FinTech South Diary – Life’s a Peach for FinTechs in Atlanta, Georgia

70% of global payments go through Atlanta. In fact, the region known in the financial world as Transaction Alley, is beginning to rack up an impressive list of FinTech credentials. Atlanta is now a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 FinTech companies. The top 15 public FinTech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

After being held online for two years in a row, there was great excitement for this year’s in-person event. Eight hundred of the world’s top FinTech executives gathered for the two-day conference held in Atlanta, Georgia. 

The conference focused on ‘Revolution, Responsibility, and Opportunity’ for the Fintech sector (this year’s theme) and held deep dive panel discussions on many topics including the ‘Metaverse’, ‘Opportunities for Crypto’, ‘FinTech and Gaming’, ‘Neobanks and Disruptors’, ’The Future of Banking and ESG’, and ‘Sustainability’. In addition to panel discussions, the conference featured pitches from three amazing FinTech start-ups that were in with a chance, following an audience vote, to win the $25,000 prize. 

Keeper’s Standout Talks at FinTech South Atlanta, Georgia

Over the two days, there were over twenty excellent talks highlighting the challenges and the opportunities for FinTech Companies. One standout theme mentioned throughout the conference was the importance of partnerships and technology in helping companies scale and digitally transform in order to meet the demands of the modern world. 

Co-Founder & Chief of Growth at Sensedia, Marcilio Oliveira, discussed FinTech trends of the future. He highlighted that digital transformation is necessary to drive change and bridge the gap between traditional financial services and modern consumer expectations. 

Oliveria outlined four key challenges facing FinTechs in Atlanta. These included:

• • • • • • • • • • A lack of strategic digital alignment digital architecture and ecosystem innovations
                  • A lack of resources and talent
                  • The need to unlock data to get the right playground APIs
                  • Delivering quick-win projects while building the platform strategy. 

Strategic partnerships were identified as a solution to these challenges. This is something that we wholeheartedly believe in at Keeper Solutions.

Why Atlanta? 

As mentioned 70% of global payments go through Atlanta. From my time spent there, it’s easy to see that it’s no accident that Atlanta has become the FinTech capital of the world. Once again strategic partnerships are key to its success. 

Partnerships have been key to Atlanta’s growth as a FinTech powerhouse. Collaboration from the public and private sectors have helped the region as a FinTech hub and created a FinTech ecosystem that includes a series of networks from education to business and economic development for the region.

Some of these include the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the conference organizers, FinTech Atlanta, and the Georgia FinTech Academy. All of these organizations and groups were present at Fintech South.

Some Facts About Atlanta

• • • • • • • • • • Similar to how New York is known as the Big Apple, Atlanta is often referred to as the Big Peach. 
                  • It’s home to Coca-Cola, UPS and NCR. 
                  • Atlanta has the 3rd largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the USA. 
                  • 6 of the 10 largest US payment processing firms are headquartered in the state. 

Lastly, because it may cause some confusion when you visit, Atlanta is home to some seventy-one streets that include some variation of the word “Peachtree”: Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Plaza. The list goes on!

(Below is an on-the-fly Keeper Solutions introduction that I did with the guys at FinTech Atlanta. A more in-depth introduction video can be found at the end of this blog post.)