01 · For Financial Institution: banks · insurers · asset & wealth managers · FMI's · payment providers · crypto
Curated Innovation,
no buying obligation.
Financial institutions are under real delivery pressure, and the opportunities to step out of the door and meet new innovators are fewer than they used to be.
The Connector brings curated innovation directly to your team, in an editorial format, mapped to the priorities you actually care about.
No standing agenda. No pitch loop. No obligation to take any conversation further than the meeting itself.
Engaged with by retail banks, payment providers, asset managers and financial institutions across Europe, the UK and Asia.
Execution is the core.
Curiosity is the
other half.
02 · Why staying curious matters
Execution has always been the core of work inside a financial institution. But staying curious, exposed to new thinking, new approaches, and what peers elsewhere are trying has always been part of the profession, too.
That need has not gone away. If anything, the pace of change in payments, data, regulation, and customer expectations makes it more important than before. Teams that stay current make better decisions, spot risks earlier, and arrive at transformation conversations with a clearer view of what is actually possible.
The question is no longer whether to stay curious. It is how to do so in a way that fits the reality of modern delivery pressure.
03 · A modern way to stay current
Instead of asking your team
to step out of the door,
we bring innovation in.
Each engagement is tailored to the institution.
The innovators you meet are selected on merit, mapped to the priorities you actually care about, and introduced in a format that respects your team's time.
No standing agenda.
No generic pitch deck.
The objective is straightforward: a well-spent hour or afternoon that leaves your team better informed than before.
No Pitching
No Pressure
No Obligation
1 You set the theme
Payments rails, data infrastructure, agentic AI in compliance, embedded wealth. Your priority shapes the room.
What an innovation
meeting looks like.
04 · Anatomy of a session
2 We compose the room
A handful of innovators are selected on merit and mapped to your priority. Plus the right peers, where relevant.
A curated session built around a theme you choose. A handful of innovators are introduced to your team in a structured, editorial format, not a sales environment.
3 The session runs
At your offices, but mostly virtually. Sized for your team.
The pace is built for real conversation, not a pitch loop.
4 Your team walks away informed
A grounded and inspirational view of what is emerging, what peers are adopting, and which ideas may require a closer look.
5 No obligation, ever
If a specific innovator becomes relevant later, that conversation happens on your terms and in your timing.
Trust sits at the centre of how The Connector works. Innovators are curated on merit, not on sponsorship. An innovation meeting is a setting for exposure and insight.
Your team is under no obligation to take any relationship further than the meeting itself. If, later, a specific innovator becomes relevant to a priority you are actively working on, that conversation happens on your terms and in your timing.
The role of The Connector is to introduce ideas worth knowing, not to place them.
05 · Trust by design
No buying
obligation.
06 · The true story
"Thanks to The Connector, we have a better view of what is available in the market and what our peers are currently looking at. In a competitive market, that is genuinely useful."
CEO & Founder,
European wealth manager
"The discovery call gave me a clearer view of what is available on the European market. It helped not only with the buying process, but more importantly with the ideation that comes before it."
COO,
Crypto Payment institution, Asia
"For the first time, innovation is being brought to me. The business model is inverted. It is not me constantly paying to find out what is moving. Things are brought to me. This is the way it should be."
Head of Innovation,
European retail bank
What financial institutions tell us.
07 · How we are funded
Why curation stays independent.
The Connector earns revenue in three ways. Through sponsored formats such as roundtables, where partners cover the cost of bringing the right people together. Through commissions on successful sales, when innovators introduce close business with financial institutions. And through deeper advisory or execution support for financial institutions when relationships warrant it.
Curation is governed separately. Innovators who surfaced in an innovation meeting are selected based on the relevance and quality of their work and mapped to the institution's priorities. Selection is independent of any commercial relationship an innovator may have with The Connector.
The role of The Connector is to introduce ideas worth knowing, not to place them.
08 · Who this is for
For institutions that take staying current seriously.
Roles we engage most often
Innovation offices · strategy & transformation · product management · compliance · CEO, COO and CIO offices
Financial Institutions we work with the most
Retail Banks · Digital Banks · Private Banks · Insurance companies ·Wealth Managers · PSPs · eMoney · VASP · CASP · FMI · Payment Providers · Central Banks · Exchanges · Market Makers ·CSD's
Innovators and enablers, we know
We engage with 500+ companies globally, primarily through Finance X Magazine, our editorial home for the community.
The industry we engage with
We participate in over 50+ industry events. We are journalist for the FinanceX Magazine which is linked with 100+ Finance Communities worldwide.
09 · More about the inspiration
The people behind The Connector..
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Koen Vanderhoydonk, Founder & CEO
Koen co-authored two RegTechBlackBook's in 2019-2021 and founded FinanceX Magazine, the editorial home for innovators and enablers across European financial services. He has spent two decades on the buy side, the sell side, and the editorial side of the industry, with a particular interest in payments, regtech and how senior teams keep their thinking current under delivery pressure.
Based in Belgium, working globally.
Sean Murphy, Founder & COO
Sean is a former CEO and founder, a certified compliance officer recognised in Europe, and a long-standing voice in payments and mortgage finance. Originally from Ireland, he relocated to Lithuania to be closer to the innovation shaping the next decade of European financial services. Sean brings the regulatory grounding, the operator perspective, and the network that complement the editorial and curation side of The Connector.
Sean and I have participated in around 75 industry events every year for the past five years, covering markets globally and speaking to thousands of fintechs along the way. Through Finance X Magazine and our podcast, we have worked with and interviewed over 500 fintechs.
Together, we bring close to half a century of combined experience in the financial industry.
How is an innovation meeting different from a vendor pitch?
Innovators are selected on merit and introduced around a theme you have chosen. There is no selling agenda in the room, and no obligation attached to the conversation.
How does The Connector select the innovators it surfaces?
11 · Frequenctly asked
Selection is based on the relevance and quality of the innovator's work, mapped to the priorities of the institution being served. Curation is independent of any commercial relationship an innovator may have with The Connector.
The Connector earns revenue in three ways: through sponsored formats such as roundtables, where partners cover the cost of bringing the right people together; through commissions on successful sales when innovators we introduce close business with financial institutions; and through deeper advisory or execution support for financial institutions when relationships warrant it. Editorial independence and curation standards are maintained separately.
Questions
Answered.
How does The Connector funded, and does that affect independence?
Anything else?
Write to us and we'll come back the same day.
A first discovery call is free. The session is sized to fit a senior team's calendar, typically an hour, and there is no obligation attached to it. If the team chooses to engage further, deeper formats such as recurring innovation meetings, peer forum participation, roundtable hosting or advisory work are scoped to the institution and discussed once the relationship and the need are clear. There is no standard package and no list price, because no two institutions arrive with the same question.
What does participation cost for a financial institution?
A first discovery call is sixty minutes. A subsequent innovation meeting, if the team decides to go deeper, is typically scoped between an hour and a half day, depending on the theme and the size of the room. Peer forum participation is defined per forum, and the time commitment is published in advance of each session, designed explicitly to fit around delivery commitments rather than compete with them.
How much time does a discovery call take?
Where does The Connector operate?
Globally. Participants are drawn from across markets, and forums are designed to bring peers together across geographies and regulatory regimes.
I represent an innovator or FinTech. How can I engage?
The Connector now focuses on serving financial institutions directly. Innovators looking to engage with the wider community, contribute editorial perspectives, or follow industry conversations are best served through Finance X Magazine, our sister publication covering payments, regtech, wealthtech and adjacent themes.
Beyond the discovery call..
Roundtable
Sponsored format around a defined theme.
Sponsors fund the gathering, not the conclusions.
A curated home for financial institutions exploring innovation.
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