The A to Z Sibos survival guide - Trade Treasury Payments

Sibos, the annual jamboree of the global banking industry, has never been modest in scale. 

This year more than ten thousand delegates will descend on Messe Frankfurt for four days of speeches, panels, and endless networking. 

The official programme promises more than 250 sessions and 500 speakers. The unofficial programme is harder to measure: upwards of eighty thousand meetings squeezed into coffee queues, corridors, and side rooms; perhaps €30-50 million spent once registration fees, sponsorships and exhibitor costs are tallied. And enough late-night dinners and hospitality suites to keep the city’s taxi fleet in business.

Conferences of this size generate their own economics. Roughly 35,000 branded pens will change hands. Toilets may be flushed close to 100,000 times (fear not, Sibos promises recycled rainwater). 

Our unfavourite phrases such as “partners with”, “signs MOU” or “first to launch” will echo through panels and meetings more than 10,000 times. 

How, then, to survive such a spectacle without losing your bearings, your voice, or your patience? 

Here in the TTP A to Z field guide for Frankfurt: a few hard truths that might just turn the week from a blur into something useful.

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A – Agenda and App

Go to at least a few sessions early in the week. Write down names, companies, and standout quotes. Connect with speakers on LinkedIn before the memory fades. A quick photo of the panel, captioned and filed, doubles as both a recall aid and content for your feed. By midweek, when the fog sets in, meticulous notes will separate those still coherent from those running on caffeine alone. Download the App before you go, it will come in handy.

B – Badge

Bring your ID and collect your pass before Monday. Too many delegates have watched their first meetings vanish while they queued at registration. Get the admin out of the way early so the week begins on your terms.

Bonus B – Bingo

A Sibos tradition, thanks to Elizabeth Lumley: spot the clichés. “Ecosystem,” “digital transformation,” “tokenisation.” No prizes, just the satisfaction of knowing you survived Frankfurt with a full card.

Thanks to Elizabeth Lumley, co-founder of The Roundtable, for putting this together. Source

C – Coffee

Queues are long and patience short. Befriend the HSBC barista. His espressos will prove more reliable than half the fintech demos on the floor.

D – Directions

The Messe is vast and unforgiving. Learn the cut throughs and quiet corners. A sense of geography will impress those following you through the maze.

E – Etiquette

Everyone is juggling pressures, so courtesy matters. A smile, a pause, or even just patience in a queue can stick longer than the slickest sales pitch. As my mum always said, first impressions count. 

F – Frankfurt

Step outside the fluorescent halls. The River Main, the Städel Museum, and apfelwein in Sachsenhausen all beat another booth coffee. With Oktoberfest in the air, the city is its own stage. An offsite meeting will be remembered long after the giveaways have gone.

G – Gratitude

Sibos is oversubscribed. Remember the privilege of being here. Gratitude, especially when energy wanes, can make the difference between a forgettable exchange and a lasting relationship.

H – Hand sanitiser

Air conditioning and handshakes take their toll. Mints, hand sanitiser and breath spray are not optional extras. Delegates may forget your title, but they will certainly remember your scent.

I – Icebreakers

Keep a couple of original questions at hand. What surprised you today sparks more than “Busy day?” Good icebreakers have the power to transform a dull exchange into a real conversation.

J – Jot Notes

Dates, times, names, companies. Jot them all. Business cards with scribbles help, but disciplined notes are better. Forty meetings blur quickly. No one’s memory is that reliable.

K – KYD (Know Your Deutsch)

A few words of German go a long way in Frankfurt. Even at an international event, delegates appreciate the effort. Start simple: Guten Morgen (good morning), Bitte (please), Danke (thank you), Entschuldigung (excuse me), and Wo ist die U-Bahn (where is the metro). Ordering ein kleiner Milchkaffee or greeting a colleague with a polite Wie geht’s (how are you) adds a touch of local charm. You will not pass as a local, but you will earn a smile.

L – Lunch

The canteen is underestimated. Sharing tables with strangers makes networking less contrived. A tray of pasta can yield more than a plenary.

M – Meetings

Rooms run out quickly. Know your quiet corners and fallback spots such as a bench, a nook, or a tucked away corridor. Producing calm amidst chaos leaves a stronger impression than rushing.

N – News

Not every headline is what it seems. Partners with, Signs MOU, First to launch. The floor is full of press releases that sound big but change little. Read carefully, doubt the hyperbole, and ask what it means in practice. Reliable sources matter. Not everything announced at Sibos will survive contact with the market. Keep your guard on. It is what separates insight from noise.

O – Offsites

Aim for at least one meeting beyond the convention centre. Coffee in the old town or a walk by the river reframes conversations and makes them memorable.

P – Pens

Carry more than one. They vanish, and sometimes analogue is faster than digital.

Q – Quick Exit

Not every meeting deserves half an hour. Call time politely. A brisk let’s reconnect later spares both parties the drag.

R – Recovery

Protect your calendar. Block short breaks, and do not apologise for them. A 15 minute reset is the difference between surviving and thriving.

S – Shoes

Fifteen thousand steps are unforgiving. Comfortable shoes and blister plasters are more valuable than another brochure.

T – Tote Bags

They accumulate quickly. Take only what you will use. Otherwise you will drag regret through the airport. Sustainability starts with saying no.

U – Unwind

Evening receptions are plentiful, but restraint is underrated. A diluted drink and an early exit often outlast a big night. Your 8 am self will thank you.

V – Voice

It will falter by day three. Lemsip, Fisherman’s Friend, and hydration are basic survival tools. Guard your voice. It is your week’s currency.

W – Walking Meetings

Trade the table for the floor. Walking side by side makes conversations flow, burns off that extra pretzel, and leaves a sharper memory.

X – X Factor

Anchor your week with a theme such as CBDCs, ESG, or interoperability, and return to it often. People remember those who bring a consistent narrative, not those who scatter.

Y – Yes And

Say yes to something outside your lane. An unexpected dinner, the Sibos 5k, or a panel you had not considered. Serendipity is half the point.

Z – Zzzs and Zen

Sleep is underrated. Earplugs, eye mask, adaptors, and a reliable alarm are essentials. Missed meetings due to time zone errors are rarely forgiven. Or befriend a journalist to take you into the media room sofas for a quick discreet kip. 

When the booths come down and the last tote bag is folded away, Sibos will blur into a haze of acronyms, plenaries, and hurried handshakes. What stays with you is not the scale of the convention centre but the clarity of the conversations, the moments you carved out of the noise, and the discipline you brought to your own agenda.

Frankfurt will add its own texture this year, from river walks and riesling to Oktoberfest spilling into the margins, but the fundamentals do not change. The people who thrive at Sibos are those who prepare, pace themselves, and show a little humanity in an environment that can feel anything but. 

An A to Z will not stop your feet aching or your voice fading, but it will help you leave Frankfurt with more than a bag of freebies: with stories, strategies, and connections that last well beyond the week.