FinovateSpring 2026 concluded on Thursday with a final day exploring personalisation in financial services, the barriers facing small US businesses, and reflections on how the fintech landscape continues to mature in a post-pandemic environment.

The promise and limits of personalisation

The opening panel brought together industry leaders to examine how financial institutions can meet evolving customer expectations through personalisation. 

Moderated by Beyond The Arc CEO Steven Ramirez, the discussion featured Deepa Chatterjee, SVP of business development and go-to-market at US Bank, Sonia Bainbridge, head of digital distribution EMEA at Invesco, and Leeron Morad, senior counsel and legal team manager at Google Payments.

Chatterjee defined personalisation as “being able to bring products to market and make sure that they’re relevant for the particular customer who is on the receiving end of them”.

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Currently, financial institutions are increasingly pursuing hyper-personalisation across customer service, product recommendations, pricing structures, financial planning tools, among other initiatives. 

However, Bainbridge introduced an important counterpoint: “Not every single touch point needs to be personalised.” This raised the question of whether excessive personalisation might cross into uncomfortable territory for consumers.

Morad believes that the answer lies with user expectations: “If a user goes and expects this level of personalisation, and knows that their data is in good hands, it doesn’t really feel creepy. In fact, that may be what the user actually wants, and the reason they gave the data in the first place.”

“So, I think creepiness can be avoided if we show from the beginning that we are good stewards of the data,” continued Morad. 

The conversation turned to data governance, which Chatterjee identified as “the key to delivering personalisation at scale”. Morad noted that giving users the agency to decide how their data will be used and visibility into what information exists about them builds trust. 

Yet Morad cautioned against overwhelming users with too many choices, warning of “control fatigue” when customers face excessive options for managing their data preferences.

Bainbridge offered practical guidance for institutions navigating these challenges, urging them to “focus on looking at what users are doing, not what they are saying”. 

The $100 billion gap

In a conversation with FinTech Futures, Luz Urrutia, CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF), shed light on the significant obstacles confronting small businesses across the US.

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Urrutia outlined that there are 30 million small businesses which generate half of the US private sector workforce and contribute 50% of GDP, yet face a $100 billion annual capital access gap.

She explained that small enterprises struggle to secure financing because their loan requests “are too small, they’re not profitable, or the industry is too risky, or the business hasn’t been operating for three years, or they don’t have enough credit, or their credit is too thin”.

These challenges intensify for businesses owned by women and minorities, with Urrutia noting that their struggles are not because “they are less capable”, but because the “system doesn’t see them”.

AOF attempts to address these gaps through a combination of digital tools and human support to provide affordable loans to underserved businesses. The organisation measures success not just in dollars deployed but through job creation, community investment, and improvements in financial health indicators like credit scores, explained Urrutia. 

Beyond capital access, Urrutia identified a critical knowledge gap. More than 80% of small businesses want to adopt emerging digital technologies, including AI and cryptocurrency, but lack understanding of the tools available to them.

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Urrutia stressed that, “These tools are not just for the big companies, these tools are for them [small businesses] even more, as they don’t have access to capital to continue employing people, to continue doing things that technology can enable for them.”

A maturing fintech ecosystem

FinTech Futures also sat down with Finovate VP and director of fintech strategy Greg Palmer to talk about this year’s conference and broader industry trends.

Palmer expressed satisfaction with the audience engagement this year, which he said was felt by those demoing on stage and resulted in a “buzzing networking hall”.

“I love walking into that room and just hearing the hustle and the bustle and knowing that people are connecting with each other and finding those opportunities to create something, create a new connection that can turn into something down the road. So overall, very pleased with how it’s gone,” reflected Palmer.

Observing fintech’s recent shifts, Palmer stated: “I think fintech comes in waves. There are these periods of hyper growth, then there are periods of relative stagnation, where you have the industry really trying to figure out who is going to be the dominant player.”

“Now we’re in a really exciting phase, because I think there are a lot of companies that have been early stage that have come to fruition since the pandemic,” Palmer continues.

He explained that venture capitalists now provide smaller initial investments with greater oversight, including serious discussions about market strategy, customer acquisition, and capital deployment.

Palmer views this increased accountability as beneficial. “A lot of these companies are in a position now where they don’t just have inventions, they actually have businesses,” he said.

He continued: “I think you’re going to see the companies that come out of this environment be really strong. A lot of them are going to be profitable much more quickly than they might have been in previous years, and we’re really just at the tip of what looks like an exciting wave here of these kinds of new, resilient post-pandemic fintechs.”

Looking ahead, Finovate will return to New York for its Fall event in September before the industry will once again descend on San Diego for next year’s FinovateSpring conference.

Completing the show’s second year, Palmer indicated a continued presence for Finovate in San Diego. “We’ll be here for the foreseeable future, it looks like a really good home for us,” he said.

He concluded by positioning the event’s distinctive value offering: “We’re certainly not the largest fintech event in the space, but we are the largest stage. We are the biggest stage-based show. So for people who are looking to get up in front of a group of influential people, Finovate is by far the best opportunity.”