Last week, banking, retail and gaming professionals attended the UK’s largest payments event, PayExpo 2018, at its new central venue close to London’s start-up community.

As well as offering a series of debates, networking opportunities and conference sessions – including a new gaming programme in partnership withICE London – attendees exclusively previewed new products and services from Curve and Starling Bank.

On day one, Shachar Bialick, founder and CEO of Curve, confirmed the return of American Express to the all-in-one mobile wallet, as well as giving a sneak peek of its forthcoming metal card. Benefits of the new gadget include: £50m medical coverage, worldwide travel insurance, and connections with premium retailers.

Furthermore on day two, Anne Boden, CEO of Starling Bank, revealed it will be bringing white label banking services to the UK, enabling other organisations to offer retail banking and make payments.

Anne, who was named winner of PayExpo’s Payments Power 10 (joined by Chief Platform Officer, Megan Caywood, in fourth place), explained: 

“The transformation in the payments sector that Starling Bank is helping to drive is built on the latest technology and will unlock huge potential for businesses to trade internationally, unburdened by excessive costs and delays. It is a testament to the whole team at Starling that Megan and I have been featured in this year’s Payments Power 10.”

Other industry influencers who made the list include: Suresh Vaghjiani, CEO and founder of Tribe Payments; Flavia Alzetta, CEO of Contis Group; Robert Morgan, Head of Sales and Partnerships – Mobile Payments at Barclays; and Andrea Dunlop, CEO Merchant Acquiring Europe of Paysafe Group.

From those making huge strides to the next big names, PayExpo also supports the newcomers to the industry, giving them a chance to show off innovations and attract investment. This year’s Minicorn Club featured the likes of Swappt, Fast Pay, Konsentus, Splitty Pay, and Money Zebra – some up-and-coming fintechs to look out for over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, four promising entrepreneurs took to the stage for the Payments Dragons’ Den to raise awareness of their business and compete for insight from the Dragons for the next 12 months as well as a £10,000 digital media package from PaymentEye and Bobsguide .

The judging panel of industry experts – including Lebo Gunguluza from South Africa’s Dragons’ Den – reviewed the elevator pitches of gaming platform, True Name; SaaS start-up, AlephPay; and disbursement platform, Repay Solutions; and plug-and-play KYC solution, ID-Pal.

Thanks to the strides it has made since its inception, ID-Pal came away with the win and a year’s worth of expert support to help their business growth.

Keep an eye out for PayExpo 2019 . Whether you’re new to the game or a long-term player, here’s how to get involved next year: Register here, apply to speaker here, and find out about sponsorship here.