Leaders In Payments

Hosted by Greg Myers

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Episodes

517

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Hear directly from C-level executives in payments/fintech about industry trends, successful strategies, products, services, and what the future holds for the payments/fintech industry. We cover the entire industry from merchant acquiring, payment processing, ISOs, payfacs, fraud, security, issuing, b2b, fintech, to start-ups, if it goes on in payments we will be talking about it.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 21, 2026Episode 51827 min

Modern Payments Infrastructure For Banks with Vijay Oddiraju, CEO & Co-Founder of Volante | Episode 518

Legacy payments platforms do not usually fail with a dramatic outage. They fail by slowing every change request, inflating every integration, and turning “simple” upgrades like ISO 20022 into a stress test. Greg Myers sits down with Vijay Oddiraju, CEO and Co-founder of Volante Technologies, to talk about what banks are learning as real-time payments expand and modernization becomes unavoidable. We dig into how Volante started with a focus on automating financial data exchange, then found its center of gravity in payments. Vijay shares the moment that accelerated their payments journey: helping enable a record-setting real-time payments milestone in the US. From there, we unpack the biggest customer challenges today, including legacy constraints, time-to-market pressure, performance demands, and the need for resilience as regulations and rails keep changing. Vijay also lays out where he sees the growth opportunities next: ACH replacement projects, multi-rail payment platforms that can orchestrate across RTP, ACH, wires, and emerging options like stablecoin, plus cloud-native architecture that supports modular microservices and even multi-cloud disaster recovery. We close with a practical lens on AI in payments, especially for exception handling and operations, and the decision criteria that matter when choosing a payments vendor you can trust for the long haul.

August 19, 2026Episode 51723 min

Payments Performance That Moves Revenue with Klas Bäck, CEO & Co-Founder of Pagos | Episode 517

Payments can be your second or third biggest cost line and one of your biggest levers for growth, yet most companies still treat payment performance like an afterthought until revenue dips. Greg Myers sits down with Klas Back,, CEO and Co-founder of Pagos, to unpack why enterprises keep “leaving money on the table” through avoidable declines, misconfigured vendors, outdated card network programs, and fragmented reporting that hides what is really happening. We get practical about what payment optimization looks like when you operate globally: approval rates, authentication friction, dispute and chargeback signals, and the compounding impact of a bad first purchase experience. Klas explains why the hard part is often not strategy, it’s payment data. When information lives in silos across PSPs, acquirers, orchestration, fraud tools, and 3D Secure providers, teams spend weeks normalizing spreadsheets before they can even diagnose a problem. Pagos approaches this as a payments data platform, focused on aggregation, normalization, monitoring, and surfacing opportunities teams can act on. From there, we dig into how AI changes payment operations. Klas shares how automation can shrink the manual workload, improve detection, and apply a huge knowledge base from card networks like Visa and Mastercard to real merchant data. We also explore emerging forces like agentic fraud and agentic commerce, plus why benchmarking and “time to detection” should be core KPIs for modern payments teams. If you care about enterprise payments, payment analytics, and building a smarter payments stack with fewer resources, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a payments leader, and leave a review so more teams can find it.

August 17, 2026Episode 51618 min

Embedded Finance Special Series: How vSaaS Turn Payments into Growth with Marni Mullikin, Maverick | Episode 516

Embedded finance is booming, but most platforms miss the point: customers do not want more financial products, they want fewer steps. We sit down with Marni Mullikin, Director of Platform Growth at Maverick Payments, to unpack how vertical SaaS companies can embed payments in a way that actually improves workflow, increases engagement, and creates durable revenue. We dig into why embedded payments is usually the smartest first move, from faster revenue collection and better cash flow to the long-term upside of deeper platform usage and better data. Marni walks through the strategy questions teams should answer before they ever pick a provider, including what success looks like, which ownership model fits, and how to align leadership, product, sales, and customer success so launch does not stall. We also get specific about what software companies should own (the customer relationship, brand, and product experience) versus what a payments partner should take on (underwriting, compliance, risk management, and regulatory complexity). That conversation matters even more when supporting higher risk merchants like CBD or hemp, smoke shops, firearms, gaming, and certain government payment flows with large ticket sizes. We close with the practical reality that go live is only step one, and adoption is where the real value shows up, driven by simple onboarding and messaging that sells outcomes, not features. If you’re building embedded payments, embedded finance, or a payments-led growth strategy for vertical SaaS, subscribe, share this with a builder on your team, and leave a review so more operators can find the show.

August 12, 2026Episode 51530 min

Instant Bank-to-Bank Payments with Arpit Goel, CEO of Root | Episode 515

Waiting three to five days for funds isn’t just annoying, it quietly reshapes entire business models. I sit down with Arpit Goel, CEO of Root, to unpack why money movement in the United States still depends on slow, multi-hop workflows and how that slowness creates “float” across payroll, staffing, marketplaces, insurance, and the creator economy. When settlement is delayed, someone benefits, and Arpit makes a sharp case that incentives are the real blocker, not the lack of technology. We dig into what Root is building in the instant payments space: a non-custodial, bank-to-bank infrastructure layer that aims to deliver true real-time payments where funds settle in seconds and can be used immediately. Arpit explains the “Zelle for businesses” idea, why it matters for enterprise disbursements, and how programmatic treasury APIs can help companies ship faster without spending a year integrating directly with a bank. We also talk about the current US real-time rails, including FedNow and RTP, and why adoption is accelerating as standards and competition push the ecosystem forward. Then we zoom out to the trends payments leaders can’t ignore: agentic payments, fraud and liability, strong customer authentication, and the stablecoin-to-bank convergence as regulation catches up. Arpit’s final message is direct: compliance is a follower, and security needs to be years ahead as AI-driven attacks scale faster than humans ever could. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a payments leader, and leave a review so more builders can find it.

August 10, 2026Episode 51419 min

Embedded Finance Special Series: Embedded Payments That Work with Conn Byrne, Payroc | Episode 514

This episode is part of our Embedded Finance Podcast Series, exploring the strategies, opportunities and challenges shaping the future of embedded finance. The series is leading up to Embedify ’26, the Embedded Finance Summit for vertical SaaS leaders, taking place October 13 in Lehi, Utah. To learn more visit embedify2026.com . In this episode I sat down with Conn Byrne, Executive Director of Integrated Payments at Payroc, to get practical about what embedded payments and embedded finance really mean for vertical SaaS leaders who want to scale without burning engineering time. We dig into Conn’s three-part framework for making embedded finance work in the real world: the cardholder and merchant experience (where retention is won or lost), the developer experience (how fast your team can integrate and customize), and the partnership experience (what happens after launch when something breaks, priorities shift, or you need roadmap clarity). Along the way, we talk about what’s driving demand right now, from private equity expectations to the explosion of AI-built software platforms that can enter a vertical overnight. We also map the natural product path after embedded payments: lending built on payment data, banking capabilities that improve funding speed and reduce fees, and add-ons like payroll that can turn your platform into a true operating system for your customers. If you’re evaluating an integrated payments partner, planning a migration, or trying to decide how far to go beyond payments, this conversation gives you a grounded checklist and a longer-term view. And a special thanks to Payroc for being a supporting sponsor at the summit this year.

August 5, 2026Episode 51322 min

Building the Trust Layer for Payments with Noam Izhaki, CEO of Ballerine | Episode 513

Merchant onboarding is where growth goes to die, and where fraud quietly sneaks in. We sit down with Noam Izhaki, Co-founder and CEO of Ballerine , to unpack why the payments stack can feel real-time and automated while KYC, KYB, underwriting, and compliance still depend on slow investigations, scattered systems, and ever-growing analyst teams. We walk through Noam’s journey from building early online platforms in Tel Aviv to learning hard lessons in remittances and then at Wix, where the same merchant risk challenges showed up at scale. That experience led to Ballerine: a platform designed to help merchant acquirers, PSPs, marketplaces, card ecosystem players, and banks bring their policies and data into one place and use AI agents to automate decisions across the seller lifecycle, from onboarding through ongoing monitoring. We also dig into how this differs from traditional fraud and compliance point solutions that provide signals but still leave the hardest part, judgment, to humans. Then we zoom out to the future of payments: agentic commerce, agents buying from other agents, and a world where creating “a business” is cheap, fast, and sometimes fake. Noam shares what he’s seeing around fraud industrialization, including transaction laundering as a service, and why the biggest advantage may be becoming a true trust layer for the internet with real-time, global risk decisions. If you’re building for scale, ask yourself whether your plan requires hiring your way out of risk. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a payments leader who’s feeling the pressure, and leave a review with your biggest question about AI in merchant risk.

July 31, 2026Episode 51220 min

Women Leaders in Payments: The Future is Human with Marielle Mekkaoui, Payabli | Episode 512

Payments is getting smarter, faster, and more automated and that makes one question feel urgent: where does trust come from when the tech starts acting on our behalf? We sit down with Marielle Mekkaoui, Head of Marketing at Payabli, to talk about why the future of payments is still human, even in an AI-first era. We get into what embedded payments should actually look like inside vertical SaaS platforms, and why “embedded” cannot be a checkbox feature. Marielle breaks down Payabli’s view of the full money lifecycle with pay in, payout, and pay ops, and why solving only for payment acceptance leaves platforms stuck with operational mess. We also talk about go-to-market realities in B2B fintech marketing, the return of in-person events, and how education keeps customers confident as products become more complex. Then we zoom out to AI in payments and what’s next, including agentic commerce and the difference between bolting on AI versus building intelligence into the foundation. Marielle shares a grounded framework for due diligence: ask how AI is trained, demand transparency, and keep a human in the loop for the moments that matter most, like disputes, fraud, and support. If you care about embedded finance, intelligent payments, and leadership that doesn’t lose the human story, you’ll find it here.

July 29, 2026Episode 51121 min

Women Leaders in Payments: The Future is Human with Jaime Hawkins, Ingenico | Episode 511

Checkout is getting faster, smarter, and more invisible, but the stakes feel more human than ever. We talk with Jaime Hawkins, Managing Director, North America at Ingenico, about what it takes to build technology that quietly works in the background while people stay front and center. From her roots in industrial engineering to years of client-facing operations, Jaime explains how process thinking and data analytics shaped her into a different kind of commercial leader and why one mentor’s blunt advice changed the direction of her career. We also dig into what is actually powering modern commerce: not only sleek payment terminals, but platforms and open API integrations that help partners reduce complexity and build tailored point of sale experiences. Jaime shares why payments are “no longer just about taking a payment” and how merchants can turn everyday interactions into actionable intelligence, from understanding customer behavior to improving store performance and delivering personalization like loyalty snapshots and targeted offers. Trust is the thread running through everything. As embedded payments, digital wallets, automation, and even digital assets evolve, Jaime argues that innovation must move hand in hand with security and confidence or commerce starts to crack. Looking forward, we explore the shift from physical hardware to digital interactions driven by biometrics, AI, IoT, and conversational commerce, and what merchants risk losing as the checkout moment gets thinner and thinner.

July 27, 2026Episode 51017 min

Women Leaders in Payments: The Future is Human with Ann Berkmeier, Dash Solutions | Episode 510

Payments are getting smoother on the surface, but the real story is what happens underneath when something changes, breaks, or needs to scale fast. That’s why our conversation with Ann Berkmeier, Chief Administrative Officer at Dash Solutions, centers on a simple idea with big consequences: companies don’t scale by accident, they scale by design. From her early work in large-scale banking migrations to leading global transformation programs and now operating at the intersection of people, AI enablement, and strategy, Ann shares how to bring clarity to complexity without losing momentum. We talk about what “the future is human” looks like in the payments industry as automation accelerates. Faster and more seamless transactions are great, but experience is what leaders must keep front and center: simple, secure, reliable, and valuable for everyone involved. Ann also breaks down the trust equation in fintech and payments technology, including why the 1% of moments when payments do not go as planned is where accountability, communication, and ownership become the real differentiators. AI is the turning point, but not in the usual “do more tasks faster” way. Ann makes the case that the biggest impact of AI in payments is the opportunity to step back and redesign the company around what’s now possible. We get practical about implementation too, including building AI as a team capability, rolling out tools thoughtfully, and prioritizing initiatives where they create better client, partner, and employee experiences. We also cover mentorship, leadership principles, and direct advice for the next generation of women entering payments and fintech.

July 24, 2026Episode 50925 min

Women Leaders in Payments: The Future is Human with Garima Chaudhary, Thetaray | Episode 509

AI is racing into payments, but the uncomfortable truth is that speed without trust turns into risk fast. We sit down with Garima Chaudhary, VP of Financial Crime and Compliance AI at ThetaRay, to unpack what it really takes to modernize AML and sanctions compliance while keeping humans accountable for outcomes. Garima shares her career journey from engineering and operational risk into the high-stakes world of financial crime, where “follow the money” reveals both how economies grow and how criminal networks adapt. We get specific about why legacy rules-based transaction monitoring creates overwhelming false positives, and how behavioral AI can spot anomalies across customer segments and peer groups, improving detection without punishing legitimate people and small businesses with blunt, one-size-fits-all rules. Along the way, we talk about the human cost of financial crime and why compliance decisions can either protect vulnerable communities or unintentionally lock them out of the financial system. The theme “the future is human” shows up everywhere: explainable AI, human-in-the-loop review, and the governance and documentation needed to defend decisions to auditors and regulators. Garima also looks ahead to agentic payments, where AI agents buy and move money on our behalf, forcing a rethink of identity, delegated authority, and what “normal behavior” even means in fraud and AML models. If you care about fintech, payments innovation, and building compliant products that scale, this conversation will sharpen your thinking.