RISE at the Paris Fintech Debate & Dinner 2025 – An evening for new ideas, digital sovereignty, and global responsibility in the digitization of money, banking, payments, and retail. How must the entire sector prepare to be competitive for the next generation of digital commerce?

Last week, Thomas Grechenig and Karin Kappel joined more than 250 leading figures from the worlds of business, technology, banking, and finance at the Paris Fintech Forum (Alteir Event) Debate & Dinner to discuss exciting questions of our time: How do we shape the future of payment, digital monetary systems, and IT infrastructure in the context of digital sovereignty and AI?

A panel consisting of Aman Behzad (Royal Park Partners), Vagelis Kollintzas (Viva.com), Mung Ki Woo (Sopra Steria), and Thomas Grechenig (RISE) emphasized the importance of open, secure, and human-centered digital ecosystems.

At a time when financial transactions are becoming increasingly fast-paced, interconnected, and data-driven, companies and governments are faced with strategic decisions. The discussion has clearly shown that:

• Payment innovation is not an end in itself, but rather a driver of efficiency, new business models, and better user experiences.
• Digital money systems — from instant payments and tokenization to programmable assets — are fundamentally changing value chains.
• Digital sovereignty is not a political buzzword, but a concrete framework for action: those who retain control over infrastructure, data spaces, and identities secure autonomy and competitiveness. This applies in particular to the integration of AI into the relevant processes.
• IT and AI infrastructure is becoming the strategic backbone of Europe. Modern, resilient, and secure digital infrastructure — from proprietary cloud stacks and data rooms to digital identity solutions — will determine whether Europe can keep pace with global competition.

The open exchange between technology providers, banks, investors, and fintech innovators was particularly inspiring. They all share a common vision:

“A European payment and financial ecosystem that is globally competitive, takes digital security seriously, and actively promotes innovation.”

Many thanks to all panelists and guests for their insightful contributions, and to host Laurent Nizri for a great event.