FinTech Connect

FinTech Connect is one of London's largest annual fintech trade shows, hosted at ExCeL each December and combining a conference programme with a substantial exhibition focused on the practical buyer-seller side of fintech. It sits alongside FinTech Week London, PAY360 and MoneyLIVE Payments Europe as calendar anchors for the same audiences.

What happens

The format combines multi-track conference content with a large exhibition floor where banks, payment companies, infrastructure vendors and emerging startups present products to industry buyers. Conference tracks typically cover payments, RegTech, embedded finance, capital markets technology, SME and commercial banking, and consumer finance. Pitch competitions and startup showcases give early-stage companies stage time alongside the established players. The exhibition floor is genuinely transactional — vendors actively pursue meetings with buyers and most exhibitors report measurable pipeline impact within months of the show.

Who attends

The audience skews more toward the commercial side of fintech than equivalent conferences in the same week: vendor commercial teams, banking and corporate procurement, partnership leadership at banks, and operating teams from fintech startups. Investor presence is meaningful but not dominant. The geographic mix is heavily UK and European with a strong contingent from Middle Eastern and African fintech ecosystems for whom London is the closest major international venue.

Dominant themes

The agenda each year tracks the practical UK and European fintech buying agenda — payments modernisation, real-time payment infrastructure, ISO 20022 migration, open banking and the move toward open finance, embedded finance distribution, AI in lending and customer service, capital markets tokenisation, B2B and cross-border payments, fraud and KYC modernisation, and the regulatory environment under Financial Conduct Authority and EU frameworks. Wholesale banking and capital markets technology receive more coverage than at consumer-oriented fintech events, reflecting the audience mix.

Planning to attend

Excel London is at Custom House on the Elizabeth Line, well-connected to central London and the City. Hotels near the venue are limited but the Elizabeth Line makes Liverpool Street, Canary Wharf and central London hotels easy options. December timing means weather is cold and the conference is close to year-end, which sharpens the commercial intent of attendees — most buyers come ready to make purchasing decisions before budget year-end. International visitors should plan for early dark afternoons and book restaurant reservations in advance given the seasonal demand from City Christmas activity.

Use the expense calculator below to estimate the total cost of attending — registration, flights, hotels, meals, and ground transport.