Ready to Hear From Europe’s Most Influential Payments, Compliance & RegTech Leaders?
#npf
NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum
7 MAY 2026
W Hotel - Barcelona, Spain
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.
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Manuel Rivero
Business Development Director, Iberia & Continental Europe, Total Issuing Solutions at FIS
Ferdinand Dragtstra
Co Founder at Payzim and The PayBridge
Ferdinand has 20 years experience driving business growth at global scale in payroll, payment technologies, human capital management. He has deep expertise in emerging markets and strategic partnerships across technology and financial services.
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Arturo Mac Dowell González
President at AEFI
Arturo’s entire professional career has been linked to innovation and technology within the financial sector. He is currently President of AEFI, and was previously the founder and CEO of Eurobits, which was acquired by Tink and later by Visa. He has also worked at IBM, Banco Santander, and iSOCO. Some of the innovations he has helped bring to market include e-commerce payments, mobile banking, financial aggregation, and e-invoicing. Arturo currently serves as Vice President of ETPPA, is a member of the ERPB, a Board Member of the EPC, and Co-Chair of the SPAA MSG at the EPC.
Maria Akulenko
Chief Compliance Officer at Cryptopay
Maria Akulenko, Chief Compliance Officer at Cryptopay, has over a decade of expertise in corporate law, governance, sanctions, and AML compliance, including 5+ years in crypto. She is skilled in building robust compliance frameworks and managing cross-jurisdictional risks. Her passion is aligning business goals with compliance excellence to ensure responsible industry development.
Arnau Bertran
Head of Payments Acceptance and Experience for Spain at Amazon
Arnau Bertran is Head of Payment Acceptance and Experience for Spain at Amazon, architecting best-in-class payment experiences that serve millions of customers. With deep expertise in payments, fintech, and digital transformation, he bridges cutting-edge technology with customer-centric financial solutions in highly regulated environments. Prior to Amazon, Arnau led strategic product development at Spain's leading financial institutions and delivered transformative banking projects at top Consulting firm. He holds an Executive MBA from ESADE and an MSc in Engineering, combining technical rigor with strategic business acumen.
Beyond corporate leadership, Arnau mentors underserved entrepreneurs through, for instance Youth Business International or University alumni associations. A former competitive rower with Spanish and French national championship medals, he brings the same discipline and performance excellence to driving payment innovation.
Dodi Malazonia
Head of E-commerce & Merchant Acquiring at Bank of Georgia
Dodie Malazonia is a seasoned payments leader with deep expertise in digital payments, merchant acquiring, and e-commerce ecosystems. She heads the E-commerce Merchant Acquiring Business at Bank of Georgia (part of Lion Finance Group), the country's largest bank and a FTSE-listed entity. In this role, she spearheads the expansion of merchant acquiring services and innovative digital payment solutions amid rapid market transformation. Her knowledge encompasses cross-border e-commerce strategies, robust payment infrastructure development, and high-impact collaborations with global payment networks and fintech partners. Dodi is dedicated to creating scalable, merchant-centric acquiring platforms that enhance performance, conversion, and resilience across digital channels in evolving regulatory environments.
Ariam Rodríguez Pou
Strategic Partnerships | Platforms, Payments & Embedded Finance at BELOY
Strategic Partnerships leader with 8+ years of experience building and scaling fintech and platform ecosystems across Europe and LATAM.
I specialise in designing and launching partner-led growth strategies that unlock new revenue streams and improve unit economics across marketplaces, mobility and financial services platforms.
My background spans embedded lending and protection, having led market expansion and partnerships delivering €50M+ in financing capacity and €4M+ in recurring profit.
Fernando Latorre Aisa
Director, Payments & Fraud at Vendo Services
Fernando Latorre leads Vendo Services' payments and fraud departments, ensuring a seamless checkout experience and managing risk. With his experience in statistics and business, he works to streamline the onboarding process, produce accurate reporting, and support merchants and customers in every step of their payments journey.
Rodrigo Puig-Mir
Payments Industry Expert
Rodrigo Puig-Mir is a fintech and payments executive with over 20 years of international experience building, scaling, and transforming financial services businesses across Europe, Latin America, and other global markets.
Throughout his career, he has held CEO and senior leadership roles in high-growth environments, working across payments, lending, and cross-border financial services. He brings deep expertise in operational scalability, digital transformation, and managing complex, multi-market organizations.
Rodrigo has extensive experience aligning product, technology, and operations to ensure effective execution in fast-evolving environments, particularly within regulated industries.
He is currently working as an independent advisor, supporting fintech and payments companies on growth, operational strategy, and business scaling.
Juan Carlos Botrán
Deputy Head of Payment Services and Scheme Delivery at SWIFT
Juan Carlos Botrán is Deputy Head of Payment Services and Scheme Delivery at SWIFT. In this role, he focuses on strategic payment technologies and the development of new product capabilities to support the recently launched SWIFT Payment Scheme.
Prior to his current position, Juan Carlos held several leadership roles across Business Development and Product within SWIFT. Before joining the organisation, he worked at various fintechs and financial institutions, building a strong track record at the intersection of technology and business.
He has spent his entire career in the financial services industry, with a dedicated focus on payments since 1999, following the completion of his degree in Telecommunications Engineering.
Roman Zilber
Founder at Intrepid Fox
Roman Zilber is an international banker with over 30 years of experience at leading US and European banks, including Bank of America, Crédit Agricole, and Raiffeisen. Two years ago, he founded Intrepid Fox—an AI-powered SaaS platform focused on KYB. With deep knowledge of financial operations and where automation often fails, Roman set out to solve a key problem in digital transformation: the messy mix of manual and automated processes. He brings both strategic insight and practical experience to improving compliance and onboarding.
Pancho Pérez Salazar
Founder of Lonchbox
Founder of Lonchbox and a systemic architect with over 20 years of "tech grit." My career has been a constant leap between design, code, and product strategy, allowing me to see the entire system where others only see silos. I specialise in Hotel Tech and complex payment ecosystems, bridging the gap between financial APIs and real-world market operations.
I don’t believe in theoretical "Mega Projects"; my religion is Pilot First and fast prototyping to validate hypotheses today. I act as the catalyst that translates business needs into low-friction, high-scalability technical solutions. My approach combines the discipline of an elite consultant with the agility of a maker who knows that a functional prototype is worth more than a thousand perfect diagrams.
Cátia Silva
Payments & Fraud Manager at Vueling
Cátia Silva joined Vueling in 2014 within the commercial department. Throughout her career at the company, she has taken on various strategic roles, including Customer Care Projects Management, B2B digitization Management and Distribution Strategy & Payments Manager, growing alongside the organization and expanding her responsibilities until reaching her current position as Payments & Fraud Manager in the Sales & Distribution department in 2025.
Cátia holds a degree in Tourism & Sustainable Development and further enhanced her expertise with a Master’s in Commercial Management and a Master’s Power MBA, which paved the way for her career in the aviation sector.
In her current role, she leads the Payments strategy and Risk mitigation within Vueling’s commercial area, playing a key role in optimizing the company’s payment processes. Among her most recent achievements is the implementation of Bizum and Revolut Pay for direct channels, initiatives that have significantly improved the airline’s payment experience and operational efficiency.
Federico Hernández
Business Development Director for Spain & Portugal at Alipay+
Federico Hernández is Business Development Director for Spain & Portugal at Alipay+, where he spearheads the solution with local retailers, acquirers and mobile payment partners to support Ant International’s European growth.
With extensive experience across Europe and Latin America, Federico has spent his career advancing the adoption of alternative payment methods (APMs), payment orchestration, and acquiring solutions. He has partnered with merchants, payment service providers (PSPs), and acquirers to integrate local payment ecosystems, scale wallet acceptance, and simplify global commerce.
His deep expertise in digital payments and international trade positions him as a trusted advisor in bridging regional payment preferences with global business needs.
Larissa de Araújo
Director, Governance Risk & Compliance & Sr. Managing Counsel at Oyster®
Seasoned Governance, Risk & Compliance executive director with international experience managing compliance programs, ethical behavior, AML/Sanctions and regulatory frameworks, international laws, corporate governance and new business implementation. Strategic advisor with extensive experience in end-to-end counselling in high-growth sectors. Proven organisational builder and team leader, skilled in building high-performance teams. On a mission to drive impact in governance, culture, and ethical decision-making worldwide. Helping businesses achieve long-term growth. Expertise in regulated and non-regulated industries: Tech, SaaS, AI, B2B & B2C, fintech, retail and groceries, consulting, manufacturing, holding VC.
Josep Elias
Founder at Payzim
Josep is a global fintech executive with over 25 years of experience in payroll and payments, and the founder of Payzim, a platform redefining global payment orchestration. He has spent his career solving one of the hardest challenges in business: managing complexity across countries, currencies, and systems—scaling operations in more than 100 countries through his leadership at ADP and CloudPay. Today, his focus goes beyond technology. It’s about building financial systems that are simpler, more transparent, and more human—bridging technology, liquidity, and compliance into one unified ecosystem. Because at the end of the day, payments are not just transactions—they impact people’s lives. And that’s what drives him: creating real impact through innovation, with a strong belief that the future of leadership is built on trust, courage, and how we choose to treat others every day.
Francesco Giovanni Ghizzardi
Vice President, Business Development at Thunes
Francesco Giovanni Ghizzardi, Vice President, Business Development, Europe
Francesco Giovanni Ghizzardi is an accomplished payments executive with over a decade of experience in driving business strategy and international expansion. As VP of Business Development for Europe at Thunes, he is responsible for scaling the company's presence and delivering innovative cross-border payment solutions to Thunes Members across the region.
Prior to Thunes, Francesco served as General Manager and Country Director at PingPong Payments, where he was responsible for spearheading business strategy and development in the UK. His leadership background also includes serving as Head of Payment Solutions at moneycorp, and holding senior roles at Ebury, Corpay (formerly Cambridge Global Payments), and Tramonex.
Corinna Scatena
Head of Legal & Governance at Getnet Europe by Santander
Corinna is a payments and fintech professional with extensive in-house and consultancy
experience, specialised in the legal, compliance, and risk management aspects of the industry.
She has a strong focus on regulatory go-to-market strategies combined with a solid operational
understanding of fintech products and processes related to digital banking, payments, open
banking, e-commerce, innovation, and strategic partnerships. She is dedicated to fostering
innovation within the sector.
Currently Head of Legal & Governance at Getnet Europe, a PagoNxt company by Banco
Santander, which provides cross-border payments and acquiring solutions across Europe, with
the strongest presence in Spain & Portugal. Her areas of expertise include regulatory
frameworks, actively participating in several industry working groups (Digital Euro, FIDA, PSD3,
etc.) and interactions with authorities and EU institutions.
With extensive experience in neobanking, Corinna previously worked at a European challenger
bank where she led the regulatory, compliance, and legal function. She was an integral part of
the team that built a banking app from scratch.
Corinna is a qualified member of the International Compliance Association and an international
speaker. Passionate about education and gender equality, she founded MissFintech in 2021, a
financial literacy program designed for teenagers. She also serves as a Lecturer in several
universities' Fintech & Regtech programs.
Erik Van Thielen
Managing Director Europe at Triple-A
Erik Van Thielen is Managing Director Europe at Triple-A, where he leads the company’s regional growth across its European operations, including Remittance-as-a-Service (RaaS) and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS). With over 20 years of experience in payments and telecoms, he brings deep expertise in cross-border payments, financial inclusion, and regulatory frameworks.
Erik spent over a decade helping build TransferTo Group (now Thunes and DTOne), contributing to its evolution into a global payments leader. As EVP Europe & Africa at DTOne, he focused on expanding financial inclusion through global micro-payments infrastructure.
He joined Triple-A in 2021, where he has played a key role in driving strategic partnerships and supporting the company’s expansion across Europe. With international experience across multiple continents, Erik brings a global perspective to scaling innovative financial services.
Alberto López González
VP Fraud and Financial Crime at Mastercard, Europa
Alberto López has been, since 2022, Vice President of Fraud and Financial Crime at Mastercard in Europe. Previously, he served as Director of Cybersecurity and Digital Solutions for Spain and Portugal. He joined Mastercard in 2015, where he led the Digital Payments and Innovation department for the same markets. Throughout his more than twenty years of experience in the telecommunications sector, he has worked on various mobile payment and digital payments solutions projects, both in e‑commerce and in‑person environments, as well as on Artificial Intelligence solutions applied to fraud detection.
Alberto López is also an adjunct professor in the undergraduate and postgraduate Cybersecurity programs taught by Universidad Europea de Madrid, and co-author of the book “Tecnología, Servicios y Negocios GPRS”, published by Telefónica Móviles España.
He holds a master’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid, is an official spokesperson for Mastercard, and is a frequent speaker at numerous national and international events and conferences.
Patricia de Cea
Chief Risk Officer at PAYCOMET
I'm Patricia, Chief Risk Officer at PAYCOMET, a leading payments company within the Banco
Sabadell Group that offers acquiring services and innovative payment solutions. I've spent the
last ten years working across fintech, consulting, and start-ups, mostly building scalable
systems from scratch in fast-moving environments.
Eduardo Rivero Muro
Senior Legal Counsel and Legal Manager at Lemfi
Eduardo is an International Legal Counsel with over a decade of experience across four
continents. He specializes in navigating the complex intersection of law, finance, and
technology. His career has been defined by the fintech and international money transfer sectors,
where he has managed the regulatory intricacies of everything from mobile wallets to global
payment rails.
He focuses on more than just advice; he “operationalizes” legal strategy by developing the
procedures, guardrails, and privacy protocols that allow innovation to scale safely. While he is
deeply immersed in global compliance, his core expertise lies in the transactional
arena—leading M&A and high-stakes contract negotiations that move the needle for the
business.
Having worked in diverse markets globally, he brings a “boots-on-the-ground” perspective on
how to bridge the gap between emerging tech and the rigors of international regulation.
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Eric Raduan
Deputy CEO at Powens Group
Eric Raduan is Deputy CEO at Powens Group, a leading European Open Finance and embedded payments platform. Eric's journey spans over 15 years, from process engineering and supply chain management to the C-suite of a regulated fintech giving him a rare, end-to-end perspective on how enduring companies are built and scaled. A seasoned executive with deep expertise in Open Finance and digital payments, Eric has led the expansion of payment services and electronic money solutions across European and Latin American markets. He is known for building high-performance teams and translating operational excellence into scalable business growth.
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Paul Boskma
Senior Director Engineering at Mitek Systems
Paul has over 20 years experience in SaaS, Cloud and Applied AI, he has deep expertise in digital identity, biometric authentication and payments. Paul works closely with a wide array of clients ranging from banks to automotive and retail, offering strategic guidance on all things identity verification, fraud detection and prevention.
Jose Marti
CEO at PayPaga
José Martí, CEO of PayPaga and a Barcelona-based entrepreneur, is focused on helping global merchants access Latin America and other complex emerging markets. With transparency at its forefront, PayPaga helps simplify cross-border collections and provide reliable local payment solutions in markets that are often difficult to reach through traditional providers. Through this approach, José has led commercial growth through strategic partnerships, market expansion, and practical payment infrastructure tailored to emerging markets.
Fabrice Deprez
CEO at Discai
As CEO of Discai, a KBC Group subsidiary, Fabrice Deprez is on a mission to help financial institutions fight financial crime more effectively and efficiently. He brings an expert vision on how to respond to increasingly complex FinCrime threats using AI-driven technology. He has a strong understanding of the challenges organisations face in a rapidly changing risk and regulatory environment.
With over 20 years of experience in consulting, systems integration, business development and general management, Fabrice has built broad knowledge of the financial sector. Before joining Discai, he served as General Manager at LACO, where he helped grow the company into a leading data player in Belgium.
Under his leadership, Discai is helping financial institutions build a more effective response to financial crime challenges such as AML, fraud and sanctions, grounded in banking expertise, trusted AI and real implementation experience.
David Henríquez
Senior Product Manager at Wave Mobile Money
With 12 years of experience in consulting and product management across LATAM and Southern Europe, David has led cross-functional teams to develop and scale a wide range of digital products. From e-learning platforms for small business owners to debit and credit cards, David has a strong focus on consumer financial products. During his time spearheading the payments domain at SeQura (leading BNPL provider), he led the approval and implementation of the company's Payment Facilitator scheme. He also worked with global PSPs like Checkout.com and Stripe to optimise payments performance for 5,000 merchants and over 2 million active users. David has recently joined Wave Mobile Money to lead online global payments for 20+ million users across West African markets.
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Susana Antunes
Head of Compliance and AML Officer at Marex
Compliance Officer with experience shaping governance frameworks that balance regulatory expectations with real business needs. As Head of Compliance & AML Officer at Marex SIM S.p.A. - Sucursal en España I focus on building controls that are robust, practical, and aligned with MiFID II, AMLD, and European regulatory standards — always with an eye on supporting growth and strategic decision‑making. I work closely with executives and operational teams to drive a proactive, risk‑aware culture where Compliance becomes an enabler, not a barrier. My approach blends technical expertise with a clear business perspective, ensuring that risk management, process optimisation, and ethical governance go hand in hand. Associate member of ASCOM - Asociación Española de Compliance and the WCA - World Compliance Association, committed to the highest professional standards and to advancing compliance models that integrate technology, intelligent risk analysis, and a strong ethical foundation—strengthening functions that add value, build trust, and enable organisations to navigate regulatory complexity with confidence.”
Emilio Llopis
Digital Payments Lead at G-Star
Emilio Llopis is a Digital Payments Lead at G-Star, where he is responsible for optimizing the global payment experience across multiple markets. He focuses on improving authorization rates, reducing fraud and chargebacks, and driving conversion through localized payment strategies.
Prior to G-Star, Emilio built his expertise in global payments operations at Flywire, managing international payment flows, reconciliation processes, and partner relationships. He has also been involved in entrepreneurial ventures, including Local Boosting (founder) and Dailos.ai, gaining hands-on experience in building and scaling digital products.
Emilio combines a strong operational mindset with a strategic view on payments, with a particular interest in performance optimization, fraud prevention, and emerging payment technologies.
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Carlos Figueredo
Global Head of Payments at SAP Fioneer
Marc Sabadi
Senior Sales Manager at Mitek Systems
Marc Sabadi serves as the Identity & Innovation Lead at Mitek in Spain, spearheading transformative strategies in identity solutions in the market. With a keen focus on safeguarding against fraud and enhancing user experiences.
Prior to Mitek, Marc honed his expertise at companies like Paack and Aureo, specializing in B2B sales and technology solutions.
Marc holds an MSc in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics. With a background spanning diverse sectors including technology, research, and international development, he brings a unique perspective to the forefront of identity innovation.
Russel Burke
Interim Chair at Owl Payments Europe Ltd
One of Ireland’s leading payments experts, since 2021 Russell has been supporting both applicant and regulated payments businesses where he has worked with 40% of the authorised firms in the sector.
He serves on the boards of a number of regulated payment businesses in Ireland including Associated Foreign Exchange Ireland, a member of the Corpay Group, and Owl Payments Europe Limited, a Tripadvisor company, where he is also interim chair. He also works with Yale Consulting as a Senior Board Advisor, fscom as a Senior Associate Consultant and as an Associate Faculty Lecturer at the PAT Business School.
Russell has 48 years of experience in banking and payments including seven years with the Central Bank of Ireland as its Senior Payments and Electronic Money Authorisation Specialist and 36 with Bank of Ireland including seven years at the Irish Payment Services Organisation. He represented Ireland on the European Payments Council’s Mobile Channel Working Group for six years and was a director of Mobey Forum for four years, two as deputy chair. Russell has been a guest speaker and panellist at numerous international and domestic industry events.
Manuel Juri Zamora
Senior Compliance Specialist at LaFinteca
Manuel Juri Zamora is a Fintech Lawyer and Senior Compliance Specialist with hands-on experience at the intersection of payments, crypto and financial regulation in Latin America and Spain. Based in Barcelona, supporting payment operations and merchant expansion across Latam. He has built compliance frameworks from the ground up — including AML policies, due diligence processes, and alignment with Central Bank and national payment system requirements. He has also helped strengthen risk management and develop new products for digital lending fintechs, ensuring safer, more compliant credit offerings in highly regulated markets. Manuel closely tracks the regulatory evolution of stablecoins and crypto assets in Latam, and how they are reshaping payment infrastructure. He holds a Law degree and a Master's in Business Internationalisation, combining legal expertise with a sharp business perspective on how regulation drives — or limits — fintech innovation.
Victor Ion
Founder and CEO at UmbrAxioM
Victor Ion is the Founder and CEO of UmbrAxioM, with over 15 years of experience across all three Lines of Defense in both large corporations and start-ups. Active online since the dial-up era, he has directly witnessed the evolution of digital fraud from its earliest forms. His background spans fraud prevention, compliance, and risk management, but is not limited to these areas. Victor focuses on pragmatic, loss-minimization strategies grounded in real operational exposure. He is driven by helping organizations build resilient, intelligence-led defenses against financial crime.
Viacheslav Boiko
Chief Product Officer at ID Finance
Fintech product leader with 12+ years of experience building and scaling lending, card, and installment products across international markets. Currently Chief Product Officer at ID Finance, where I lead product strategy, monetisation, and new product development.