From October 19 to 21 in Las Vegas, Station Fintech Montréal accompanied a delegation of six Quebec startups to Money20/20 USA, one of North America's leading events for the payments and financial services industry.

The goal was clear: give local fintechs direct access to decision-makers, investors and potential clients in the U.S. market, and equip them to turn those meetings into concrete business opportunities.

A delegation prepared ahead of time

Much of the value of attending Money20/20 is created before departure. Station Fintech brought in a go-to-market expert and connected them with the delegation's startups. This preparation helped the startups sharpen their networking and prospecting goals, and get to know one another before arriving in Las Vegas.

In parallel, Station Fintech identified the most relevant potential clients and reached out to them, which led to B2B meetings. It also facilitated the startups' access to the conference, support that several of them said brought real added value.

Key takeaways from Las Vegas

Three trends caught the delegation's attention:

• From assistant to agent. AI in finance is moving from a copilot role to that of an autonomous agent (agentic AI), able to carry out tasks end to end.
• Stablecoins as payment infrastructure. They are seen less and less as a "crypto" asset and more and more as payment infrastructure.
• Fraud cuts both ways. AI strengthens fraud detection, but it also makes attacks more sophisticated.

The major banks and investors the startups met also often delivered the same message: before engaging with a startup, they want to see that its solution has already proven itself, for example through a successful pilot project with a smaller bank or a portfolio manager.

From first contact to first client

Money20/20 USA showed that Quebec fintechs have their place among decision-makers in the U.S. market. One of the delegation's startups held some thirty meetings in two and a half days. Others met with major North American banks, identified potential clients or caught the interest of an investor. The startups also built connections among themselves that could lead to collaborations.

The next step is to turn these first contacts into clients. Quebec's financial centre has an asset to help get there: the close ties between its financial institutions, asset managers and fintechs, which make it easier to run the pilot projects startups need to win over larger players.

As for the trends observed in Las Vegas, they will inform Station Fintech's discussions with the broader ecosystem.