On October 27–28, Cecilia Guthreus and Jannika Gustafsson joined the Nordic and Baltic banking and payments community at MoneyLIVE Nordic Banking in Copenhagen. Ahead of the event, they shared what they hoped to learn. Here are the key themes and takeaways from the event:
AI should strengthen trust, not replace it
There was a lot of excitement about what AI can enable, from agentic AI to more personalized customer experiences. Yet trust remains the cornerstone of banking, while the narrative around AI isn’t always reassuring or trust-inspiring. AI will transform banking, but only if it reinforces that trust.
Payments designed around the customer
Customers rarely care which payment method or infrastructure sits behind a transaction. They care about how fast the money arrives, what it costs and how easy the payment is to make. The challenge for banks is to turn complex payment capabilities into simple, intuitive experiences.
Bringing the euro on-chain
There was also interesting discussion on stablecoin and digital currencies, with a highlighted presentation on Qivalis, a consortium of 37 European banks, preparing the issuance of a regulated euro stablecoin. As the presenters pointed out, the euro accounts for around a fifth of global payment flows but only a minor fraction of the stablecoin market, where the US dollar is setting the pace. With promising use-cases in cross-border payments and treasury, 421 will be following closely what this means for banks in the region.
Beyond the stage
Some of the most valuable conversations happened between sessions and at the after-party, where Cecilia and Jannika met peers from across the industry, exchanged perspectives and built new relationships. The Women in Finance networking brunch was another highlight, with very interesting discussions among wonderful female peers.
Thank you to MoneyLIVE and every valuable meeting in Copenhagen. If you’d like to continue the conversation, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
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