Agenda
May 29, 2026 / Hotel Mona Plaza / Belgrade
08:30 – 09:00 / Registration
09:00 – 09:10 / Opening Remarks
Speakers
Jasna Nedić
Director, New Angles Consulting
Charlotte Sammelin
Swedish Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia and to Montenegro
09:10 – 10:00 / Panel #1 / Fintech’s Coming of Age: Hype, Reality, and the Road Ahead
Topics
- Which technology and fintech trends will define the next five years – and which will fade away (BNPLs, stablecoins, CBDCs, fintech payment platforms)?
- How resilient is fintech infrastructure to today’s economic shocks and geopolitical dynamics?
- Regulation – striking the right balance between European frameworks and local implementation.
- MiCA vs. the GENIUS Act – who wins the stablecoin race?
- AI – between hype and reality: what do investment trends tell us, and what do real-world implementation results reveal
Moderator
Ana Nives Radović
Founder, Artopie
Speakers
Joseph F Borg
Partner | Head of Fintech and Financial Services, WH Partners
Zorana Branković
COO/CTrO, Executive Board Member, Banca Intesa
Representative
Addiko Bank*
Slavoljub Đorđević
Executive Director Retail Products, AikBank
10:00 – 10:25 / Fireside Chat #1 / A Case Study on How Far AI Agents Can Really Go in Banking
Topics
Speakers
Ivan Smiljković
Member of the Management Board, ProCredit Bank
Constantin Mares
CEO, Chairperson of the Management Board, Quipu GmbH
10:25 – 10:45 / Break
10:45 – 11:05 / Deep Dive / The Road to SEPA - What Changes for Serbia
Topics
Speakers
Merima Mahmutović
Senior Manager for SEE, FS Strategy, Transformation & Technology Consulting, PwC
Sanja Tomić
Head of NASO, Special Advisor for Foreign Operations and Compliance, Association of Serbian Banks
11:05 – 11:45 / Panel #2 / The Future of Payments
Topics
- One year later: SCA in practice – challenges, lessons learned, customer education?
- Cross-border money today – what works in the EU and beyond?
SWIFT, SEPA, TIPS and sovereign payment - How are new security challenges shaping payments, and how can they be overcome?
Moderator
Nikola Mehandžić
DFS Lead Serbia, IFC
Speakers
Dr Luka Uskoković
Advisor to the Management Board, Director for Payments, FinTech and Cash Management, NLB Bank Podgorica
Jelena Popović
Head of Central Operations, Raiffeisen Bank
Snežana Sofijanić
Head of Government Engagement, Visa South East Europe
11:45 – 12:15 / Fireside Chat #2 / Marketplace Payments
Topics
- Are existing payment solutions sufficient, or is there room for new players in the regional market?
- What payment solutions do modern businesses in the region require, and how can they be implemented within existing legal frameworks? Legal frameworks and real-economy examples.
- Regulation vs. Innovation – who controls marketplace cash flow?
Cross-border payments – current practice and the future outlook for marketplaces.
Speakers
Aleksandra Marić Šćepanović
Director of Business Development, PaySpot EMI
Representative
Shoppster*
12:15 – 12:50 / Fireside Chat #3 / Spotlight on Cross-Border Payments and Stablecoins
Topics
What Do You Need to Know About This Payment Highway?
Moderator
Elma Šarić
Strategic Partnerships & Ecosystems, Stablecoin Strategic Area Lead, Raiffeisen Bank International AG
Speakers
Dilaver Alioski
CEO, Ultrasoft Systems
Vid Hribar
Head of Institutional Partnerships, Qivalis
Dmitry Marinov
COO, Advanced Payment Solutions
12:50 – 13:10 / Break
13:10 – 13:55 / Panel #3 / Evolution of Banking Services and Open Banking
Topics
Customer-centric backend as the foundation of great experience
How do backend systems influence speed, simplicity, and overall customer experience – and where do the biggest limitations lie today?
Banks as drivers of innovation
Are banks today leading innovation, or are they still following fintech players – and what does successful collaboration between them look like?
Open banking and customer experience
Does open banking truly enhance customer experience, or does it introduce additional complexity for both clients and banks?
Embedded finance and BNPL
How are integrated financial services reshaping the way customers purchase and use financial products—and who ultimately “owns” the customer relationship?
Data and AI for personalization
How can data and artificial intelligence be leveraged to deliver more relevant and seamless solutions, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises?
Moderator
Milan Pištalo
Sales & Operations Director, NF Innova
Speakers
Bojan Luburić
CEO & Co-founder, Flumen Digitalis
Miša Živić
CEO, Leanpay
Miloš Milošević
CEO & CPO, Presto
Radmila Božidar
Head of Digital Banking and Innovation Division, Erste Bank
13:55 – 14:55 / Lunch
14:55 – 15:30 / Fireside Chat #4 / Fintech Partnerships in Practice: Bridging Innovation and Regulation
Topics
What does collaboration between large, regulated financial institutions and smaller, agile technology companies look like in practice? This panel will explore the relationship between financial institutions and fintech/ insurtech companies, focusing on real-life challenges, expectations and opportunities for building more successful partnerships.
The discussion will cover how large financial institutions approach collaboration with the startup ecosystem, the most common compliance, regulatory and operational challenges, and where the line is drawn between partnership and competition. A particular focus will be placed on what smaller innovative companies need to understand about the needs, processes and constraints of large regulated systems, as well as what financial institutions can do to make collaboration with technology companies faster, more efficient and more secure.
The panel will bring together representatives from the financial and technology sectors and provide practical insights into how innovation can be successfully integrated into a regulated financial environment.
Speakers
Miloš Milovanović
Co-founder & COO, Blinking
Sanel Jovanović
Head of Digital Infrastructure Directorate, OTP Bank
15:30 – 16:15 / Panel #4 / Artificial Intelligence in Finance…and Other Stories
Topics
- Will banks and fintech companies have fewer employees in 3–5 years, or just differently skilled ones?
- How many AI projects in the region actually make it into production?
- Who is responsible when AI makes an incorrect financial decision?
Moderator
Aleksandar Bijelić
Managing Partner & Co-Founder, SymbioFoundry
Speakers
Milan Nedeljković
Dean, FEFA & Managing Partner, EM Analytic Solutions
Pavle Peković
Digital Transformation Consultant, Orcus IT
Jelena Đurović
Innovation Consultant, ICT Hub
16:15 – 16:40 / Fireside Chat #5 / Fintech Associations – Fintech Industry Alignment in SEE
Topics
Speakers
Mikheil Kapanadze
Open Banking Project CEO, Banking Association of Georgia
Jovan Milovanović
Founding Member, Balkan Fintech Association
16:40 – 16:50 / Take the Stage / Plug and Play Presentation
Topics
Speaker
TBD
16:50 – 17:30 / Panel #5 / Tokens, Actually - From Use Case to Real Value
Topics
Moderator
Anina Milanović
Strategic Advisor to the Belgrade Stock Exchange, World Bank
Speakers
Tanja Bivić Plankar
President, Blockchain Alliance Europe
Nena Dokuzov
Coordinator of the Strategy of Digital Transformation of Economy, Ministry of the Economy, Republic of Slovenia
Nikola Klak
President, Lova
Ognjen Popović
Assistant Minister, Financial System Department, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia