Sulabh Agarwal
As Accenture's Global Lead for Payments, Sulabh helps organizations across the world navigate the shifting payments landscape, combat lost payments revenue, and control and mitigate operational risk throughout the payments value chain. Sulabh's global remit oversees 5,000 payments practitioners. He is responsible for Global Capability Development for Accenture’s Payments practice including thought leadership, campaign management, training and marketing. Sulabh regularly presents at round tables, seminars and conferences like SIBOS and Money2020 on issues relating to the industry. Throughout his career, Sulabh has directed numerous client engagements ranging from defining strategy through to systems integration and implementation.
Tapan Agarwal
Tapan is a banking technology and domain expert, who now leads the payments product management function for iGTB. He has over 2 decades of experience in banking technology, across multiple firms. He has worked in roles that range from development, design, consultancy to strategy and operational roles including managing large teams, top line targets and bottom-line responsibilities. He has implemented banking technology in multiple banks and consulted with CTOs and CIOs at banks on technology driven business and operational efficiency improvement.
Erik Alstromer
Erik is Form3's Head of Product for Europe, whilst also managing the global roadmap strategy for further expansion outside the UK/US/EMEA. Previously, he led Form3's build-out of the US market, with rapid expansion of services and particular focus on RTP, FedNow, ACH (TCH and Fed) and Wires (CHIPS/FedWire).<br />Erik holds a Master degree in International Securities, Investment and Banking. Specialties: Real-Time Payments, APIs, International Cash Management, ISO20022 XML, Agile Development Methodology, SEPA, Bacs, FPS, SWIFT, POBO, ROBO, In House Banks, Payment Factories, Sub-ledger Virtual Account Management
Sara Amara
Sara has over 18 years of banking experience, having spent the last 16 years with HSBC. In her current role as Head of Currency Clearing, Sara oversees the product management and transactional FX for one of the largest global banks. In her career she has successfully developed and commercialized cutting-edge payment solutions for corporate clients across the Middle East and Europe. Sara holds an MBA from the French Symposium (HEC, ESCP Europe, Euromed, ESAA) and is Fintech and Blockchain certified from Said Business School, University of Oxford.
Daniele Astarita
David Backshall
Dan Baum
In his role, Dan looks after the definition of all attributes of the FedNow Service and future roadmap service features. Dan previously served as vice president in the Retail Payments Office (RPO) of the Federal Reserve System, with responsibility for Check and ACH product development and pricing. Dan holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Maryland at Baltimore, a master of business administration from Johns Hopkins University, and a graduate certificate in Bank Management from Vanderbilt University.
Debi Bell Hoskings
Martin Bentele
Krister Billing
Krister Billing has more than 30 years’ experience in international commercial banking. At SEB, he has held senior roles in cash management, trade finance, receivables and supply chain finance. Currently heading up Market Infrastructures and Regulatory Affairs in the Large Corporate and Financial Institutions Division, Krister is working hands-on with market infrastructures, regulatory surveillance and oversight as well as development of next generation solutions. Outside SEB he is a member of the board at EBA Association (www.abe-eba.eu), the European Council of BAFT and also represents SEB in the Swedish Bankers’ Association. Krister Billing has a BSc degree in business and economics from the University of Linköping.
Dave Birch
David G. W. Birch is an author, advisor and commentator on digital financial services. He is an international keynote speaker and recognised thought leader in digital identity and digital money.
Gijs Boudewijn
Gijs Boudewijn (1958) is currently General Manager at the Dutch Payments Association (DPA). He has extensive experience in domestic as well as international payments related issues. Closely involved in PSD2/3 matters, open banking and the RTS of the EBA, instant payments and digital euro. He is Chair of the Legal Support Group of the European Payments Council (EPC) after serving several terms as Board member, and Vice-Chair of the Payment Expert Group of the European Banking Federation (EBF, after having served 3 terms as Chair). He is Vice-Chair of the European Card Payments Association (ECPA), and Chair of the Payments Working Group of the International Banking Federation (IBFed).
Rita Camporeale
Elena Casal
Elena Casal is Chief Client Officer at The Clearing House, responsible for creating and managing the holistic experience for its customers and partners. This role includes growing the RTP® network across U.S. financial institutions, evolving the customer engagement model for all TCH payments networks and promoting the company’s work to its diverse target segments.Elena has deep experience with product and customers in the payments industry. Prior to joining The Clearing House, Elena held regional and global product management positions at FIS, Clear2Pay and Fiserv where she was focused on building products and services across the global enterprise payments landscape.
Vivek Chikballapur
Vivek Chikballapur is Head of EMEA Liquidity and Account Specialists at J.P. Morgan Payments. Their key focus is to enable clients to have Liquidity in the right place, right time and in the right currency. Prior to this role, Vivek was the head of the EMEA Market Risk team for J.P. Morgan CIO and Treasury. Outside of J.P. Morgan, Vivek has a vast experience heading Structured Rates and FX market risk teams at Credit Suisse and also as a software Engineer at Infosys Technologies Ltd; India. Vivek is extremely passionate about career development and taking the time to mentor and coach individuals. Vivek has a Master’s Degree in Quantitative Finance from the University of Reading, UK and a Bachelor in Electronics Engineering from India.
Naushad Contractor
Marc Corbalan
Marc Corbalan is the Global Head of RTP Analytics at Visa, responsible for delivering Visa's Real Time Payments and Risk Analytics programs. Marc is a seasoned business leader with over twenty years of experience in Payments, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Before joining Visa, he has held senior positions at Vocalink and Experian. Marc holds a MSc in Physics from the University of Zaragoza and an MSc in Data Telecommunications and Networks from Salford University.
Emily Corfield
Mounaim Cortet
Mounaim is working on strategy and innovation challenges in digital payments (PSD2, Open Banking/A2A payments), digital identity and Open Finance (Banking as a service, embedded finance and FIDA).<br />He supports (globally active) players operating across the financial services value chain to navigate the changing landscape by understanding the implications of changing customer behaviour, regulation and technology requirements on launching new data driven products and services for different client segments and to realise compliance with forthcoming regulatory requirements.
David Cunningham
David Cunningham is Global Head of Strategy and Partnerships for Digital Assets at Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) in Citi's Institutional Clients Group (ICG). This multi-billion-dollar business, which includes Payment, Receivable, Commercial Cards, and Trade and Cash Management is one of the largest global businesses within Citi's ICG, encompassing integrated working capital solutions serving public sector clients, corporate and financial institutions. <br /><br />David has been driving Citi’s Digital Asset strategy to enable our customers to benefit from the efficiencies and new business models gained from DLT technology.
Níamh Curran
Antoine Cuypers
With a career in financial solutions since 2002, Antoine is currently the Director of Strategic Alliances and Key Accounts at Intix. Leading global business development, he oversees sales of Intix's transaction data management solutions. In his previous role at Telovia, he drove business development until the sale of flagship solutions' IP to Fircosoft. Formerly at EastNets (SIDE International), Antoine expanded operations across Europe and the USA, establishing the company's US presence. Managing partner channels in regions like Russia and Southern Africa, he secured substantial deals with entities such as VTB and central banks of Sudan and Algeria.
Adam Davis
Adam is a partner in Bain & Company’s FS practice in the UK working with Financial Institutions, Neobanks and Payments companies. He works closely with Bain’s Private Equity group and has undertaken various diligences on a host of fintech players, from BNPL and BaaS providers to neobanks across the globe. Adam is also the host of Bain’s Deciphered Podcast, a dedicated fintech and financial services podcast that features guests from around the industry.
Simone Del Guerra
Since 2023, Simone Del Guerra has been Head of Central Institutions & International Sales contributing to the International growth of Nexi's Digital Banking Solution business. Simone holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from University of Pisa. Prior to joining Nexi, he worked for UniCredit Group where he held several senior positions among which, CEO of UniCredit Factoring Italy and Global Head of Financial Institutions Sales for Transaction Banking. Previously, Simone worked for IBM Italy before joining GE Capital, where he held various commercial positions in Italy, France and the UK.
Marianne DeMarchi
Marianne Demarchi has more than 25 years’ experience in financial and banking services across fintechs and major international corporations. She has had increasing responsibilities in business development, digital transformation, and company management. In 2022, she joined Swift as Head of European Strategic Accounts, and was subsequently appointed Chief Executive Europe in December 2022, covering Business Development across the region. In January 2024, she expanded her role to cover the Middle East and Africa. From 2017 to 2021, Marianne was COO and member of the Board of Monext, a payments fintech and subsidiary of Credit Mutuel Arkea Bank.
Olivier Denecker
Olivier is an Expert Partner working out of McKinsey's Brussels Office and leading McKinsey's global center of competence on Payments as well as McKinsey's Global Payment Infrastructure Service line. Olivier has been active in McKinsey’s payment practice since joining the Firm in 1999 and served clients across the European continent on a large variety of payment & card related topics, regularly extending his reach into the Middle East and Africa , Asia Pac and Latin America.
Simon Eacott
Simon has extensive experience in the Payments industry, with expertise in strategic change programmes, cash management sales, operations and product management. In his current role as Head of Payments for NatWest Group, Simon is responsible for setting the Groups Payments strategy including, Product and Scheme management, Operations and Innovation. Previously the Head of Product Development & Innovation, Simon led the Payments customer centric Innovation programme together with product / scheme responsibilities.Well known and respected at industry fora, Simon is chair of the Strategic Participant Group supporting Pay.UK and is an Advisory Board member of Pennies (pennies.org.uk).
Thomas Egner
Wolfgang Ehrmann
Nuno Epifânio
Nuno Epifânio is a policy officer at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA). His main responsibilities include the review of the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and other policy initiatives, such as the initiatives on the Digital Euro, on the Legal Tender of Euro Cash and on the European Digital Identity. Prior to joining DG FISMA, he worked on antitrust enforcement at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), at the Hong Kong Competition Commission and at the Portuguese Competition Authority. Nuno holds a Master of Arts in EU Law from King’s College, London.
Micaela Escribano Bernard
At CRIF I am working as Business Development Manager responsible for LATAM & EMEA Markets. My everyday objective is to support companies in their digital transformation processes to help them getting to know better their final clients through data analytics and smart decision making. the final outcome would be helping businesses in achieving a higher level of productivity reducing time to market and boosting their revenues.<br />I have found that nothing satisfies me more than meeting new people, developing new relationships, solving problems, and contributing to the growth of businesses. As a city dweller who loves to travel and find new adventures along the way, I feel comfortable in international and fast-growing innovative environments.
Demis Estabridis
Ingo Faulhaber
As Division Manager of Account Payments at Worldline Financial Services, Ingo Faulhaber oversees a global team of 600+ employees, responsible for the product-driven business division. Ingo has extensive experience in financial services, having successfully worked in leadership roles for over a decade. Before joining Worldline, he worked as Partner at consulting firm Consileon Frankfurt GmbH. He holds a Diplom degree in banking and finance from the University of Cologne.
Kevin Flood
Kevin’s experience spans banking and capital markets both as a bank employee and as a consultant in one of the big four. A recognised strategic transformation leader with extensive experience across financial services, and a track record of delivering large complex change globally, with a primary focus on the payments industry. Currently working within the Growth Office for Corporate & International Banking with a focus on payments strategy across the FIS ecosystem. Kevin is responsible for looking across the international landscape at the FIS payments solutions and offerings helping to bring together a connected and forward looking set of solutions for a wide and diverse client base, successfully achieving better outcomes for clients
Pietro Fragnito
Pietro Fragnito is a computer engineer and innovation enthusiast with a profound passion for domains enriched with innovative technologies, processes, and environments that align with the ethical and moral values he upholds. He has extensive work experience in innovative roles, including Senior Innovation Strategy and Market Outlook, and as a Senior Enterprise Architect in projects such as 'isybank' and 'Next way of working', where he has played a pivotal role in managing architectural and digital transformations. Previously, driven by his love for cross-disciplinary collaboration, he served as a corporate branch start-upper in the Amsterdam Branch, gaining substantial financial expertise.
Norman Frankel
With 30+ years payment experience internationally spanning Banking, Telco, Retail and IT, Norman also founded an early fintech payments company exiting with a London AIM stock exchange listing. He also authored a career/personal development book – “Executive-ME” and regularly presents to university students.
Erik Frantz
Sophie Giorgi
Damien Godderis
Damien is a seasoned payment expert, having spent over 17 years in the domain working as a consultant, program manager and payments expert in several international banks and SWIFT. Currently Damien is the Head of Payments Industry Engagement for the Cash Management arm of BNP Paribas. Next to accompanying the Bank’s Product and IT divisions as a senior strategist, he is representing BNP Paribas in various working groups across the industry, pursuing his passion to achieve instant and frictionless international payments. Damien holds an MSc in Economics and is a regular speaker at corporate and industry conferences.
Wim Grosemans
Wim Grosemans is global head of Product Development for Payments and Receivables at BNP Paribas Cash Management. Wim is active in the payments and cash management domains within BNP Paribas and its predecessors since 2004 and has end-to-end experience in business development, product management and platform integration, delivery and operations. He holds an MSc in Commercial Engineering from Hasselt University, Belgium.
Daniel Hellmann
Daniel works as Director at Deloitte and leads the payments practice in Germany. With over 15 years of experience in the payments, IT, and regulatory domains, Daniel is a seasoned expert who has successfully led many payment projects for banks and fintechs – spanning from strategy, process optimization, risk management to IT implementation.
Kjeld Herreman
Kjeld is a strategy consultant with 10+ years of experience in the payments industry. After having held numerous process, project, and product roles at Worldline, he became a payments consultant, where he has advised banks, payment service providers, solutions providers, market infrastructures, and network connectivity providers on their strategic challenges. With a focus on product strategy, Kjeld has helped senior executive size new market opportunities, evaluate potential acquisitions, review target operating models, and define compelling value propositions. At RedCompass Labs, Kjeld is responsible for the Strategy Advisory practice.
Xavier Herrero
Xavier has been working in banking since 1989. Basically dedicated to cross-border payments and Trade Finance from technical to commercial point of view, since 2016 has been fully dedicated to deployment and extension of Instant Payments, both at local and cross-border level, participating in many initiatives.
Patricia Hines
Patty is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in financial services. As the Head of Celent's Banking, Wealth, and Risk practices, she leads advisory, research, and consulting efforts to support the firm’s banking, solution provider, and management consulting clients. Patty’s industry research expertise lies in corporate banking and global transaction services, focusing on treasury and cash management, corporate banking channels and connectivity, and commercial and small business lending. Patty's unique blend of business, technology, and operations expertise makes her a trusted advisor for clients seeking strategic guidance in the ever-evolving financial landscape.
Reinhard Höll
Reinhard Partner at McKinsey & Company in Berlin serving banking, payment players and fintechs players across Europe. He focuses on serving fintechs, banks, private equity and payments players across the value chain. Prior to joining McKinsey, he worked for Standard Bank PLC as a manager in Treasury and Capital Management, as an analyst in Structured Finance at Lehman Brothers as well as a trainee at Commerzbank.
Karthik Jagannathan
Karthik Jagannathan, as Director at valantic FSA, leads the Payments Solutions practice and Pre-sales teams. With over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry, he has successfully guided both business and technology teams at banks and technology firms in refining their strategy concerning payments infrastructure and product evolution. Karthik is a recognized domain expert in Swift gpi, Open Banking, Instant Payments, and Trade Finance. He has authored numerous articles on Instant Payments and is a frequent speaker at global industry conferences. Currently, his primary focus is assisting valantic FSA's customers in implementing upcoming Instant Payments and Swift gpi initiatives using valantic FSA X-Gen based solutions.
Lauren Jones
Lauren Jones is SVP, Global Advisory at Konsentus. Konsentus Konsentus is a global provider of specialist advisory services and infrastructure technology solutions to enable the implementation of open banking and open finance ecosystems. Here she leads Konsentus' advisory business, supporting central banks, regulators and market infrastructures around the world in their delivery of open banking.Lauren Jones has over a 13 years’ experience in banking and payments. Formally Head of Standards at Payments UK (now Pay.UK) she was responsible for the UK’s standards policy on behalf of banks, government, and the wider industry.
Nils Jung
In his current role as Head of Payments Germany for Capgemini Invent, his focus areas include Digital Transactions and Payments, from managing strategic initiatives to supporting the implementation of global payments transformation projects. He is also a co-author and speaker of the annually released World Payments Report by Capgemini and has facilitated the Open Banking Working Group of the EBA Association for several years.
Zennon Kapron
Zennon is the Managing Director of Kapronasia, an Atlas Technologies Group Company. Kapronasia is one of Asia’s leading providers of consulting services focusing on the fintech industry. Zennon has been involved in financial technology for over 20 years and covers all topics fintech and blockchain. Before Kapronasia, Zennon was the Global Banking Industry Manager for Intel based out of Shanghai, China and, prior to Intel, was the CIO for Citigroup Portugal. Zennon has testified in front of the U.S. Congress on issues of China fintech and is the author of ‘Chomping at the Bitcoin: The History and Future of Bitcoin in China’ published by Penguin. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Syracuse University and an MBA from INSEAD.
Daragh Kirby
Daragh and his team lead the go-to-market and sales execution for Intercope – presenting the value of Intercope solutions, interacting with customers, business partners and representing Intercope at industry, customer and vendor events. Daragh has over 20 years’ experience in working with banks, market infrastructures and technology companies to source and provide the right solution for payments and financial messaging. Before Intercope, Daragh was the sales and solution leader for IBM’s payments products in Europe. Previously, Daragh was an IT Architect/Consultant working at IBM, Credit Suisse, RBS, and Dell Computers. Daragh has a degree in Finance & Economics and postgraduate qualifications in Computer Science and Corporate Treasury.
Uwe Klatt
Uwe Klatt started his career at GEVA in 1998 as a developer and completed his specialization with a Master´s degree in Business Administration in 2002 at the University of Wales, Cardiff, successfully.In 2004, he started as a Chief Executive Officer at GEVA and since then he has realized national and international projects within the payment transactions world. Some of these flagship projects were the introduction of the €uro as a currency, SEPA, Instant Payments and Request-to-Pay. Uwe Klatt is currently responsible for all strategic projects like "the digital Euro, currencies & stablecoins".
Manuel Klein
Manuel Klein is market manager for payments and digital currencies at Deutsche Bank's corporate bank. He focusses on new developments in cross border and domestic payment systems and on the impact of central bank digital currencies and blockchain on the payment and cash management franchise of Deutsche Bank. Before joining Deutsche Bank, he was senior consultant in blockchain technology consulting for financial service providers at EY and asset management consultant at FactSet, a leading global financial data and analytics company.
Michael Knetsch
Michael Knetsch is Tribe Lead of Instant Payments in Cash Management at Deutsche Bank. In his role, Michael drives the Instant Product roll out across the globe, ensures the product stays on par with client expectation and drives the commercialization of the product. Before joining Deutsche Bank in 2019, he has been in the payment area for 25+ years through RBS, C2P consulting, Logica consulting and ABNAMRO in different roles within Consultancy, Product, Market Management and Technology. In leading roles in Strategy & Innovation, Strategic Product and Digital Banking Development, Core Banking, Channels, API, Payments and client advisory for complex and regional cash management solutions.
Luca Kotton
Luca Kotton, a Technology Manager at Investec PLC, is a technology leader with a passion for people, AI, and modern technology. With roots in Johannesburg as a Payments System Analyst since 2018, Luca's core expertise started in Swift and Cross-Border Payments and other local South African payment rails.<br />Since relocating to the UK in 2020 as a payments support engineer, Luca progressed into Team leadership in Payments , as well as into Product Ownership. He now looks after a platform that spans across mutiple areas which include People and Organisation, Risk Assurance, Legal and Facilities, while still maintaining his core in Payments.
Erwin Kulk
Erwin Kulk is Head of Service Development and Management at EBA CLEARING, the leading private-industry provider of pan-European payments infrastructure services. Erwin has been working in interbank payment processing since 1998. He joined EBA CLEARING in 2012, where he initially supported the development of STEP2, with a focus on the SEPA migration. Since 2015, Erwin has been responsible for the management of the EURO1 (for high-value euro payments), STEP2 (for pan-European retail payments) and RT1 (the first pan-European instant payment system) services, as well as the development of new services.
Nadish Lad
Katja Lehr
Katja Lehr is a Managing Director of the EMEA Payments and Commerce Solutions Team, responsible for J.P. Morgan’s Payment Product offerings across the regional footprint and for industry outreach and advocacy. Katija was previously Global Head of Bank and Alternative Product Solutions at PayPal in San Jose, CA, USA. Before transitioning to the US, she worked for PayPal in Berlin, responsible for the build out of PayPal’s EMEA payment business. Lehr holds a diploma as Professional of Banking and a diploma in Financial Economy (LIFBA).
Roisin Levine
Roisin Levine is the Head of UK & Europe Partnerships at Wise Platform, Wise’s market-leading<br />global payment infrastructure for banks, financial institutions and enterprises around the world. Roisin has nearly ten years of experience in the fintech sector securing and managing strategic<br />partnerships with banks and financial institutions. Prior to joining Wise, Roisin was the Head of Banks at Flux, and has been awarded the Women in Fintech ‘Rising Star’ title three times.
Rafael Linde
Rafa has held a variety of positions during his 20+ years in financial services. He has worked as Sales and Trader in Investment Banking – Fixed Income and Treasury - and Transaction Banking. He has also run Cecabank’s UK Branch and currently leads International Development, FI and Global Relationship Management from London. Among his responsibilities, he is the product owner of Cecabank’s cross-currency solutions and is a member of Bank of Spain`s payments´ infrastructure group, AMI Pay. Rafa is also Cecabank’s ICMA’s Principal Delegate and sits on its Commercial and AML/TF Committees.
Kirill Lisitsyn
Ex-Mastercard and Accenture, mastered the ins and outs of payments profitability and then switched gears to build a product addressing a vital issue in the global payments market.
Hays Littlejohn
Hays Littlejohn is CEO of EBA CLEARING, the leading private-industry provider of pan-European infrastructure solutions for euro payments. Prior to that, he held managerial and executive positions in global transaction banking at UBS, covering the areas of product management, relationship management, sales, business development and market infrastructures. Hays also served on the Boards of CLS and EBA CLEARING.
Gareth Lodge
Gareth Lodge is Principal Analyst at the global research and advisory firm Celent. His research focuses on payments back-office within banks, and he is probably best known for his work in payment hubs and instant payments. He is regularly quoted in the media, and has spoken at many major conferences around the world, including Nacha, EBADay and Sibos. Based in the UK, he has global coverage in his research. Prior to joining Celent, he has worked for a global cash-in-transit firm, Mastercard and VocaLink, and has served on the advisory board of many journals and payment vendors.
Simone Löfgen
Simone is the Global Head of Payment Platforms at Commerzbank. In her role, she is responsible for the product management, IT operations, development and delivery of Commerzbank’s global cash management activities. Simone has 20 years of experience in wholesale Corporate Banking. She has held several management positions including Head of Corporate Banking in Commerzbank France as well as Head of International Platforms. She drives technological development combined with a customer centric delivery approach. Simone and her teams represent Commerzbank in various German and European forums to provide thought leadership to the industry. She is a Board member at EBA Clearing.
Vijay Lulla
With a visionary approach to shaping the future of global payments Vijay Lulla is a seasoned transaction banker known for driving high standards, tapping into uncovered product potential and consistently delivering to client needs. Vijay Lulla heads the EMEA Cross Currency Payments product for J.P. Morgan and is responsible for delivering on the transactional FX solutions for clients across the Corporate and FIG portfolio. He brings over 20 years of experience in the transaction banking space, covering roles across operations, sales, and product. He is passionate about people and spends time coaching and mentoring people in his free time.
Liz Lumley
Liz Lumley is deputy editor at The Banker. She is a global specialist commentator on global financial technology or "fintech". She has spent 30 years working in the financial technology space, most recently as director at VC Innovations and architect of the Fintech Talents Festival, managing director at Startupbootcamp FinTech London and an editor at financial services and technology newswire, Finextra. She was named Journalist of the Year for Technology and Digital Finance at State Street's UK Press Awards for 2022.
Joy Macknight
Joy Macknight is a freelance journalist/editor who has covered the global financial services industry for the past 20 years, specialising in transaction banking and fintech. Most recently, she was editor of The Banker, a Financial Times publication.
 - 3.png)
Rob Magee
Rob has been the Program Director of the Australian ISO 20022 Industry Migration Program since it began early in 2020, when the Australian Payments Network (AusPayNet) was appointed as the central coordination authority for the Program. Previously Head of Project Delivery, Rob has been running payments industry projects for AusPayNet for the last 19 years. These have ranged in topic, from high and low value clearing systems, to cards and communication networks. He has over 35 years’ finance industry experience, incorporating roles at the Australian Securities Exchange and the Bank of New York in London. Rob is also the Co-Chair of the High Value Payment Plus (HVPS+) group.
David Malley
A long-time payments specialist, Dave is Payment Industry Engagement lead in NatWest’s Payments Centre of Expertise. As a member of various industry groups in the past (Bacs, LiNK) and currently EBA, he is a firm believer in the need for industry collaboration in non-competitive areas to support innovative payments development. Among the many current industry challenges, he sees putting Instant Payments and Open Banking on a sustainable commercial footing as priority areas.
Piers Marais
With nearly a decade of experience in product development, Piers oversees product strategy for Visa Cross-Border Solutions and Currencycloud’s client base. He draws on his extensive background in payments to ensure that Visa Cross-Border Solutions and Currencycloud are continually at the forefront of the latest payment innovations. Piers is also the host of Currencycloud’s podcast, Payments Innovation. Before helping move money across borders, Piers spent seven years in Global Maritime Tech working alongside the likes of Maersk and Glencore.
Simon McConnell
Within Treasury and Trade Solutions at Citi, Simon heads the European Clearing Business, with primary responsibilities for EUR, GBP, and CHF Clearing. Simon is responsible for the delivery of Citi’s European Clearing product globally to our FI Client base and is also responsible for the regional delivery of our Cross Border Funds Transfer offering to our Corporate and Public Sector Client base. He has extensive knowledge of the European payments industry and has extensive experience leading organizational change. He is board member of the Euro Banking Association and an active industry participant. Simon is a graduate of University College Dublin (BA) and Manchester Business School (MBA).
Richard Meeus
Richard Meeus is Akamai’s EMEA Director of Security Technology and Strategy. With more than twenty years of experience, Richard is responsible for designing and building secure solutions for some of the world’s most influential organisations. Richard is an industry expert in cloud computing, enterprise software, and network security. During his time at Akamai, Mirapoint, and Prolexic, Richard has held strategic roles across a broad range of projects, including the deployment of DDoS solutions for multinational organisations to protect critical infrastructure and sensitive data. Additionally, Richard is a chartered member of the BCS and a CISSP.
Andrea Meier
Andrea Meier is member of the Board of the European Banking Association (EBA) and has a wealth of experience in the banking and payments industry. She currently serves as the head of Solution Management at DZ BANK AG, a position she has held since 2021. In this role, Andrea is responsible for leading her team in the development and implementation of innovative payment solutions and card solutions for cooperative banks and their clients, as well as corporate clients. Prior to her current role, Andrea held various positions within DZ BANK, including leading the Business Development Unit in the Transaction Management Division. Before joining DZ BANK in 2008, Andrea worked for the Association of German Public Sector Banks.
Bruno Mellado
Bruno Mellado is global head of Payments and Receivables at BNP Paribas. He has held several senior positions within BNP Paribas since joining the bank more than a decade ago. Prior to that, Bruno served as project management consultant at the Canadian Border Services Agency and as business consultant at American Management Systems. He holds a BCOMM in Business Administration and Marketing from Queen’s University, Canada and an MBA in Finance from Solvay Business School, Belgium.
William Mendenhall
Bill Mendenhall is the Chief Advisory Officer and Co-Founder of BankCheck by Lacuna Solutions. He began his career as a Bank Rating Analyst at Moody's and then went on to hold various high-level positions at Merrill Lynch, including Managing Director of the EMEA rating advisory team. After serving as Head of Research at an alternative bond fund manager, Bill shifted his focus to the fintech industry and helped build the BankCheck platform at Lacuna Solutions. With fluency in French, German, and Spanish, Bill is able to effectively communicate with the company’s global client base. When he's not working, Bill enjoys playing tennis, exploring the outdoors on foot or horseback, and participating in an author-led book club that he founded.
Guy Moons
Guy Moons is Product Specialist for Enterprise Payments at FIS. Being at the forefront of innovation for the last 20 years in Payment processing he has designed many payment transformation programs for large banks around the world. He has a solution oriented approach in solving today's banks tomorrow's payment challenges.
Tsvetanka Nankova
Tsvetanka Nankova is the Global Head of Sales for Institutional Cash & Trade Finance at Deutsche Bank. Tsvetanka leads a global team of senior sales transaction bankers and oversees Deutsche Bank’s correspondent banking network and client relationships across the globe. Prior to this, Tsvetanka was Head of Corporate Development & the Corporate Bank’s Chief of Staff. She was responsible for a diverse set of teams including Strategy & Chief of Staff Office, Corporate Venture Capital & Strategic Investments, KYC Program & Business Execution.
.jpg)
Petia Niederländer
Petia Niederlaender is the Director for Payments, Risk Monitoring and Financial Literacy of Austria National Bank (OeNB) since February 2021. She is member of ECBs Market Infrastructure Board, chairs the National Payments Committee and acts as a supervisory board member at the Austrian payments innovations hub – OeNPAY.<br />She has specific responsibility to develop and ensure stability of the payments infrastructure in Austria, ensure dialogue and cooperation with financial institutions participating and stakeholders. Petia jointed payments and banking 15 years ago.
Jorge Filipe Nunes
Liz Oakes
Liz is recognised for contributions to key innovations and significant growth in the payments industry globally. She spent a number of years driving the growth and success of Mastercard's global operations. She has a deep understanding of the payments industry and is experienced in developing innovative solutions that enhance the digital payment experience for consumers and businesses globally. Known for her strategic mindset and exceptional leadership skills, Liz is passionate about driving financial inclusion and empowering individuals and businesses around the world through cutting-edge technology. Recognized for her expertise and global network, Liz now serves as a non-executive board member lending her valuable insights, strategy expertise and
Tom Orzikowski
Gurumurthy Palani
Gurumurthy Palani, a distinguished leader in global transaction banking with over three decades of experience spanning the Middle East, Europe, the US, and Asia. Joining GIB in 2017 as Global Head of Transaction Banking, Gurumurthy's journey showcases his deep expertise in trade finance, cash management, and payment systems. A MBA graduate of the prestigious Rotman School of Management, Canada, Gurumurthy has honed his skills through key roles in leading financial institutions like SABB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Royal Bank of Canada. His strategic vision and leadership have shaped global trade finance and cash management offerings, driving innovation and customer-centric solutions.
Carlo Panella
Carlo Panella, is a management engineer graduated from Politecnico di Milano, began his managerial journey in multinational corporations like DHL and Vodafone, contributing significantly to the transition from an Italian entity to a multinational telecommunications giant. Carlo then ventured into Digital Banking, in WeBank, completely redesigning its model, and assuming the role of General Manager. Post-banking sector, Carlo became the General Manager of CSE Consulting, specializing in digital turnaround services for small to medium-sized banks. Joining Illimity as a Founder, he managed the Direct Banking and Digital Operations Division. In 2023, he assumed a pivotal role in the Engineering Group.
Thomas Peeters
Thomas was appointed Head of Europe North in February 2023, with responsibility for the team managing relationships with the BeNeLux, Nordics and Baltics communities of financial institutions, market infrastructures and corporates. Previously Thomas led the Benelux team and managed relationships with several key clients within Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands; worked on the development of Swift’s corporate segment; supported the business development teams and clients in the role of technical sales expert; and held various positions in IT operations. Prior to joining Swift in 2005, he held a number of consulting assignments linked to software development and integration.
Jude Pinto
As Payments Canada's Co-CEO (Interim) and Chief Delivery Officer, Jude brings more than 30 years of experience in senior- and executive-level leadership positions within the financial services sector. He has successfully led business transformation and innovation nationally and internationally. As the payment systems that underpin Canada’s financial ecosystem continue to evolve, Jude is responsible for strategically leading large-scale delivery programs to support Payments Canada’s vision for a Canadian payment ecosystem that is resilient, inclusive and enables fair competition as the foundation of Canada’s thriving economy. Jude works alongside Payments Canada business and technology experts, members, stakeholders, and regulators.
Kate Pohl
Kate is a strategic planner, builder as well as a tactical manager. She is passionate about supporting transformation through innovation and digitalization plus coaching to leverage opportunities. Kate has 35+ years of experience in commercial banking. This includes transaction services, sales, implementation, client services and product management. Kate is experienced in relationship management as well as risk. She has held senior positions with local, regional, and global responsibilities at ING, Citi, ABNAmro, JPMorgan & BNY in New York, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Today she supports financial institutions, fintechs and corporates in their quest to become more effective and efficient in today's fast-paced and agile world.
Kannan Rasappan
Verification of Payee expert who has worked and advised leading financial institutions in the UK such as RBS, HSBC, WorldPay and Lloyds Banking Group. An active participant at several Open Banking working groups and speaker at various conferences. Currently serving as Advisor to Berlin Group's NextGenPSD2 standards - EU's most widely used API specification and serving as Open Banking Advisor at Grant Thornton. CEO & founder at Banfico, a fintech company helping banks implement Verification of Payee, and obtain open banking compliance by providing consulting and implementation services.
Michael Reinwald
Michael Reinwald is the Head of Sales for Financial and Non-Bank Financial Institutions for J.P. Morgan in Germany, Austria and CEE. He has close to 20 years’ experience in the Financial Industry and 15 years in Payments in several coverage related roles. Michael has studied Business Administration at FU Berlin and lives in Frankfurt.
Hélder Rosalino
Bachelor's and Master's degree in Management. Executive MBA Member of the Board of Directors of Banco de Portugal since 2014, with responsibility for: markets and reserve management, monetary issuance, payment systems, information technology, accounting and financial control, human resources, communication, planning and organisation, and innovation management. Member of the European Central Bank's High-Level Group for Digital Euro. Senior executive at Banco de Portugal since 1994, having been, among other functions, Head of the Issuance and Treasury Department and Head of the Human Resources Department. Represents Banco de Portugal in various committees and working groups within the ECB and the EC.
Alessandro Roveda
Alessandro Roveda is Head of Network Services Solutions in Nexi with responsibility for positioning the Group in the field of network payments infrastructure. He is responsible also for Blockchain solutions supporting Banks and Corporates in innovative solutions. He was previously Head of Capital Markets Innovative Solutions at SIA and held various roles in design and delivery Banking software at Cegeka.
Amelia Ruiz Heras
Amelia is a Senior Director at Finastra with over 20 years’ experience in the payments industry and leads the global Solution Consulting organization for Finastra’s Payments business. Amelia and her team design and develop solutions to help clients respond to business and regulatory requirements in the bank-to-bank payments ecosystems while enabling their payments modernization and transformation journeys. As an industry leader in cloud-native solutions, Amelia also helps drive payment innovation at Finastra. Amelia is equally passionate about her clients' success as she is about Payments.
Peter Ryan
Peter Ryan is a Senior Research Director covering the banking and financial technology industries within Gartner's Financial Services Research and Advisory team. Peter helps banks modernize their payments systems and make the best use of their payments data in support of consumers and businesses. Peter also advises bank executives on open banking, core banking, and data standards. In addition to working with banks, Peter brings his product management experience to advise technology vendors on how to successfully sell into banks including go-to-market strategies and product positioning.
Emanuela Saccarola
Emanuela is the Global Head of Cross Border Payments at Citi, responsible for the management of a broad and competitively differentiated suite of cross border payments solutions into over 200 countries. Innovations include real time payments into bank accounts/Alternative Payment Methods, across borders and currencies, and Global Beneficiary Services which allow clients’ payees to digitally track incoming payments. Emanuela holds a Master’s degree in Economics from New York University (USA) and a degree magna cum laude in Economics and Commerce from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy). Originally from Venice, she currently lives in Dublin with her husband Jim and two sons age 22 and 17.
John Salter
John Salter is the Chief Customer Officer at ClearBank, where he leads the commercial team responsible for client management and marketing. With over 30 years of experience in the banking sector, he has a deep understanding and passion for payments and innovative financial services solutions that can benefit his clients. Prior to joining ClearBank in 2019, John led teams in product management, client coverage and held two concurrent Managing Director positions with Lloyds Banking Group's global transaction banking division. Prior to Lloyds, John was the Head of Cash Management Sales with Deutsche Bank for the UK and Northern Europe.
Christian Sarafidis
Christian Sarafidis is Chief Executive, EMEA Financial Services at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft, Christian held senior executive positions for multinational groups in Financial Services and the Technology industry including SWIFT as CMO and Deputy Chief Executive EMEA. It was there he launched the SWIFTgpi initiative (Global Payments), a groundbreaking initiative to enhance the speed, transparency and traceability of cross-border payments. At Microsoft, Christian focuses on assisting financial institutions in their digital transformation journey. His goal is to help them reduce time to value, improve customer experience, increase agility, drive business innovation, manage risks, and optimize the total cost of ownership.
Simone Satan
Simone Satan is the Head of Digital Market Management, Treasury Services at BNY Mellon. Simone is responsible for the value articulation and market support of Digital Channels Solutions. Her global team works to optimize digital solutions and connectivity strategies that meet clients needs. Simone previously headed the TS Relationship & Business Development business for Germany, Austria and the CEE Region. Prior to re-joining BNY Mellon, Simone spent six years with Visa in a Senior Relationship & Sales Management role. With more than 20 years Payment’s experience and holds an MBA in banking from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
Andy Schmidt
Over 30 years of financial services experience as a banker, consultant, and analyst at Bank of America, EY, and Gartner - guiding banks, vendors, and start-ups in making key business and technology decisions. Chairs CGI’s Banking Industry Growth Council, sits on CGI’s Banking Industry Strategic Cabinet and US Banking Steering Committee, and previously served on the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payments Task Force.<br />Primary expertise spans current and emerging payments types, anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), and onboarding. Additional expertise includes product and market strategy, innovation, data, mergers and acquisitions, and translating complex technologies into straightforward business opportunities.
Isabel Schmidt
Isabel is the Executive Platform Owner for BNY Mellon’s Enterprise Payments Enablement. The team provides critical capabilities for businesses and functions across the global in support of BNY Mellon’s daily payment activity. Isabel holds over 25 years of experience in global cash management driving strategic planning and business development and product & market management. Prior to her current role, she co-led BNY Mellon’s Payment Product team in Treasury Services where she shaped and executed the product strategy and development for BNY Mellon's Global Clearing and FX Payment products and our Asset Account Services solutions for NBFIs. Isabel has held several senior positions at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan prior to joining BNY Mellon.
Justin Silsbury
For over 25 years I have worked within Cash & Liquidity Management. I joined Finacle in November 2020 as Lead Product Manager for Cash Management. Prior to Finacle, I was a senior product manager for Liquidity Management at Intellect Design Arena. Before joining Intellect I worked for JP Morgan in a number of roles including Portfolio Manager, Operations Manager and Product Manager. In my current role I am responsible for driving the product roadmap to achieve a product solution suited to regions and customers, drive business requirements and prioritisation, understanding competitive deficiencies and incorporating into the product strategy.
Dean Sposito
Dean Sposito is Head of Institutional Cash and Trade Finance, Western Europe, based in Frankfurt. Dean carries management responsibility for teams in eight locations throughout Europe. In this region, Deutsche Bank has active Cash Management and Trade Finance relationships with Financial Institutions in over 30 countries and maintains leading positions in EUR, USD, and other major currencies. Deutsche Bank is a premier provider of Cash Management and Trade Finance services to Financial Institutions globally. Deutsche Bank is a recognized leader among its peers, helping clients to efficiently manage their payments and trade needs across multiple time zones, borders and currencies.
Paul Staples
Paul Staples is the Head of Embedded Banking at ClearBank and has had a 20-year career founding, building and scaling tech and business platforms across multiple industries including Banks. Paul has been involved in Banking as a Service and Embedded Banking for many years and is an active commentator and advocate for safe and well-regulated Embedded Finance. Paul has also founded several technology companies, from Oil&Gas market places during the dot.com days and Carbon depository solutions, to more recently building a SaaS platform that solves the complexity of the logistics for Ports and Construction sites.
Paul Thomalla
Julie Timpson
Julie has spent over 25 years in payments and cash management across Operations, Sales and Product. She has been with Barclays for the last 11 years leading various teams and most recently in the role of Head of High Value and International payments. Julie is actively involved in the changing payments landscape as the business lead for the ISO20022 migrations and also closely aligned to the regulatory resilience programme. She joined the UK Country Group for the EBA Association in 2023 and became a Board member in November 2023.
Fiona Turnbull
Fiona has extensive experience in the Payments industry, with expertise in strategic change programmes, operations, lending and product management. In her role as Product & Scheme Manager, Fiona is responsible for setting the SEPA Vision, Product and Scheme Management, Compliance and Innovation. Previously Fiona led a number of Payments Change programmes including for PSD2, Future Clearing, and Weekend Pre-positioning. Fiona joined NatWest in 1994 and over her career Fiona has gained invaluable experience working alongside the NatWest Customer Journey, Operations and Technology teams. Fiona has recently taken up a position on the European Payment Council Payment Scheme Evolution & Maintenance Working Group.
Gilbert Verdian
As Founder and CEO of Quant, Gilbert is focused on unlocking the power of blockchain for everyone, to create an empowered, interconnected world. Gilbert has more than 20 years of cybersecurity experience and C-level accountability as a CISO, CIO and CTO. He has worked in government – for Downing Street, HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice and NSW Health – and has also served in the private sector, at Mastercard, Vocalink, CSC, EY, PwC, BP and HSBC. With a keen interest in disruptive technology, Gilbert established the Blockchain ISO Standard TC307 initiative in 2015 and is the Convenor of the Interoperability working group WG7 for ISO.
Ramon Villarreal
Ramon leads the payments modernization strategy as global lead for the payments sector at Red Hat. He focuses on helping develop, build, sell, and support next-generation software solutions and services for payments organizations with an aim to deliver differentiated value to Financial Institutions. He has spent 23 years focused on technology transformation with Financial institutions, including Santander Bank, Nationwide Building Society, UK Payments Scheme. Prior to Red Hat, he worked at Accenture helping Payments institutions to Modernize their Technology landscape.
Dr Hubertus von Poser
Paul Francis Walvik-Joynt
Paul Francis Walvik-Joynt is currently Senior vice president, Real Time Payments at Mastercard. Commercialized Bill Pay and Real Time Payments successfully in several international markets, Experienced leader in Strategy, Technology, Payments and Services adjoining in particular Account to Account ecosystems. Particularly keen in removing friction, and creating seamless services that drive financial inclusion and diversify society in general. * Crossborder payments enablement and how to culturally enable new habits while driving inclusion. * Connecting services to mutually enable thriving ecosystems. * Multi rail services and Account to Account development. *Driving the cashless society
Jenny Winther
Jenny Winther has more than 25 years’ experience in working with payment infrastructure. She is currently working at Handelsbanken as Head of Payment Schemes. She is a member of the EBA Clearing Board. Jenny also participants in several committees and working groups in the European Payments Council (EPC) and Nordic Payments Council (NPC) as well as the Swedish Bankers’ Association and the Swedish central bank. Before joining Handelsbanken, she held a key role in the ongoing transformation of the Nordic payment infrastructure as Secretary General for the Nordic Payments Council (NPC). Jenny has also worked for the Swedish clearing organisation Bankgirot as Head of Payment Products and Services.
Varun Yadav
Varun Yadav is the Product Lead, Virtual Accounts, Global Cash Management Solutions at BNY Mellon.<br />Varun has nearly 18+ years of experience in corporate and retail banking across UK, Germany and India. He is currently leading the development of the bank’s strategy and capabilities for virtual accounts across a range of payments, segments and regions. He also specializes in and has led the development of core liquidity management products. Varun holds an MBA, an engineering degree in Computer Science and ACT’s Certificate in International Cash Management.
Michèle Zaquine
Michèle leads the European Propositions & Commercialisation team for Payments for HSBC’s Global Payments Solutions business and is equally part of the Treasury Solutions Group. Based in Paris, Michèle leads a team who provide client consultancy and thought leadership for corporate clients, specialising in treasury payables/receivables solutions.<br />She has over 35 years of banking experience with more than 10 years in Cash Management. Prior to her current role, Michèle spent 10 years in Trade developing strong relationships with customers both in France and abroad, structuring new products and managing the Commercial Banking sales teams.
Phoebe Zhou
Phoebe is a Banking Leader with 16+ years of experience in retail and commercial banking in the UK and EU. She has built digital client receivable solution from scratch and recently one of the solution she looks after has won the best innovative solution in PayTech Awards in 2023. Her expertise goes beyond Open Banking to Omni Collect, Digital Currencies and Digital Assets utilising emerging technologies including DLT and AI. As Head of Emerging Payments Europe for HSBC, Phoebe helps to oversee the delivery of plans centred around the Emerging Payments landscape in the UK and Europe for GPS. She also is a Steering Committee member for the Regulated Liability Network UK project and Digital Euro New Technology Wholesale Contact Group.