Exploring FinTech South: A Deep Dive into Atlanta’s Thriving Financial Technology Ecosystem

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Kennesaw State University’s Executive MBA Program, the accelerated degree program for working professionals looking to advance their career and enhance their leadership skills. And now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, KSU’s Executive MBA Program. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. And today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Larry Williams with TAG and Jonathan O’Connor with Synovus here to be talking about the upcoming Fintech South event later in August. Welcome, gentlemen.

Larry Williams: Hi, Lee. Thanks for having us.

Jonathan O’Connor: Great to be here.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you both for for coming on. Uh, Larry, before we get too far into things, why don’t you share a little bit about TAG the overview, mission, purpose and how you’re serving the community?

Larry Williams: Oh. That’s great. Lee, thank you so much. We’re always delighted to be here with you and radio X. We are, uh, so super excited about what we can do in this community. Uh, TAG is really a professional organization about, uh, people that are interested in technology and the innovation economy. And what we do is we really bring together the ecosystem through lots of ways of engagement. Uh, tech for good, uh, projects connecting the ecosystem and building peer to peer networks. We also do a lot of lobbying, both the state and the local level, um, and the federal level, to make sure that we continue to have great policies that will keep Georgia as the number one place to do business, as it has been for 11 years in a row. And then, of course, we’ve got to prepare the workforce of the future, and we’re really dedicated to make sure that we have the most relevant workforce moving forward, because that’s what drives economic growth.

Lee Kantor: And, Jonathan, why was it important for Synovus to be involved with TAG and to be the title sponsor of this great event?

Jonathan O’Connor: Absolutely. You know, Synovus is honored to be diamond sponsor for the event here. In fact, we have a long history with TAG with that two board members. And, you know, the bank itself is is really here to support transactions, uh, in Atlanta. Uh, you know what? Our history from Columbus, in fact, being the oldest bank, uh, in Georgia and we continue to to to grow in the state of Georgia with some recent news as well, with our merger with pinnacle. But, you know, as we look at the, uh, the fintech ecosystem and and we look at what’s around us here. You know, we have over 260 fintech companies calling it home. 70% of all fintech global transactions, in fact run through Atlanta. And you know, we have a very great robust infrastructure here. You know two of the largest fiber optic outlets. And we got the biggest airport in the world. So you know, all of these together with Synovus support will will not only fuze the ecosystem but make made fintech side. 2025 the best event of the year.

Lee Kantor: So what are some of the kind of unique advanTAGes that Atlanta offers to fintech companies and entrepreneurs, startups and established, uh, enterprise level companies to want to move here to Atlanta to do business. And like you said, transaction alley. Larry, you want to take that?

Larry Williams: Sure. Um, hey, by all means, it’s a lot of the things that Jonathan just said. So if you think about the, um, the area, the area of expertise and focus that we have in Georgia about all things transactions and, you know, we didn’t just we didn’t just stand up one day and say, you know, plant a flag in the sand and say, we are going to be fintech. No, we have been involved in fintech since, um, since the early days. I mean, if you go back to Georgia’s history, we used to process checks. If you remember a checklist, people would send the paper to Georgia and we would process it. We actually were involved in digitizing that system. So we helped create what is now the digital transactions world. In fact Jonathan’s co emcee at Fintech South coming up. Um Natalie Hogg her grandfather was the pioneer of digitized payments. And so it was exciting to have them there. My point really is that we’ve helped build every part of our fintech and transaction processing, and that’s what’s put us as number one in the world. We’ve helped build every layer of the onion when it comes to that. So why does that make it attractive for people to expand and grow here, or create new, great ideas to build the next generation of of ingenuity here? It’s because we have the know how. We’ve lived through every iteration of the process and the industry. We’ve helped build it. We have the lessons learned, we’ve got the successes, and we know what’s going to be coming over. You know what’s two you know what’s past 2 or 3 waves. And we’re building that part of the future. People want to be part of that. We didn’t get to the point of being able to, um, um, be at the middle and, uh, process 70% of the world’s transactions by accident. We did it intentionally. We built the industry over a couple of decades. And now we are in that position. And again, people want to be a part of that. And that success begets more success.

Lee Kantor: Now when you’re saying 75. Yeah, please.

Jonathan O’Connor: If I can just add to that, that, you know, by having Atlanta as a very transient hub and city. You know, I’m not from Dublin, Georgia. I’m from Dublin, Ireland. And a lot of, a lot of international people have, have, have made this their home to be part of this ecosystem, to form part of the ecosystem and to grow together. And, you know, that’s very special because our intellectual capital of not only about local people, you know, us space people, but also international people is a very attractive fusion. And as Larry said, the upcoming talent, the next generation Creation of of of amazing fintech professionals in colleges like KSU and other areas. You know, that makes it all exciting for people like us to be involved in this, as we hopefully transfer some knowledge and mentor as well into the next phase of, of this growth.

Lee Kantor: Now, Jonathan, you bring up a great point. I mean, um, you obviously aren’t you didn’t come from Dublin, Georgia. You came from the UK. How did you. Um, how is Atlanta seen? I know we aspire to be seen as this global, um, uh, environment and ecosystem that’s serving the entire, uh, fintech community. And like you mentioned, 70% of these payments are globally. You weren’t talking about, you know, just in Georgia or the US. Those are 70% of the payments globally come through. Atlanta is a is the region seen in a positive way, like when people say I’m going to fintech Heck event. Do they think Atlanta or they think Georgia? Or do they think? What do you mean that? Why is that event? There? Why isn’t it in New York or, um, San Francisco?

Jonathan O’Connor: I think it’s to that point, as I said, it’s the history. You know, this was tactically laid out many years ago, and we have a lot of these payment companies having headquarters here. And now. We have involvements like the Merchant Services Limited bank charter, which is a very special piece of legislation for Georgia that’s now attracting large fintechs from Europe. The likes of Scout.com and and other players who are possibly going to engage in this new area of innovation. But what attracts people here is I would say, you know, its its position. Atlanta is in a good spot in the US. You’re kind of you’re not too far east, you’re not too far west. And you know and and it’s the it’s the easiest of travel, you know, having a great airport hub here, having access to great intellectual capital with people. And and it would have been a very transient city. You know, there’s a lot of change here all the time. And they’ve got a very good soccer team.

Lee Kantor: That’s a bonus, right? So now, Larry, how do how do you kind of encourage an event like Fintech South to become a catalyst for new ideas and strategic partnerships and not just kind of a, um, you know, event that people come and just talk and leave? How do you kind of create that community and in that environment to encourage those kind of, uh, serendipitous collisions so that people can kind of, uh, collaborate more effectively?

Larry Williams: The engineered serendipity. Lee.

Lee Kantor: That’s it. Engineered serendipity.

Larry Williams: You know, it’s, um, it’s both an art and art and a skill as well. Um, so what we do is we we’re bringing, uh, the best part? Leadership, the best content, the people who really know, you know, what’s now and what’s next so that they’re sharing, whether they be on the main sTAGe, um, or they’re on one of our breakouts. So we make sure that we have the most relevant content. Um, we also make sure that we feature some of the great, um, assets that we’ve mentioned here, um, throughout the show as well. We have our innovation challenge. So our innovation challenge that’s been going on for the balance of this year, that’s where we bring together a cohort of startups, um, people that are really thinking again about that next generation of ingenuity, what’s coming on and how are they going to provide services and solve problems for that next generation. And, you know, Lee on sTAGe at Fintech South August 18th, I mean, 19th and 20th, August 19th and 20th. We will award a single startup fintech startup with a $25,000 non dilutive award. That’s huge. That really helps a startup really propel them and catalyze them for the next part of their journey. We also have our advance award, where we celebrate companies that are established for coming up with great new innovations within their enterprises. We’ve always got to stay fresh, and that’s what keeps companies growing. That’s what keeps them relevant.

Larry Williams: And we get to celebrate the people that have really brought this along. Uh, so our Fintech Hall of Fame. I am so happy and so thrilled to be recognizing Sean Banks of TV capital, who’s been a part of a couple things. One, he’s been really dedicated to investing in our startup community, making sure that they have the tools that they need, and really thinking about this Georgia ecosystem as a way that can lift them up. Um, but he’s been part of the broader ecosystem as well. He helped start the uh Technology Association of Georgia. TAGs fintech society. So we were talking about fintech. You know, 20 years ago we were doing fintech before fintech was cool. And we really helped grow and bring together, uh, that ecosystem. And uh, um, Sean really helped bring that together and led that for many, many years. So those are a lot of things that we do. Um, the other is making sure that we have places for people to interact with, people to connect, talk about what they’re doing, uh, how they’re solving problems, the challenges and the opportunities they see. And then we can continue that great, um, dialog outside of the conference through our TAG, uh, societies and with, you know, Fintech Atlanta and other organizations around the state. So there’s a there’s built in mechanisms to have an ongoing discussion even after we leave the road.

Lee Kantor: Now, Jonathan, why was it important for Cenovus to get this involved with Fintech South? And how does how does that reflect the culture of the organization and your commitment to fintech number one, but also the community as a whole?

Jonathan O’Connor: Yes. Lee, like Synovus itself, you know, its commitment to community and community banking is core. As we look at Atlanta and Atlanta is one of our our growth cities, you know, being connected to the fintech arena is so important to us from the branch level of community, bank level, investment bank level, and we’re hopefully going to be here to help some of these fintechs as they start their journey on investments, they start their journey on funding and really having a a, you know, a collaborative approach to to supporting the fintechs and not only startups but mature. And, you know, you look at you look at the the 400, we call it fintech alley because you take any exit off there, you’ll hit, you know, anywhere from 5 to 7 payment companies and fintech companies. And with Synovus, you know, as embedded so much into the community of Atlanta, we want to really be there as a collaborator, advisor, helper for these companies as as they grow. And we look forward to our participation, uh, in Fintech South, uh, 2025, our continued support of Tyga and another, another, uh, association Nevada. And uh, we see an exciting road ahead.

Lee Kantor: So as Jonathan, as kind of being the boots on the ground and interacting with these organizations in the manner that you do, are you seeing any trends that we should be aware of our challenges or opportunities in the marketplace today.

Jonathan O’Connor: I think the, you know, opportunities definitely weigh. You know, any any type of roadblocks for fintech today. Uh, you know, I have to mention AI everybody. It’s everything is AI today. But I think, you know, as we as we get to witness more AI powered solutions, I think that’s a a very exciting accelerator to to both innovation and growth, not only in Atlanta and Georgia, but I think, you know, globally, um, because we have such a great presence and footprint in the financial services industry here. I think the mature, you know, maturation of blockchain and digital assets will will play a very big role. You know, you’ll see institutional action now of crypto and stablecoins. It was a very important piece of legislation this year called the Genius Act. And probably from a banking perspective, I think, you know, real world asset tokenization will be very important. And, you know, having token deposits and you’ll see a fusion, I think of of blockchain as a service. And AI blockchain will play a bigger role. I think now with the acceleration of, of um, of of not only not only stablecoin and crypto, but, you know, from a payments perspective how it happened. We’re also in the world of, you know, of a less stringent regulatory environment, which will I think will trigger a lot of, uh, a lot of innovation because people will rethink some of their models from before. And that said, then we do always have to keep an eye on security and fraud and areas like that. So hoping that the advanced making technology will, will, will help customers and help how any type of customer, you know, be protected. So I think overall a very exciting and path ahead. And we’ve got some great talk tracks and, uh, speakers about these particular topics at fintech site. So get your tickets today and you’ll get to enjoy it.

Lee Kantor: Now, Larry, has there been a moment you’ve been involved in this since the beginning? Uh, that has really inspired you and is really encouraged you in the growth of fintech in in the region, in the area. Is there a story you can share that maybe kind of encapsulates the potential and and how we’re just kind of really at the beginning of all this.

Larry Williams: Lydia, what’s really fascinating is the way money moves and that has been evolving over the last couple of decades. And what’s always fascinating to me is seeing the the dramatic and subtle changes of how that’s been happening. Um, so whenever we think about, um, you know, like I said, the digital. Digitization of payments as well as, you know, the acceleration of, um, of digital payments and then how it’s been migrating over to commercial and B2B payments. All of those have been iterative steps in this process. Some of the things that Jonathan just outlined about the big megatrends that are going on, the things that, um, are fueled by policies, uh, or more open policies about how we’re going to be able to function, um, the creation of things like stablecoins that he mentioned, as well as the new tools that are available, uh, like artificial intelligence. And then what, uh, quantum. When we talked in, lady, I remember we talked a lot about quantum computing at the Georgia Technology Summit earlier this year. That is all going to bring in, uh, Fascinating improvements and opportunities. Um, it’s also going to create some of the threats that we do that, you know, we have to be much more diligent about cybersecurity and fraud.

Larry Williams: But all of these things that we’ve been talking about, those are the things that we’re good at in Georgia. We’re good at looking at the future, looking at how these, you know, transformative technologies like AI are coming and how do we manifest them. So it’s been an iteration. You know, Lee, this is our eighth annual Fintech South. Um, so we we’ve got a great, uh, we’re established, we’ve got great roots, we’ve got great traction. But we didn’t start there either. For eight years before that, we were doing a fintech symposium that really started to grow this, um, and, and create a foundation for us to move this. And Lee, you all remember when we moved it out of a small ballroom and into Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I mean, that was that was drastic. So I think that puts a spotlight onto what we have. The amount of attention that this region has and how we can continue to be the epicenter for not only financial transactions but fintech. Um, this year, super excited about having Sean Neville, the co-founder and, uh, member of the board of directors, uh, of Katana Labs Container labs is going to be the first native AI platform for fintech that’s really going to think about all aspects of the transaction, uh, the compliance, uh, the, um, the fraud and, uh, cybersecurity protections, all of these things built into one.

Larry Williams: And listening to Sean’s perspective are going to be extremely, extremely, um, important. Uh, Doctor Raphael Bostic is going to be there. He’s the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. And Alicia Abbott, who was an entrepreneur futurist. And she will be talking about the future is now as it becomes to as it comes to payments, but also beyond that. Natalie, I’m going to give everybody a little preview. We’re now to get the more. But we also have the benefit of Mayor Andre Dickens coming and helping us make sure that this thing is successful. And I want to make one more one more point about this. It’s not just about the people on sTAGe. It’s about the people in the room. Those are the people that you’re going to network with. That’s where you’re going to build your your contacts. That’s where you’re going to build relationships. And those are the people that we’re going to use to continue this conversation after the conference is over.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, you mentioned a lot of the reasons to attend if you’re an individual, is this only for the executives, or is this trickle down to the students that are, um, you know, in the university studying fintech? Like who who should be attending?

Larry Williams: Oh, all means we’re going to have students there. So whether you’re an employer looking for the for the greatest talent or if you’re in talent looking to get into the fintech industry, we’ve got a great partnership with our friends at the Fintech Academy. Um, so we are actually building out and we are having, um, you know, quite a few tickets that are being dedicated to our next generation of talent that will be there. And so I know a lot of our members, as well as the people that are helping underwrite this thing, are super excited about this talent, giving them the exposure they need and giving them an opportunity, um, to learn more about the real world, real world experiences in fintech. And, you know, it’s interesting because when students get exposed to this or young people get exposed to it, they get super excited about it. So I’m delighted to say that individuals by all means people. If you’re if you’re in and interested in in fintech, you should be there. Like I said, it’s not just the people on sTAGe, it’s the people in the room. And those are the people that are going to be able to network with. So, you know, love for you to go online at fintech, Scout.com and get those tickets.

Lee Kantor: And, Jonathan, how do you recommend to your people to get the most out of Fintech South event? Um, is there any kind of do’s and don’ts you recommend for an attendee?

Jonathan O’Connor: Lee I was the first timer last year and I ended up as chairman this year, so anything is possible. And what I would say is that when you walk into the Woodruff Center and the sheer energy on the floor is is what really, really amazed me. You know, the collaboration, as Larry said, it’s it’s student and It’s it’s it’s, you know, it’s it’s middle management. It’s senior management, it’s employees. Everyone’s collaborating on this this really, you know, refined area and people sitting on stairs and you know, so so the atmosphere is is amazing. My only my my advice is, you know, make as much contacts as you can, you know, for your brand and business it’s very important for your network. It’s very important. And you know, you’re going to learn so much from people because we’ve got such amazing topics during the day. It’s going to generate so much debate and great conversation during the breaks. So that’s that’s all the pluses. The only downfall is if you don’t have a ticket, you won’t get the benefit. So I would say definitely get your tickets and be part of this, be part of this experience of collaboration, knowledge transfer, you know, meeting new people. And you know, you know, if we’re going to exceed our expectations from last year and we’re we’re super excited. And for the next two, we get going.

Lee Kantor: So, Larry, if somebody wants tickets or wants to learn more about TAG, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Larry Williams: I believe the best way is through fintech. South.com. Fintech South. Com which you can always get there through TAG online.org as well. And just go to our events and you can find every way to get registered and get plugged in with this. And I just want to build on something that uh, Jonathan was just saying. And that is, you know, when you get in there, you want to go to our innovation alley, which is like our expo hall. It’ll be 40, 40 plus, uh, exhibitors, sponsors. And that’s where we’ll also talk about, um, the people in our fintech ecosystem innovation challenge. And also, you know, the over 50 university students that are pursuing fintech careers. So you want to be there. You want to be engaged?

Lee Kantor: And Jonathan, if people want to learn more about Synovus and maybe connect with you or somebody on the Synovus team, what’s the website?

Jonathan O’Connor: Absolutely. We are WW, synovus.com. We will also have a a booth and a presence at the event. So we’ll be happy to field any questions, have some conversations, explore even more about how we can help a community level. And there you know we’re very excited to do that.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well Larry Jonathan.

Larry Williams: You’ll be there.

Lee Kantor: Right? Absolutely. We haven’t missed one yet. Well, uh, Larry and Jonathan, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work, and we appreciate you.

Larry Williams: Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.