financial services, Sovan highlighted the transformative potential of blockchain, tokenisation, stablecoins and digital assets. He believes these technologies will play a major role in the future of cross-border payments and settlement, creating faster and more efficient financial ecosystems.
He also examined how AI is reshaping banking. According to Sovan, financial institutions must treat AI as a core operating capability rather than a side project. Looking ahead, he suggested that competitive advantage will come from how effectively organisations use technology to build stronger customer relationships, creating personalised experiences based on a complete understanding of customer needs and behaviours.
Garima Chaudhary, VP Financial Crime Compliance AI, ThetaRay
Garima Chaudhary, Thetaray
Garima Chaudhary discussed the growing importance of AI governance and the need for organisations to establish what she described as a “glass box” approach. Rather than relying on static documentation, she advocated for a living framework that continuously incorporates feedback, transparency and accountability into AI systems.
She explained how financial crime teams continue to face two major challenges: high false positive rates and inefficient investigations. Traditional transaction monitoring systems generate large volumes of alerts, many of which do not require action. ThetaRay’s use of AI and behavioural analytics aims to reduce these false positives while improving investigative efficiency.
Garima also explored the role of identity and trusted data in financial crime prevention. Understanding customer behaviour and transaction patterns remains essential for identifying suspicious activity. She further highlighted the risks associated with major global events, including the FIFA World Cup, where exploitation and human trafficking concerns can increase. According to Garima, AI driven behavioural analysis will become increasingly important in helping institutions detect emerging threats that traditional rule based systems may miss.
Tom Taraniuk, Head of Partnerships, Sumsub
with Tom Taraniuk, Sumsub
Tom Taraniuk examined the rapid rise of agentic commerce and the possibility that AI agents could soon play a significant role in online purchasing decisions. While the technology is advancing quickly, he believes consumer confidence remains the biggest barrier to adoption.
According to Tom, the key challenge is creating trust and accountability. Merchants need to know who is responsible for the actions taken by AI agents and whether purchases genuinely reflect customer intent. He argued that linking AI agents to verified human identities will be essential for building confidence among both consumers and businesses.
Tom also discussed the upcoming European Digital Identity Framework and its potential impact on onboarding and KYC processes. While digital identity solutions could significantly reduce friction and simplify verification, he noted that questions remain around interoperability, adoption and security. Throughout the conversation, he emphasised the importance of balancing seamless customer experiences with robust compliance and risk management controls.
Paul Weathersby, Chief Product Officer, Identity & Fraud UK&I, Experian
with Paul Weathersby, Experian
Paul Weathersby focused on the role digital identity could play in addressing Europe’s growing fraud challenges. While he believes digital identity solutions can help reduce fraud, he cautioned that fraudsters often adapt quickly, meaning new controls may only offer temporary advantages unless broader enforcement efforts are also strengthened.
He highlighted adoption as one of the biggest challenges facing digital identity initiatives. Financial institutions currently face a fragmented landscape with multiple identity providers and integration complexities. Paul suggested that intermediary service providers could help simplify adoption and accelerate implementation across the industry.
The discussion also explored how AI is influencing fraud trends. Rather than introducing entirely new fraud methods, AI is currently enabling fraudsters to scale existing attacks more efficiently. Paul argued that organisations must adopt dynamic, risk based approaches that continuously assess customer behaviour throughout the customer journey. Looking ahead, he predicted that widespread digital identity adoption could reduce some forms of fraud while potentially creating new risks, such as identity mule activity.
John O’Beirne, CEO and Executive Director, Square International, Block
John O’Beirne, Block
John O’Beirne discussed the growing challenges merchants face as payments become increasingly complex. With more payment methods, channels and customer interactions than ever before, merchants must navigate a rapidly evolving risk landscape while maintaining customer trust.
One of the biggest shifts, according to John, is the move from verifying whether a payment card is genuine to determining whether the person behind a transaction is genuine. Synthetic fraud and identity related threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, creating new challenges for businesses.
He explained how machine learning models and real time risk assessment help platforms like Square identify suspicious activity while allowing merchants to define their own risk tolerance. Looking ahead, John believes integrated platforms will play a critical role in reducing complexity by bringing together payments, identity, fraud prevention and dispute management within a single ecosystem. He also stressed the importance of keeping merchants involved in AI driven decision making to ensure systems remain aligned with business needs and customer expectations.
Mehmet Turkmen, Chief Product Officer, Qi Card
with Mehmet Turkmen, Qi Card
Mehmet Turkmen provided a unique perspective from Iraq’s payments sector, outlining how Qi Card has grown into the country’s largest payment service provider. With over 20 million active cards and a significant role in processing government payroll and pension payments, Qi Card has become a key part of Iraq’s financial infrastructure.
He discussed the company’s efforts to expand beyond Iraq and into international markets, with Money20/20 Europe marking an important step in that journey.
Mehmet also explored the opportunities and challenges surrounding digital onboarding and identity verification. While Iraq lacks some of the public infrastructure available in more mature markets, Qi Card has introduced fully digital onboarding capabilities that allow customers to receive payment cards without visiting a branch.
However, he acknowledged that advances in AI are creating new fraud risks alongside new opportunities. While technology can improve onboarding and verification processes, fraudsters are also using increasingly sophisticated tools. Looking ahead, Mehmet believes emerging markets may adopt digital identity and onboarding technologies faster than some developed economies, creating opportunities for innovation and rapid growth.
Key Themes Across the Discussions
Several themes emerged consistently throughout the interviews. AI continues to dominate industry conversations, but the focus is shifting from experimentation to practical deployment and measurable outcomes. Trust, data quality and governance are becoming critical factors as organisations scale AI driven solutions.
Digital identity remains a major area of opportunity and challenge. While it offers the potential to reduce fraud and simplify customer journeys, questions around adoption, interoperability and evolving fraud tactics remain unresolved.
Across payments, fraud prevention and financial crime compliance, speakers agreed that balancing innovation with trust will be essential. Whether through AI, digital identity, behavioural analytics or integrated platforms, organisations are increasingly focused on creating safer, more efficient and more seamless financial experiences for customers.
