North Carolina, and Charlotte, in particular, has proven itself to be a petri-dish for fintech talent. The third annual Fintech Generations Conference was further proof that there’s no slowing of the Charlotte fintech scene.
Business leaders representing nearly 170 companies from across the region recently gathered for one of the largest fintech events in the country (outside of Silicon Valley and New York City). The Conference was hosted at AvidXChange’s campus at the Music Factory, and AvidXChange played a large roll in providing speakers and dynamic space for the conference.
Day one included several notable fintech leaders, including the CEO and President of Ally Bank (which has its corporate center in Charlotte) Diane Morais, who gave a “fireside chat” with Chris William, the managing director at Wells Fargo Private Client Group.
Tools for Good Decisions
There were some key takeaways from the conference, like how humans make decisions via technology. In a recap, Finsiders board member Kristen Wallace commented how a large point made was the debate that financial products should be a tool to help make good decisions, not a method through which consumers can make bad ones.
“Shifting to day two, we shifted the conversation to the ethics,” said Wallace. “Just because we can, should we? Or is that too paternalistic?”
Wallace was referencing the discussion by Jamie Foehl from The Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University. He debated the nature of humans regarding financial decisions, and how we can use behavioral economics and fintech to design better financial products that take ethical consumption into account.
“How do we put compassion into an algorithm?” asked Wallace at the same recap, held at the end of the conference. She noted that this was a thought to take away from the conference and to use going forward.
The question may not have a concrete answer, but throughout the conference, several companies and speakers sought to bridge a gap between consumer and financial products, and show a human side to fintech.
Like Shannon Ayers, the CFO of Charlotte-based company Stratifyd, said on a day-two panel: “What we’re trying to do is to democratize AI so that every business and person has a tool,” he said. “Like everyone here probably has an iPhone or some type of phone, that helps us make decisions. That’s what our core goal is here.”
Fintech Growth in Charlotte
Conference Producer Stephanie Ananian said she felt the conference was another success and symbol of growth for the Charlotte fintech community.
“Fintech Generations has grown into one of the best Fintech events in the Country,” Ananain said. “It's so great to finally see Charlotte as a destination for this type of event instead of just seeing our Charlotte leaders presenting at conferences outside our region.”
And a destination it was. Colleen McCreary, the Chief People Officer at Credit Karma, even stopped by for a chat. Companies from all over the country pitched in Queen City Fintech’s Demo Day during day one, from Charlotte to Singapore.
“It's important to get together and actually talk,” said Patrick Rivenbark from Carolina Fintech Hub at the close of day two. “There’s a lot of great conversation out there, and I think it’s important to continue to do it.”
Wallace ended day two with an echo of Ananain. “What a cool thing,” she said of all the businesses and people present at the conference. “All here in this spot for 36 hours, how cool is that? That doesn’t happen very often, so it’s been phenomenal.”
Click here to read about the eight companies that participated in Demo Day.
