Building Trust in a Fragmented Landscape: Money20/20 USA

At Money20/20 USA, a standout all-female panel brought together compliance leaders from Trulioo, Kraken, GoCardless, and Payoneer to tackle one of the most complex challenges in financial innovation: how organizations can overcome fragmentation and build compliant, frictionless and scalable systems to thrive in both the U.S. and globally.

As an innovation leader built on fragmented foundations, the U.S. payments and identity systems remain a paradox. While other markets advance centralized digital identity and payment frameworks, the U.S. continues to operate through a tangle of legacy infrastructure that has ecosystem players wondering if true centralization can ever take hold.

This discussion opened the floor for a candid exploration of how collaboration, adaptability, and trust can bridge that fragmentation, revealing five key insights on what it takes to build the future of compliance in a connected yet complex world.

1. Regulatory Change in the U.S. is Evolutionary, not Revolutionary

While innovation is accelerating, from digital ID pilots to open banking initiatives and stablecoin developments, legacy fragmentation across the U.S.’s financial and identity systems keeps progress incremental. Each state operates under its own patchwork of rules, resulting in a state-centric model rather than country-wide standardization.

Nicole Lehman, head of banking strategy & solutions at Payoneer, observed, “When it comes to centralization of payments and identity in the U.S., it’s been evolutionary versus revolutionary… The U.S. path forward is not a giant leap, but rather multiple different connections. It’s not really centralization, but more parallel connections.”

This market-led evolution, she added, rewards organizations that can remain agile throughout the shifting landscape, positioning themselves to lead as the U.S. regulatory ecosystem slowly modernizes.

2. Fragmentation is a Double-Edged Sword

The fragmented nature of the U.S. regulatory landscape can, at times, offer organizations a degree of flexibility in how they align with identity verification requirements. Yet that same lack of synchronization and consistency across jurisdictions creates a patchwork framework that becomes increasingly difficult to manage as companies scale.

Kraken’s chief compliance officer Lauren Benjamin noted that the lack of regulatory alignment across states can make scaling complex, but it also drives innovation. The challenge, she said, pushes companies to find smarter, more efficient ways to verify and protect users without slowing growth.

“Innovation comes from collaborating with vendors like Trulioo to determine the best way to collect the data, store it accurately, identify it properly and verify it efficiently, all within a frictionless environment for user experience.” said Lauren Benjamin, Kraken chief compliance officer.

Success in compliance is no longer just about meeting requirements – it’s about engineering trust. In a regulatory environment defined by fragmentation, the real differentiator lies in how organizations design systems that can absorb complexity, automate intelligently and deliver a seamless experience without sacrificing security or accuracy.

3. A Centralized Hub With Local Requirements Ensures Efficiency While Scaling Globally

Expanding compliance across borders requires more than simply meeting new rules. It demands systems that evolve to meet unique local demands across markets and jurisdictions.

GoCardless Chief Compliance Officer Jenn Naudin emphasized the importance of building adaptive, resilient frameworks that can flex with each jurisdiction’s regulatory expectations. Technology and automation are essential to this approach, as are strategic partnerships with identity providers that understand how to embed global compliance infrastructure from the ground up.

Payoneer’s Lehman framed the challenge through a hub-and-spoke model: centralized governance and data standards at the core, connected to local spokes that reflect regional requirements and expertise. This balance, she said, allows organizations to scale efficiently while respecting the cultural nuances of each market.

When compliance is designed into the architecture, not bolted on afterward, it transforms from a regulatory necessity into a strategic enabler for global growth.

4. Turning Collaboration and Compliance Into Elevated User Experiences

Delivering a frictionless onboarding experience while maintaining rigorous fraud controls can be a constant balancing act. Naudin emphasized that the key lies in transparency and partnership, particularly with banking partners who play a critical role in oversight and risk management.

When banks understand a company’s systems, processes and risk logic, collaboration replaces confrontation. By setting expectations early, organizations can align on what data is collected, how it’s verified and where controls sit to eliminate friction during audits and reduce regulatory tension.

The result is compliance that not only protects but enhances the user experience – creating a secure, frictionless onboarding journey, where compliance doesn’t hinder growth but supports it through clarity, shared accountability and trust between partners.

5. Inclusive Leadership Fuels Innovation and Trust

In a landscape where technology and regulation are constantly evolving, leadership becomes the defining factor in how organizations build trust and drive meaningful change.

As Naudin and Benjamin shared, inclusive leadership means leading with authenticity and creating space for dialogue and transparency. It’s about translating complex compliance goals into a shared understanding across teams and turning diversity of thought into a competitive advantage.

Additionally, Lehman noted, “Build trusted relationships, surround yourself with like-minded women and raise each other up from the beginning.” Lehman said. “You don’t dim your light by lighting somebody else’s.”

Their experiences illustrate a broader truth: advancing gender equity in fintech isn’t just about representation – it’s about diverse leadership shaping stronger, more adaptive organizations. As the industry evolves, diverse perspectives and leadership are crucial to building a foundation of innovation and trust.

Building the Future, One Connection at a Time

Meaningful progress in compliance and identity verification will not come from sweeping reform, but through steady, connected collaboration. While the U.S. still faces a long road toward true centralization, momentum is building. Unified systems, collaboration and a shared focus on trust is driving the industry forward, signaling an end to the patchwork era of identity verification in the U.S.

Trulioo is at the forefront of this shift. The company recently announced a 1,996% increase in U.S. Know Your Business (KYB) transaction volume since 2023, alongside a 102% year-over-year growth rate – signaling a market-wide move toward unified, scalable verification solutions to bridge disconnected local and global systems.

As regulations, technology and collaboration move towards unified verification, one truth stands out: the future of compliance won’t be built all at once, but rather built together, one trusted connection at a time.