FITUR 2026 Exhibitor Data- Case Study

How 31 PSD2-Compliant Payment Firms Were Identified at FITUR 2026

At FITUR 2026, a European payments infrastructure company experienced an unseen obstacle which the majority of exhibitors and sponsors learn about once the event is completed. Out of the total of 5,055 exhibitors displayed in FITUR 2026’s public exhibitor directory, a relatively small percentage had been granted authorisation to perform cross-border card payments under PSD2, while over 100 exhibited almost the same information in the publicly accessible exhibitor listing. The client needed to find the ones that truly complied with the requirements for PSD2, technical capability and business readiness prior to the opening of FITUR 2026. Exhibitors Data solved the issue using FITUR 2026’s Exhibitor Listing.

Client Profile

The client is a regulated European payments infrastructure company providing acquiring and settlement services for cross-border international merchants.

They needed access to:

• Heads of Finance
• Heads of Payments
• Chief Technology Officers
• Directors of Partnerships

Only from exhibitors that handled international credit card transactions and had valid PSD2 licence or equivalent regulatory approvals. They also required C-Level GDPR-compliant email addresses, direct phone numbers, LinkedIn profiles, and booth locations in IFEMA, in addition to knowing that payment decisions were made internally.

Problem

The issue here was accuracy. Manual searches failed for four specific reasons:

• Regulatory Masking: With 5,055 exhibitors from 20+ industries and 80+ countries, it was impossible to know who was a licensed processor, payment facilitator, booking platform, or reseller simply by looking at the categories listed in the public exhibitor list.
• Decision-Maker Dilution: While the FITUR 2026 database included 2,527 C-Level contacts, many were general inboxes or booth representatives, not decision-makers related to payments.
• False Capability Signals: Some exhibitors processed payments through intermediaries, which could not be identified from public directories.
• Limited Timeframe: Verifying licences, technical capabilities, and authority among C-Level executives across thousands of companies was impractical prior to the event.

Solution

Exhibitors Data treated the task as a compliance-based filtering task.

• Pre-Purchase Sample Review: Tested a sample from FITUR 2026’s Exhibitor Listing for completeness, contact accuracy, and regulatory relevance.
• Structured Filter Process:
  • Selected exhibitors involved directly in payment processing instead of referral or resale.
  • Cross-checked company entities with EU payment institution registries.
  • Reduced contacts to verified C-Level positions in finance, payments, and technology.
  • Mapped qualified exhibitors to IFEMA pavilion and booth locations.

From the full FITUR database, 31 exhibitors were determined to comply with all applicable criteria based on verified C-Level decision-makers within the pool of 2,527 C-Level contacts, with 90% accuracy.

Outcomes

• Outreach targeted less than 1% of exhibitors, eliminating wasted meetings.
• Navigation time on-site improved by focusing only on verified booths.
• 17 executive-level meetings scheduled before the event opened.
• Within two weeks of FITUR closing, 10 qualified opportunities were placed into the pipeline.
• Each contact was a licensed, technically capable decision-maker.

Major Takeaways

• Large exhibit lists contain small, valuable groups that are not identifiable publicly.
• Capability and compliance indicators are hidden without verified exhibitor data.
• Access to 2,527 C-Level contacts adds value only when filtered for authority.
• Accurate, event-specific data transforms FITUR from a discovery tool into a conversion tool.

Get your FITUR 2026 Exhibitor List