European Digital Finance Conference

Session 1: The Future of Banking: Challenger Models, Legacy Institutions, and the Digital Race (09:00 – 11:00)

Presentations:

09:00  Banking in 2025: Volatility, Challenger competition & Frontier Tech by Igor Mikhalev, Partner, EY
1. Uncertainty advantage – understanding and leveraging geo-economic instability
2. Challenger banking – unpacking the pressure on incumbents
3. Emerging technologies reshaping Banking business models

09:30  Banking on Time: How Precision Time Syncronization will power next-generation financial services by Jan Semmelhack, Business Development Manager at AMS-IX

• Time as the hidden strategic asset of Trust
• When Milliseconds mean Millions
• From Compliance Cost to Competitive Advantage

09:40  Personal Finance Advisory for Banking Clients using AI : Highlights from Our R&D by Jasper Neve, Director Financial Services, Scalefocus

09: 50  Future of Banking: Navigating Innovation and Regulation by Frans van Bruggen, Senior Policy Officer FinTech & Artificial Intelligence at DNB (Dutch Central Bank)

The banking sector is undergoing a fundamental transformation, driven by rapid technological innovation and increasing reliance on external platforms. Three developments are especially shaping this future: growing dependence on third-party cloud and AI providers, the widespread deployment of generative AI, and the emerging potential of quantum computing. These trends offer significant opportunities, but also introduce new risks—particularly around resilience, sovereignty, and strategic control. To remain competitive and trustworthy, banks must balance innovation with autonomy by diversifying technology partnerships, strengthening internal capabilities, and aligning closely with regulators. Those that succeed will help shape a secure, adaptive, and future-proof financial system.

10:20  Panel Discussion: The New Banking Playbook – How Challenger Models Are Reshaping European Finance

Moderator: Morten Kriek, Founder, The Banking 50

Panelists:

• Thomas Vles, Founder, GoDutch
• Marijus Plančiūnas, CEO, Paysera
• Francesco Aghemio, Head of Belgium and Netherlands Branches, Revolut
• Frans van Bruggen, Senior Policy Officer FinTech & Artificial Intelligence at DNB (Dutch Central Bank)

Topics:

1.  The balancing act: Speed of innovation vs. security and risk management
2. Next-gen authentication: Beyond passwords and towards seamless security
3. Data governance in a digital-first banking landscape
4. Cloud adoption strategies: How banks manage core operations in the cloud
5. The role of RegTech: Automating compliance for efficiency and effectiveness

Coffee Break and Networking (11:00 – 12:00)

Session 2: Scaling Digital Transformation: Technology, Trust, and the Future of Banking Infrastructure (12:00 – 14:00)

Presentations:

12:00  INSIDE ING’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION – Key Drivers of Growth, Innovation, and Scalability by Tjeerd Hunnekens, Global Transformation Lead at ING.

1. The Remarkable Similarities Between Company Growth and Human Growth: Discover the fascinating parallels between company growth and human growth, highlighting the shared journey of overcoming challenges and achieving success.
2. Learnings from ING Digital Journeys: Gain valuable insights from ING’s digital transformation over the past 20 years, focusing on key learnings and innovative strategies.
3. Extracting Key Drivers for Success Based on ING Digital Journeys: Uncover the critical success factors, such as having one voice and one direction, that have propelled ING’s digital journeys.
4. Scalability and Platform Approach: Explore the essential preconditions for scalability, including the platform approach and the ability to pivot when necessary, to drive sustainable growth.
5. Success Factors in Digital Transformation and Innovation: Identify the key success factors that have driven ING’s digital transformation and innovation efforts, setting a benchmark for the industry.
6. Personal Pointers for Success: Benefit from personal insights and practical tips based on my extensive experience in digital transformation and leadership.

12:20  Fireside Chat: Countdown to Q-day: Why banks must act on post-quantum authentication now, with Petr Dvorak, CEO at Wultra

• Time as the hidden strategic asset of Trust
• How quantum threats will impact digital banking authentication
• Why leading market analysts position post-quantum cryptography among top strategic tech trends in 2025
• Why banks must start migration projects by 2026 to transition on time
• What the best migration paths to PQA look like (without disrupting users)

12:30  ABN AMRO: A Transformation Journey to Business Agility by Mark Bus, Lead Product Owner Rapid Application Development, ABN AMRO, Bart Zantingh,  Lead Mendix Developer, ABN AMRO, and Paul Higgins,  Global Digital Execution Lead, Director, Mendix 

12:50  Building a Digital-First Collection Operation by Balancing Automation, Empathy, and Results by Tamás Erni, Managing Partner, LOXON

• From Omnichannel to Mobile-First: Redefining the Collections Experience
• The Gamechanger: Blending AI Automation with Human-Centric Design
• The Data Imperative: Powering Personalization and Performance: Only integrated credit, behavioral, and transactional data allow properly tailored recovery strategies and messages
• Rethinking Collections as a Customer Strategy

13:00  Navigating the New Normal – how can banks stay competitive in a highly volatile and competitive market? by Aleksandra Brdar Turk, Director Banking Operations, OTP Bank Slovenia

Key points:

• Risk Management in Flux: Need for agile and forward-looking risk models
• Regulatory Divergence: Complexities of navigating evolving regulations in the CEE
• Shifting Customer Behavior: Economic uncertainty impacts customer needs and preferences
• Opportunity in Resilience: Established CEE banks as potential safe havens
• Strategic Partnerships: Growing importance of collaboration

13:20  Panel Discussion: Building the Bank of Tomorrow: harnessing the uncertainty and emerging technologies for strategic advantage

Moderator: Igor Mikhalev, Partner, EY

Panelists:

• Aleksandra Brdar Turk, Operations Director, OTP Bank Slovenia
• Heather Xiao, Founder & CEO, Horizon Zero
• Tjeerd Hunnekens, Global Transformation Lead at ING

Topics:

1. Disruptive by Design: Embedding Emerging Tech into Core Banking Strategy
   How banks can go beyond innovation labs and make disruptive tech integral to their operating model.
2. From Biometrics to Behavior: Rethinking Trust in Next-Gen Authentication
   Exploring cutting-edge ID and access models that blend AI, behavioral analytics, and zero-trust principles.
3. Programmable Money & Digital Currencies: Redefining the Value Chain
   The strategic implications of CBDCs, tokenization, and smart contracts for banking infrastructure and policy.
4. AI-Driven Decisioning: Breaking Silos with Real-Time Data Intelligence
   How AI and ML are transforming lending, compliance, fraud detection, and personalization at scale.

Lunch Break and Networking (14:00 – 15:00)

Session 3: Financial Crime in the Digital Age: Strengthening Defenses Against Emerging Threats (15:00 – 17:00)

Presentations:

15:00  Verifying Data and Document Authenticity in the Age of Real-Time Deepfake AI Agents by Volkan Kaya, Founder & CEO, WeVerify

– AI-driven document fraud: Threat landscape and trends
– Emerging risks in financial systems
– Digital trust infrastructure and regulatory drivers (eIDAS, GDPR, ISO/IEC 27001)
– Mobile Driving Licenses and its mandatory acceptance by financial institutions by end of 2026
– Scalable, real-time signature solutions for finance and SMEs
– Case study insights from WeVerify

15:10  SMART SECURITY: LEVERAGING AI FOR ENHANCED PROTECTION IN BANKING – Transforming Physical Security at Headquarters and Branch Networks by Dinko Lucic, President of the Management Board at PBZ – Intesa Sanpaolo Group

15:30  The Novelty Gap: Building Resilience in the Age of GenAI Fraud by Pepijn Slappendel, Director of Fraud Prevention | DetACT at DataExpert

• The GenAI Fraud Challenge: Generative AI is enabling novel financial fraud at unprecedented speed and scale, creating a dangerous “novelty gap” where traditional detection systems fail to respond quickly enough.
• Beyond Historical Data: The current approach excels at known patterns but fails with new attacks, requiring a more adaptive layer of defense system that learns can react on the first instance of a new fraud campaign.
• Dual Strategy for Resilience: Implementing  defensive layers both trained on historical data with and build for adaptability creates resilience against both known and unknown threats.

15:40  Breaking down the KYC process & data to identify how to unlock what value where through AI by Ivar Lammers, Global Head of Financial Crime Prevention, ING Wholesale Banking

16:10  Panel Discussion: Financial Crime, Compliance & Fraud –
Strengthening Defenses in a Digital World

Moderator: Francis Marinier, Financial Crime Compliance Industry Practice Lead, Moody’s

Panelists:

• Ivar Lammers, Global Head of Financial Crime Prevention, ING Wholesale Banking
• Bart de Haan, MLRO Western Europe, Revolut
• Denis Kalyapin, Chief Growth Officer, Clear Junction

Topics:

1. Emerging fraud patterns in an era of digital banking and real-time payments
2. Authentication bypass attacks: How criminals exploit banking security gaps
3. Cross-border collaboration: Navigating fragmented regulations in financial crime prevention
4. AI and machine learning in fraud detection: Enhancing security while reducing false positives
5. Managing third-party risk: Strengthening controls over partners and API connections
6. KYC & Sanctions: Addressing compliance challenges in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape

Money Party by The Banking 50

Time: 17:30 – 21:30

Our event takes place a day before one of the world’s biggest fintech and payments events kicks off in RAI Amsterdam. Banking professionals from across the globe who travel to Amsterdam for this occasion gather and mix with our bank executives from The Banking 50. In a relaxed atmosphere, with drinks and canapés, experiences, views and ideas are exchanged during this most significant evening of the week. The Banking 50 provides the perfect platform for meaningful relationships to be formed and valuable business opportunities to be developed. Register for the Money Party here

The evening ends at 21:30.

Highlights from The Banking 50’s European Digital Finance Conference in Amsterdam, February 2025