Ready To Hear Views From The Most Influential Payments & Regtech Experts?
#npf
NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum
19 JUNE 2025
Conrad Hotel - Dublin, Ireland
OUR SPEAKERS
Robert Courtneidge
Payment Industry Expert
Robert Courtneidge is valued and respected industry expert in the emerging payments industry. He is working with a number of businesses assisting them on their strategy and products using his 30+ years legal experience to give them practical and innovative solutions. He is co-author and Editor of The PAYTECH Book 2020. He was co-founder of the Prepaid International Forum and has worked with the Emerging Payments Association since it was founded.
He has been regularly featured in the prestigious Payments Power 10 (including being ranked #1 in 2015), a highly competitive ranking of the most influential contributors in payments. As a lawyer in payments he was voted in the top 10 in the world by US publication Paybefore in 2015 being the only European in the list. As a lawyer he has worked closely with The Payments Services Regulator, HM Treasury, UK Finance and Financial Conduct Association, in the UK as well as other compliance and industry bodies globally. Robert has deep expertise in electronic money and payment services and is highly skilled in all aspects of payment services including consumer protection, banking regulation and compliance, and AML/CTF. Robert is highly active on the conference front regularly chairing and moderating events as well as speaking on issues facing the European Payments’ Industry including laws relating to blockchain, digital assets and Central Bank Digital Currencies.
Andrew Doukanaris
Chief Executive Officer at Flotta Consulting Ltd
Andrew has been a driving force in the digital payments and FinTech transformation for over three decades. Throughout his global career, he has held senior and executive roles in Singapore, San Francisco, New York, and London.
At Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex, Andrew established and led the global marketing and sales, payments and retailing division across three brands. At Visa, he served as the European and CEMEA head of Merchant Acceptance, Acquiring Services, and Commercial Cards, overseeing operations in more than 120 markets. As Senior Vice President at JCB Cards Europe, he spearheaded the transformation of its acquiring, sales, and marketing divisions. Additionally, he worked as a consultant for Mastercard in Saudi Arabia.
Andrew founded Flotta Consulting Ltd to provide tailored consulting services to start-ups, scale-ups, and established players within the payments ecosystem. He has been appointed to various leadership roles, including Chair, Director, and CEO of Pomelo Pay, Intellias, and as an advisor and CEO for start-ups focused on open banking and QR code payments.
A sought-after commentator and podcaster, Andrew also serves as a FinTech mentor and advisor at Level39, an ambassador and moderator at the UK Payments Association, and a board advisor, event chairman, and moderator at QUBE Events.
Philip Bugeja
CEO at ArriTech and AML/CFT Consultant
Philip Bugeja, CEO of ArriTech and a seasoned consultant with nearly a decade of expertise in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), as well as risk management, bribery and corruption, and financial crimes.
Laura Wadding
Executive Director Compliance, Banking & Payments, MUFG Investor Services
Laura Wadding is Executive Director, Compliance, Banking & Payments, for MUFG Investor Services. She joined the firm in 2023, working in Compliance. Laura is an experienced regulatory professional in the financial services industry. She was a partner at Deloitte Ireland, where she spent more than eight years providing regulatory support and advice to senior executives and boards across the financial sector, including fund administrators, asset managers, banks, payments, and insurance firms. Prior to that, she served as head of Transfer Agency and head of Compliance at BNP Paribas Securities Services.
Konstantinos Maragkakis
EEA CEO Paysafe Payment Solutions Ltd
Konstantinos is a business executive with more than 17 years experience in corporate governance and operational management in highly regulated sectors in the EU related to e-platforms and digital businesses in-house or as consultant.
In 2018, Konstantinos was appointed as the EEA CEO of the eCash EEA business entity of the Paysafe Group and currently, as CEO of Paysafe Payments Solutions Ltd Konstantinos is managing the Digital Wallets, Issuing, and Acquiring division in the EEA ensuring that the Group’ attains its growth goals successfully and in line with the broader EEA regulatory framework.
Konstantinos is managing various EEA initiatives in embedded finance as well as payments services to create digital wallets ecosystems for merchants and consumers in crypto, games of chance, travel, gaming etc.
Jared Browne
Global Head of Privacy & AI Governance at Fexco Group
Jared Browne is the Global Head of Privacy and AI Governance for the Fexco Group. Originally a philosophy graduate, he is a qualified lawyer, holds a Master’s Degree in Privacy & Technology Law, and is a recognised, international speaker on AI governance. Jared is a member of the EU AI Office’s GPAI Code of Practice working group in Brussels. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of European Data Protection Organisations (CEDPO) and is also the Chair of CEDPO’s AI Working Group. Furthermore, Jared is a member of the AI & ML Working Group of a major international think tank, the Future of Privacy Forum in Washington DC. Jared was the recipient of a PICASSO Europe Privacy Award in 2023 in the Rising Star category, and he was nominated again in 2024 in the Responsible AI category.
Erika Borg
Head of Product at ComplyRadar (Computime FinTech)
Dr. Katharina Lasota Heller has over 20 years of experience in IT, IP, FinTech, AI law. Female Erika Borg is the Head of Product at ComplyRadar (Computime FinTech), working on solutions focused on the FinTech and RegTech domain with a particular focus on credit and financial institutions products. She graduated from the University of Malta with Honours in 2010 in Information Technology, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. She holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh) and also a certification in Financial Risk Management in Banks from the London Institute of Banking and Finance. Erika has worked in IT for over 14 years engaging in various roles and has specialised in the RegTech space for the past 8 years with hands-on experience in the provision of regulatory and compliance solutions working with major credit and financial institutions.
Antony Jordan
Head of Payments & KYC, ODDSET Sportwetten GmbH
Antony Jordan is the Head of Payment & KYC at Munich based ODDSET Sportwetten GmbH, an online sports betting site licensed to operate in Germany by the GGL (Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder).
In his role Antony is responsible for the development and implementation of the strategies in the key business areas of payments and verification, as well as overseeing the day-to-day operations. He joined ODDSET to 2022 to design and build the payments and verification verticals as the company pivoted from the retail business to an online model. Two decades of experience in iGaming and sports betting has provided him with extensive industry knowledge, having worked with operators in multiple jurisdictions, to ensure the provision of user-friendly solutions that aid in business growth and are fully compliant with the applicable regulations of the regulated German online sports betting industry.
David Cunningham
Global Head of Strategy and Partnerships for Digital Assets at Citi
David Cunningham is Global Head of Strategy and Partnerships for Digital Assets in Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions. Before joining Citi, David was a serial entrepreneur and CEO leading a number of RegTech businesses and Chair of a virtual asset service provider regulated in Ireland. He has a keen interest in Startups and was CEO of the Lean Startup Company in EMEA and Entrepreneur in residence at the Techstars web3 accelerator. David focuses on how Citi can leverage advanced technology to compliment and enhance our offerings, in particular, the use of blockchain technology.
Eoin Cumiskey
Director of Franchise Innovation at Mastercard
Eion is a certified banker specialising in strategy and financial services product innovation. Highly experienced in development and launch of market strategies for new and emerging innovative banking and payment products. His career to date has provided him with a comprehensive understanding of both the regulatory environments and operating realities faced by Banks and Payment Firms in deploying new business models and products. He has deep domain expertise in cross-border payment ecosystems, alternative payment methods, and emerging payment ecosystems including tokenised and crypto enabled payment products.
Liam Spence
Senior Vice President, Franchise Innovation at Mastercard
Liam Spence is the SVP of Franchise Innovation, leading both a global team and regional innovation leads. In this role, Liam and his team are responsible for embedding Franchise thinking into products and services to enable scale and relevancy across payments, services, and new networks. They are also introducing AI to power efficiencies and generate additional business value.
Previously, Liam was the VP of Franchise Innovation, responsible for innovating Transfer Solutions, including Mastercard Send and Cross-Border Services, as well as Real Time Payments. He also worked in the Consumer Core Product team in Purchase, New York, focusing on eCommerce enablement, Digital Debit, and Accelerating Card Payments.
Liam joined Mastercard in 2017, as part of the Vocalink acquisition, where he was the Head of Product for the Pay by Bank app and the Zapp platform, creating and launching the first total market mobile payment solution in the UK.
Before Mastercard, Liam launched several payment products including virtual cards and PayPal Credit at PayPal and a loyalty-based credit card at Tesco Bank. He has also led teams at Royal Bank of Scotland in electronic banking and Global Payments (formally TSYS), where his early career grew alongside its expansion into Europe and international markets.
Liam is a Non-Executive Director (NED) for a web3/crypto start up, and ambassador of the northern UK FinTech scene.
Liam has a Bachelor of Science degree from Durham University, in the UK.
Atif Mahmood
European Head Financial Crimes - Group Chief MLRO at U.S. Bank Europe
Atif is a proven leader and subject matter expert in Anti-Financial Crime Compliance with an overall international experience of more than two decades having worked across Asia, Middle East and Europe. He has held senior global roles within the first and second lines of defence with Citibank and now U.S. Bank.
He is CAMS & CGSS certified and during his career, he has helped financial institutions implement, oversee, manage, assure and audit regulatory driven change and transformation programs to achieve compliance with applicable law, regulation and industry guidance.
Robert Cain
Partner at Arthur Cox LLP
Robert is a partner in the Arthur Cox Financial Regulation practice, specialising in Irish and European financial services regulation. Robert advises a wide range of domestic and international clients on all aspects of financial services regulation. His practice includes advice on Irish and EU authorisation and perimeter issues, ongoing compliance with conduct of business and other requirements, regulatory capital, market abuse, securities regulations, fintech and payment services, insurance and reinsurance regulation, AML, corporate governance and financial services M&A (including sales and purchases of financial assets and insurance assets). Robert also advises on regulatory enforcement action taken by the Central Bank of Ireland and European Central Bank and on industry investigations and inquiries.
Stephen Hudson
Global Head of AML/CFT at Kraken
Stephen serves as the Global Head of AML/CFT for Kraken ensuring its AML/CFT Program is in compliance with global AML regulations, guidance and best practice with harmonization across all jurisdictions where Kraken operates. Stephen is an expert in the area of Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) with over 16 years’ experience across multiple financial sectors including Investments, Funds, Wholesale Banking, Retail Banking, Payments, Money Remittance, E-Money and Crypto. He previously worked for the Central Bank of Ireland supervising financial institutions in their adherence to EU AML Legislation. This included inspecting, guiding and challenging firms to ensure strong governance principles and effective risk management frameworks, policies and controls were in place to detect and prevent ML/TF. Stephen is vastly experienced at advising at C-Suite and Board level including engaging with international regulators on the progress of implementing critical and complex FCC program.
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Ludovic Francesconi
Chief Member & Strategy Officer at EPI Company
Ludovic Francesconi is Chief Member & Strategy Officer at EPI Company, in charge of Member relationship and development, as well as geo-expansion, market
intelligence and strategy. He has been supporting the European Payments Initiative since January 2021, aiming to build an independent European solution and connecting Europe’s payment industry.
With more than 15 years of experience in the payment industry, he has in-depth experience in payments and payment solution design and development, fintech, retailtech and innovation in Europe. Prior to joining EPI, he was Head of marketing and innovation at Cartes Bancaires CB, the leading domestic payment scheme in Europe, in charge of products and services and open innovation (Lab by CB). He held different positions at the French Ministry of Finance’s Treasury in the US and Finland.
Tim Farmer
Founder at iSquared
Tim Farmer is the founder of iSquared, a consultancy that helps organisations make better decisions by unlocking the value of data, analytics, and AI. With 30 years’ experience working across sectors, Tim combines strategic insight with hands-on delivery, bringing rigour and creativity, with a strong focus on action. He believes in starting with the business needs and challenges and finding the solutions to meet these, ensuring that analytics, insights, and AI serve a clear purpose. Tim brings a future-focused, creative approach bridging ambition and action turning ideas into practical, future-ready solutions.
Damian Mifsud
Partner at Hatten M&A Advisory
Damian Mifsud is a proven start up / new product specialist in the payments and financial services industry across a number of different jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Malta at a number of levels, where he has achieved success through a professional, hands-on and enthusiastic approach. Additionally, Damian has significant market knowledge and relationships with industry players and customers and has detailed knowledge of the EU regulatory infrastructure.
Damian was an early-stage full time advisor to a number of successful start-ups including Omnipay Acquiring Processing (Dublin) acquired by First Data (USA), Credorax Bank (Malta) acquired by Shift 4 (USA) and provided full time consultancy to various banks, financial institutions and payment institutions including MasterCard Europe (Waterloo, Belgium) and MBNA Bank of America (Chester, UK) in the launch of new products across Europe.
Damian founded QGen in Malta which focused on providing KYC, KYB, AML identity solutions to the EU payments industry. QGen boasted of a prestigious client base and was a pioneer in many of its innovative solutions which have since become industry standards. QGen was acquired by Arringo Limited and has since been rebranded as ArriTech. Additionally Damian was the co founder of award winning KnowMeNow, a blockchain enabled KYC application, one of the first solutions of its kind.
More recently, Damian has been pivotal in facilitating cross-border mergers and acquisitions of EU-based financial institutions by global financial entities seeking entry into the EU market.
Michael Carr
CEO at Buen Crypto Consulting Ireland
Michael is an experienced Project Manager with over 18-years in the traditional banking sector, specialising in IT Change, New Regulatory and Compliance Implementation and Payments.
In 2018, Michael entered the world of crypto through an interest in trading. In 2022, he founded Buen Crypto Consulting, Ireland and the UKs only dedicated professional services organisation for Blockchain and Digital Assets.
Buen Crypto Consulting offers a range of advisory services, tailored for the fast growing and maturing crypto, blockchain and digital assets markets. Amongst Buen Crypto Consulting's services are project management of authorisation requests, supervisory engagement, development of client risk and compliance strategies and, multi-jurisdictional regulatory support in Europe, UK and Middle East.
January 2024, Michael was appointed Ireland's Ambassador for the Global Blockchain Business Council, reflecting his contributions in the blockchain sector.
Gillian Byrne
Head of Payments at BPFI
Gillian Byrne is a senior leader with over 18 years of specialised experience in the payments sector in Ireland. As Head of Payments at BPFI, she is responsible for shaping and executing the payments strategy. Gillian collaborates extensively with member institutions, regulatory authorities, and key industry stakeholders to drive innovation and advance the payments agenda in Ireland.
Gillian represents BPFI and the Irish payments industry across a range of key forums, both domestically and internationally. She participates in the Irish Retail Payments Forum (IRPF) and serves as a representative on Payment forums at the European Payments Council (EPC) and the European Banking Federation (EBF), ensuring that Ireland's interests are effectively represented at the EU level.
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John O’Beirne
CEO and Executive Director at Square International Ltd
John O’Beirne is CEO and Executive Director of Square International Ltd in Europe. Square helps millions of sellers more easily run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of point of sale systems, commerce solutions, business software and banking services.
Prior to joining Block in 2023, John gained over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry including roles as CEO of Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank, Director of Business Banking and Director of Payments and Retail Products. He has led large scale digital transformation and financial inclusion programmes. He is currently a board member of Dublin Chamber.
More recently, in his role at Square, John helps ensure that customer-friendly technology can provide growth opportunities to European businesses of all sizes, so that business owners and leaders never miss a sale.
Shane Farrell
Payments Compliance Expert. VP at JP Morgan
Shane Farrell is a Payments Compliance Expert and currently serves as Vice President at JP Morgan. With a robust background in regulatory compliance, Shane is a Fellow of the Compliance Institute and the Chair of the Consumer Protection Working Group. Shane brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership to the forefront of consumer protection initiatives. Shane's academic credentials include an M.Sc in Compliance and an LL.B in Law and Business. His professional journey is marked by significant contributions to compliance policy development, regulatory engagement, and compliance framework development. His professional journey includes roles in professional services, retail banking and corporate banking.
Andrew Fenton
Director of Enterprise Sales at HerculesAI
Andrew Fenton is an experienced technology sales leader with over 25 years of experience helping financial services organizations achieve their goals with technology solutions. Andrew brings industry knowledge from leadership roles at Barclay’s, JP Morgan and Bank of America. This, alongside his roles at technology businesses, including Minit, SEON and SambaNova, enables him to help enterprises optimize existing processes, improve profitability and customer retention, and increase their ability to manage risk proactively.
Tim Khamzin
CEO at Vivox.AI
Tim is the Founder and CEO of Vivox AI, where he leads the development of AI Digital Workers to streamline compliance operations for banks and fintech companies. With over 10 years of experience in the banking and fintech sectors, Tim began his career at KPMG and went on to lead key initiatives in a digital transformation program at Central Europe’s largest bank, reducing its operational workforce from 24,000 to 5,800 employees. He also scaled a Business Process Outsourcing company to $45M in revenue and developed compliance solutions for Tier 1 banks. Tim holds an MBA from London Business School and is passionate about payments, regtech, and implementing AI applications in compliance..
Gary Palmer
President, CEO & Chairman at Payall Payment Systems
Gary’s the founder and CEO of Payall Payment Systems – the company has built first-ever end-to-end infrastructure for the cross-border ecosystem with breakthrough software for originating institutions, central banks, payment networks and operators, currency traders and liquidity providers as well as clearing institutions and correspondent banks. Capabilities have transformed this high-risk, opaque and inefficient $160 T payment category into a safe, efficient (fast and low cost), transparent and inclusive product that any bank, financial institution, EMI, PI or other regulated entity can offer that’s safe, profitable and delights customers.
Gary’s career in banktech, regtech and Fintech began in 1996 when he co-founded WildCard Systems, the first-ever purpose-built Visa and Mastercard prepaid card issuing platform and some have called the “first Fintech”. WildCard pioneered public APIs to integrate with non-issuers in support of alternative distribution channels for consumer, business and government-funded cards. EFunds acquired WildCard Systems in 2005 for $262 million.
After the sale to Efunds Gary was EVP of global strategic business development, reporting to the Chairman and CEO. Gary was on the executive team that sold Efunds to Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE: FIS) for $1.8 billion in 2007 – double the value of Efunds from the WildCard purchase.
Gary also co-founded and provided funding to Adaptive Payments in 2010 which pioneered 24x7 real-time payments between banks across the PIN debit or EFT networks. Mastercard acquired Adaptive Payments in 2015 and the company’s tech became the foundation for Mastercard Send.
In 2010 Gary received the prestigious Prepaid Industry Achievement Award and he’s an inventor (U.S. patent 9,183,549 issued Nov 10, 2015) for a system and method of secure payment transactions.
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Fabian Meyer
Managing Partner at CORE SE
Fabian Meyer is Managing Director in Switzerland and a member of the board of CORE SE - a European technology think tank based in Berlin. As an expert in payment services and FinTechs, he is responsible for large projects with renowned clients in the financial sector in the DACH region and the United Arab Emirates. He has several years of consulting experience in the banking sector and in transformation engineering.
Simon McFeely
Managing Director at Finvisor Fintech Partners
Simon has secured e-money, payment-institution and forthcoming CASP approvals across Europe, North America and APAC, and has guided firms through Central Bank of Ireland interactions. His expertise spans enterprise AML/CTF frameworks, safeguarding of client funds, outsourcing oversight, operational resilience and data-driven risk assessment. A Fellow Chartered Accountant, he serves on the Compliance Institute’s FinTech & Payments Working Group and regularly briefs Firm’s on MiCAR, DORA and emerging crypto regulation. Simon holds a BSc in Accounting & Finance from TU Dublin and is regarded as a thought leader on regulatory strategy for high-growth fintechs.
Christopher Martin
Partner at KPMG Law
Christopher Martin is a Partner in financial services regulation in KPMG Law. He has over 15 years’ experience in financial regulation, and has worked in both the public and private sectors, including experience in the Central Bank. He advises domestic and international institutions, including banks, payment and e-money institutions, investment firms, CASPs, and other regulated entities, on regulatory and compliance issues, including conduct of business and prudential requirements, authorisation and passporting requirements, acquisitions and disposals, corporate governance, fitness and probity, AML/CFT, financial sanctions, structuring, and best practice norms.
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Ella Clancy
Chief Risk Officer at Ace Money Transfer Limited (part of the ACE Group)
Ella Clancy is the Chief Risk Officer at Ace Money Transfer Limited, a global leader in remittance services. With over 20 years of experience across the Financial Services and Insurance sectors, she brings deep expertise in risk management, regulatory compliance, internal audit, and operational oversight.
Throughout her career, Ella has successfully designed and implemented enterprise risk frameworks and governance structures in complex, fast-paced environments. At Ace, she plays a pivotal role in aligning risk strategy with business growth, ensuring robust controls while fostering innovation.
She is passionate about embedding a strong risk culture, supporting informed decision-making, and navigating the evolving regulatory landscape.
Filipe Felix Ling
Head of Risk Control Unit at IntesaSanPaolo Bank Ireland
Filipe Felix Ling currently serves as Head of the Risk Control Unit at IntesaSanPaolo Bank Ireland, where he is responsible for overseeing financial risk activities. He previously worked at the Central Bank of Ireland, contributing to supervisory and policy functions within the European regulatory framework. His career includes roles in both public and private financial institutions, with direct involvement in risk monitoring, model assessments, and institutional oversight. Filipe holds academic qualifications in Business Management and Software Engineering from the University of Oxford, and has participated in regulatory working groups related to financial system development in Ireland and Europe.
Marlyne Kalonzo Olabiyi
AML and Registration Team Manager - Assistant Vice President at Citi
Marlyne Kal is a compliance professional with expertise in AML, KYC, and regulatory operations.
She currently manages the Anti-Money Laundering & Registration team at Citigroup, leading service quality, performance, and regulatory adherence.
Her previous roles at Meta, BNY Mellon, and State Street have strengthened her experience in onboarding, due diligence, and compliance oversight.
Marlyne is passionate about operational efficiency, strong governance, and supporting global teams in navigating complex regulatory environments.
Patrick O’Donnell
Commercial Director Payments at Phorest Salon Software
Patrick O'Donnell is Commercial Director for Payments at Phorest. Patrick is a seasoned financial services executive with extensive experience in wholesale and retail banking, payments, and FinTech, with a focus on business management, strategy, and regulatory compliance.
Prior to joining Phorest, Patrick was Managing Director with dLocal Ireland where he was responsible for establishing the Irish operation. He also held roles with Mastercard, as Vice President of Product Management Blockchain and Crypto Assets, where he shaped Mastercard's strategic approach to crypto assets and developed innovative product solutions ; and he spent many years at Citi, where he held various leadership roles including Global Product Head for Cross Border Wire Payments. Patrick holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Technological University Dublin, is a qualified Accountant with ACCA , and has a Diploma in Corporate Governance from the Corporate Governance Institute.
Clare Pearson
Head of Technology Operations & Delivery Management at Fnality International
Clare is an accomplished payment professional with extensive experience in the Payments and Financial Services industry.
She has a proven track record of delivering strategic and technical initiatives for global
expansion programs, e-commerce, omni-channel solutions, Alternative Payment Methods (APM’s), and domestic and international schemes across various channels and gateways.
With a focus on financial services and in particular payments, Clare excels in developing and implementing road maps, setting priorities, and ensuring the successful delivery of innovative solutions. As a specialist in Payments & Open Banking, she leverages her expertise to drive user-centric product development and enhance customer experience.
She has led transformational change teams within the Payments sector and has held both Product and operational management roles. Clare remains actively engaged with industry updates and the ecosystem, staying closely aligned with regulatory requirements.
In January 2023, Clare was appointed as a panel advisor to the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). The panel’s role is to contribute to the PSR’s strategy and policy and acts as a ‘critical friend’ by providing advice and early input on both strategic and technical levels.
Sara Savidge
CEO at Fexco International Payments
Sara is a business transformation executive with vast experience spanning domestic, regional, and international payment ecosystems: delivering scalable, compliant, and innovative financial solutions to meet the demands of a rapidly shifting global landscape. Leading go-to-market initiatives, spearheading business transformation, and executing bold growth strategies at several major financial institutions, her expertise blends the scale, diversity and complexity of industry giants like JPMorgan, Fiserv & Barclays with the agile, innovative spirit of FinTech disruptors such as TransferMate and Fexco. Navigating and embracing the evolving regulatory landscape that shapes payment processes, Sara has a history of crafting strategies that strike a balance between commercial objectives, compliance and innovation.
Driven by a commitment to building a more accessible and inclusive financial ecosystem, Sara champions technology-led solutions that empower underserved communities while improving experiences for consumers, clients, and colleagues. Renowned for her advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Sara also serves on the board and advisory panels of several industry forums, payments communities, and STEM initiatives. Her visionary approach harnesses cutting-edge technology to drive regulatory compliance and deliver scalable, inclusive financial solutions, transforming the financial landscape for underserved populations and paving the way for a more equitable future.
Sinéad Power
Senior Legal Counsel at Squarespace
Sinéad Power is a Senior Legal Counsel at Squarespace, the leading website building and hosting company. Sinéad advises on payments and other financial solutions products at Squarespace. Prior to joining Squarespace, Sinéád was the lead Litigation Counsel for EMEA and APAC at Stripe and a partner at Mason Hayes & Curran.
Malcolm Craig
General Manager - Revolut Bank UAB, Ireland
Malcolm Craig is a finance veteran formerly of Bank of Ireland, EY, PwC, and RSA, and was recently General Manager for the Irish branch of the finance firm, Premium Credit. At Revolut, he takes on responsibility for defining and executing local strategy, with end-to-end responsibility for P&L.
Dmitrijs Grebnevs
Chief Product Officer at Payally Limited
Dynamic and results-driven professional with a solid background in IT, Product, and Business across Payments, Card Issuing, Card Acquiring, and Credits. Dmitrijs is known for his deep understanding of fintech infrastructure and his ability to effectively integrate new functionalities into both existing and emerging systems. He has played a key role in shaping product and business software development strategies within the banking and fintech sectors. Committed to continuous learning and innovation, Dmitrijs has held senior management roles in banks, electronic money institutions (EMIs), processing centres, and payment gateways—driving product development and leading project implementation.
Jan Lorenc
CEO at CurrencyFair Ltd
As CEO of CurrencyFair, Jan Lorenc leads a disruptive fintech platform transforming international payments by delivering faster, more transparent, and cost-effective money transfers for consumers and SMEs around the world.
With over 15 years of experience in banking and fintech, he brings deep expertise in cross-border payments and FX solutions, digital asset infrastructure, multi-currency platforms, and bank-to-bank payment rails.
His career includes leadership roles at leading financial institutions and fintech innovators such as JPMorgan, TransferMate, Wirex, Banxa, and Nuvei, where he built and scaled high-performing teams driving global payments innovation.
Passionate about financial inclusion, Jan is committed to using technology to eliminate barriers in international money movement—enabling individuals and businesses to send money globally as easily as they do locally.
A regular speaker at industry events, he shares insights on fintech innovation, digital asset adoption, and the evolving future of cross-border payments.
Paul Mortby
Head of EMEA Policy at Block and Board Member at European Fintech Association
Paul Mortby is the Head of Policy in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Block, Inc (NYSE: XYZ). Paul is also the Chair of the European Fintech Association’s Digital Asset Working Group.
Paul has a breadth and depth of experience in fintech regulation including in payments and e-money, digital assets, and digital identity.
Before joining Block, Paul worked in the Financial Conduct Authority’s Banking and Payments Policy and Innovation teams where he engaged with innovative payments and digital asset based solutions and supervised a range of FCA Sandbox tests.
Paul has Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Aberdeen University and a Master of Laws from Durham University.
Stephen Croughan
Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Bank of China (Europe) S.A. Dublin Branch
Stephen Croughan, is currently the Chief Risk and Compliance Officer with over 17 years financial services experience. As Head of the Risk and Compliance Department, Stephen is also the designated Money Laundering Reporting Officer ("MLRO") and Data Protection Officer ("DPO") for the Dublin Branch.
Stephen is a Certified Financial Crime Professional (CFCP), Certified Data Protection Officer (CDPO), Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), and is a Licentiate of the Compliance Institute. Stephen also holds a Certificate in Commercial Credit, Specialist Certificate in Mutual Funds, certificate in Anti Money Laundering and Sanctions Compliance from the International Compliance Association (ICA), a Masters Degree in Marketing (Hons) from the Dublin Institute of Technology and an International BA in Economics and Geography (Hons) from the University College Dublin.
Gary Conroy
Chief Executive Officer at TransferMate Global Payments
As Chief Executive Officer of TransferMate, Gary leads the company’s global vision to revolutionise embedded B2B payments. With over 25 years of experience in banking and payments, spanning consumer and business payments, card and account-to-account payments, international banking and FX, Gary brings deep industry expertise and a strong track record of scaling fintech companies worldwide.
Serving as Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Product Officer for 8 years before being promoted to CEO, Gary spearheaded award-winning technological advancements and played a key role in expanding TransferMate into new verticals and geographies.
Before joining TransferMate, Gary served as Managing Director at Realex Payments, where he successfully led the post-acquisition integration into the broader Global Payments organisation. Prior to that, Gary held key roles with Goldman Sachs, Finastra, and Axway.
Michael Van Turnhout
Payments Strategist - Europe at Elavon Merchant Services
Michael van Turnhout has worked in the card payments industry for 17 years. Starting at Realex Payments, a leading e-commerce gateway, he build from scratch two corporate account management teams, one in Ireland and later one in the UK. In 2017 he switched to Elavon Merchant Services, where he managed a number of large international accounts. By adding experience in the finance-focused acquiring industry to his years working in the IT focussed gateway business, he built up a complete end-to-end knowledge of the card payments industry. This experience and knowledge allowed him to switch to a new role three years ago, becoming a member of Elavon’s European business strategy team.
Gillian O'Brien
Director at Deloitte Ireland
Gillian is a Director in the Strategy Risk and Transaction Advisory, department of Deloitte specialising in non-financial and regulatory risk. Having over 12 years’ experience working with a number of large global organisations on their regulatory and risk management solutions. Gillian has experience working with Board members and Executives on an ongoing basis in relation to regulatory issues, advising insurance and reinsurance companies, investment firms, credit institutions and other financial institutions.
Oliver Hanmer
Head of Supervision and Compliance Monitoring at the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR)
Oliver joined the UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) in June 2023 as the Head of a newly formed Supervision and Compliance Monitoring division. The PSR is the economic regulator of payment systems in the UK and oversees the main systems that enable people and businesses make payments.
The Supervision and Compliance Monitoring Division is responsible for actively supervising the UK's regulated payment systems. Oliver is also responsible for driving better outcomes for people and businesses by having dedicated teams focused on monitoring compliance and enforcement who can take action where needed to discourage non-compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.
Oliver joined the PSR from the Bar Standards Board (the independent regulator for the barrister’s profession) where he was the Director of Regulatory Operations with a broad remit covering regulatory compliance, risk based supervision and professional standards, including leading on the introduction of a supervision regime for Barristers.
Anthony Rafferty
European Head of Sales Engineering & Merchant Onboarding at PayPal
Anthony Rafferty is a Fintech executive with over 20 years of experience in the ever-changing world of payments and fintech. He has previously headed up sales, customer success, and strategic partnerships. Currently, he has the privilege of leading a team of 100 talented PayPal solution engineers across Europe. His mission? To craft and roll out smart payment strategies that align with customers' needs.
Together, they’ve supported thousands of merchants, helping them generate billions in new revenue through PayPal’s solutions. The team loves to partner with customers on their expanding needs with a truly customer-first mindset, all while staying ahead of the fast-paced payments landscape, especially with new technologies, such as AI, and the ever-evolving compliance requirements.
Their tailored payment solutions make a real difference, whether it's enhancing backend operations, ensuring compliance, or breaking into new markets. Anthony especially enjoys supporting startups and small businesses, empowering them to leverage the platform for growth and success.