TAMPA, December 6, 2019 
— FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  —  PRESS RELEASE: #PAY TAMPA BAY

The Mandalay Group today announced updates for the
upcoming #PAY TAMPA BAY event, including additions to the advisory
board, two of the keynote speakers for the February 20, 2020 Conference
as well as a new community partnership in the Florida technology
corridor.

The theme for 2020 event is “Banking, Blockchain
and Beyond”. Event proceedings are being co-sponsored by BlockSpaces,
a Tampa based blockchain technology innovation studio. This unique event
will be staged at the new Embarc Collective innovation hub in downtown
Tampa.

“We’re excited to enter into these new partnerships
leading up to the event” said Bruce Burke, CEO of The Mandalay
Group. “These high-profile supporters and contributors will help
amplify our message and attract attention and investment to our thriving
technology community.” 

Andrew
Morris, Founder
& CEO of new consultancy The Fintech Agenda LLC, will be joining the
#PAY Board of Advisors. An expert in the technologies and trends shaping
the future of financial services, payments and commerce, Andrew serves
on multiple boards and is an advisor to several fintech organizations,
including the Technology Association of Georgia’s Fintech Society and
the HOPE Global Forums.

“Having
served for 5 years as Chief Content Officer for the Money20/20
conferences, and thus helping to build the leading fintech events globally, I
have seen how powerful events can be to move industries and companies
forward,” Andrew explains. “The #PAY event brand is
in the right space at the right time. I’m excited to play a role moving
forward in helping #PAY produce world-class events exploring the
innovation that will occur over the next decade in payments.”

#PAY
also announced several presenters for the event, including keynote
speaker Matteo Rizzi, an unconventional Entrepreneur, Investor,
Innovator and Author of the new book “Talents and Rebels, Dealing with
Corporate Misfits”. Matteo’s book is an
inspirational journey where – hopefully – misfits get a spot to be heard, and
everyone gets an opportunity to understand a different innovation
perspective. For three years in a row,
Financial News has nominated Matteo as one of the “40 most influential Fintech executives in
Europe”.

Matteo
will be joined by executives from Arival, the first fintech bank.
Arival was founded in 2017 by a dynamic trifecta
consisting of two seasoned fintech venture capitalists and one young
fintech entrepreneur. Regarded for the team’s prior investments in pioneer
digital banks such as Simple, Moven, Fidor, & RocketBank
– they decided it was time to take the bull by the horns & build their own.
CEO, Vladislav Solodkiy, CFO, Igor
Pesin and COO, Jeremy Berger will participate in the #PAY event. Arival now boasts a pre-money valuation of more
than $14.8 million.

“We’re proud to have so many fintech leaders as headline
speakers for #PAY,” said Rosa Shores, Co-Founder of BlockSpaces.
“These innovators will explore the most transformative technologies and
ideas reshaping the banking, fintech and payments industry. We look
forward to shining a global spotlight on Tampa Bay as an emerging
fintech hub and, once again, show the nation we are a “go-to” city
for blockchain innovation.”

The
Mandalay Group also announced a new community partnership with the Florida based
non-profit, Synapse. #PAY will host a panel session focused on Fintech
investment during the Synapse
Summit being held February 11-12, 2020 at
Amalie Arena. Leading VC’s, institutional investors and well-funded
fintech firms will provide information and insight with key strategies
for successful exits.

“Synapse is glad to partner with #PAY to ensure
our audience of upwards of 6,000 attendees from all parts of Florida’s
innovation ecosystem have the chance to learn about the growing
fintech and payments industry,” said Lauren Prager,
Synapse Vice President of Community Engagement.

The #PAY
TAMPA BAY agenda offers keynote sessions from global leaders in the
banking, fintech and payments industry, with more than dozen sessions on
topics ranging from opportunities in blockchain, to shifting consumer
payment preferences, digital identity, innovative payment solutions
and how these changes will reshape the banking, payments and commerce industry.

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