The Fintech & Payments Power 50

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Aug 2026

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Interviews with members, influencers and partners within the Fintech sector

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August 6, 202638 min

Fintech Power 50 Podcast - Payments in Progress

Title: Payments in Progress Host: Dave Birch, an author and commentator on digital financial services and Payments Power 50 influencer Guest: Julian Farley , Sales Director UK and Europe, at BPC. Reinhard Hochrieser , SVP of Product & Technology at Jumio Corporation Core Topic: The discussion centres on "payments in progress" and aligns with the UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) horizon scan identifying three key strategic trends for the next three to five years: AI, fraud (specifically synthetic identity fraud), and tokenization/stablecoins. The Evolution and Industrialization of AI Fraud: While payments have utilized machine learning for a long time, the rapid mass-market availability of advanced AI tools has "industrialized" and automated fraud. Fraudsters now use AI agents to generate synthetic IDs, selfies, and fakes on mass, as well as discover new security loopholes throughout the entire user lifecycle. Defending Against AI Threats: To combat AI-driven financial crime, companies are looking at identity more holistically rather than relying on a one-time physical ID check. This involves continuously monitoring behavioural signals, sensor data, camera photos, and location data. Additionally, financial institutions must collaborate to share information about fraud indicators rather than treating fraud as a competitive issue. The Rise of Agentic Commerce: The panellists discuss a future where consumers and merchants will use AI agents to interact and transact. This introduces a significant need for new frameworks and protocols to establish authentication and trust between autonomous agents. Despite agent automation, regulatory compliance (such as checking sanctions and PEP lists) will still necessitate verifying that a real human is ultimately behind the agent. Digital Identity Wallets: The rollout of the European digital identity wallet standard serves as a critical path forward. These digital wallets will shift identity verification away from easily tampered physical documents and will facilitate the safe growth of large-scale agentic AI usage. The Future of Payments (5-Year Outlook): The panellists predict the sunset of the traditional "app era" in Favor of centralized super-applications or invisible AI agents managing actions directly. For consumers, payment methods (whether card, account-to-account open banking, or stablecoins) will become secondary to pure convenience, leading to frictionless experiences where retail transactions are automatically handled by AI in the background.

May 22, 202637 min

Fintech Power 50 webinar: Regtech at scale - control, cost and accountability

Moderator Ruth Wandhofer, Experienced Chair, Author, Speaker, Adviser, Visiting Professor at Bayes Business School Panellists Stephen Simmons, Co-founder and Chief Data Officer at Sikoia Simon Kingston, Head of Partner Sales, EMEA at Jumio Corporation Key takeaways Regtech is becoming part of how firms evidence control across automated processes. Identity verification is moving from one-off onboarding to ongoing risk monitoring. Data quality is essential for auditable decision-making. AI can support faster risk assessment, but firms still need governance and accountability. Vendors can provide tools and evidence, while regulated firms remain responsible for final decisions. Better collaboration between banks, fintechs, telcos, Big Tech and government could strengthen fraud prevention.

January 30, 202646 min

The Payments Power 50 Podcast - The Future of Open Banking: Trends and Challenges

Title: The Future of Open Banking: Trends and Challenges Host: David Parker , CEO at Polymath Consulting. Guest: Timo Seifert, Director Product Management at Unzer. Miroslav Pekárek, CPO at Aevi. George Parks Davie , VP of product at Brite Payments. Takeaways Open banking has reached a tipping point with increased user adoption. Consumer trust in merchants is essential for the success of open banking payments. Instant payments are revolutionizing the payment landscape. The enrolment process for open banking payments remains a significant challenge. Chargebacks and consumer protection are critical gaps in open banking. Biometric authentication could enhance security and user experience. Variable recurring payments present new opportunities for merchants and consumers. Standardization and consistency in payment practices are needed for growth. The future of payments is leaning towards account-to-account transactions. Operational challenges, such as API stability, hinder the growth of open banking. Time Stamps 00:00 Introduction to Open Banking and Its Evolution 03:56 Current Trends and Changes in Open Banking Payments 10:54 Challenges and Opportunities in Open Banking Payments 15:49 Use Cases and Merchant Perspectives on Open Banking 20:48 Consumer Experience and Drop-off Rates in Open Banking 25:23 The Evolution of Payment Methods 27:29 Challenges in Open Banking Payments 30:59 Consumer Trust and Payment Security 34:00 The Future of Payment Technologies 36:56 Operational Challenges in Open Banking 40:21 Looking Ahead: The Next 12-18 Months in Open Banking

December 15, 202537 min

The Payments Power 50 - Cross-Border Payments: Connecting Merchants to Global Customers

Title: Cross-Border Payments: Connecting Merchants to Global Customers Host: Mark Walker: Editorial Director at The Fintech Times Guest: Victor Padee: CRO at Aevi. Tom Voaden: VP of Commercial at BR-DGE. David Messenger: Global CEO for Ping Pong Payments Expanding into new international markets offers immense growth potential, but it comes with a web of complexities—from fragmented local payment schemes to heightened compliance risks. In this episode, Mark Walker sits down with experts from AVE, Bridge, and Ping Pong Payments to deconstruct the current landscape of cross-border payments The discussion covers the differing needs of B2B versus B2C merchants, highlighting how enterprise merchants use orchestration to optimize conversion rates and how B2B companies prioritize straight-through processing and compliance The panel also debates the impact of fraud on international transactions and offers predictions for the industry in 2026, including the rise of agentic commerce and a return to business fundamentals Main Topics Discussed: Defining Cross-Border Success: How merchants in travel, gaming, and retail aim to make global commerce feel like a local experience for customers The B2B vs. B2C Divide: While B2C focuses on conversion and user experience, B2B demands rigorous compliance, liquidity management, and certainty of settlement for high-value transactions Navigating Local Fragmentation: The importance of adapting to local schemes (like Gyrocard in Germany or eftpos in Australia) rather than relying solely on international rails Payment Orchestration: Utilizing data to route transactions for higher authorization rates and lower costs across different regions Risk and Fraud: Strategies for managing higher fraud rates in cross-border trade, including the shift from random attacks to structured exploitation of local rules Future Trends (2026): Predictions on the impact of AI, agentic commerce, stablecoins, and the consolidation of fintechs

November 20, 202531 min

The Payments Power 50 - AI in Payments Podcast

Title: AI in Payments, Why Consumer AI Will Rewrite the Rules Guests: Neira Jones, David Birch In this episode of the Payments Power 50 podcast, Neira Jones speaks with digital finance expert David Birch about the real shift AI is creating within payments. Rather than incremental improvements in fraud detection or customer service, the major transformation will come when consumers deploy their own AI agents to manage spending, saving and everyday transactions. Topics covered include: • Why AI adoption by consumers, not institutions, will be the true disruption • How AI agents could negotiate payments with retailer bots • The impact on loyalty, interchange, card choice and settlement routes • Ethical concerns including bias, explainability and autonomy • Why bots will need their own digital identities • The future role of wallets and digital asset managers • How blockchain based market infrastructure fits into the next generation of payments A forward looking discussion on what happens when AI becomes the primary participant in payments rather than the tool behind the scenes.

December 16, 202441 min

Episode 24: CEO Focus 2024

Another year has come to an end, and another year of incredible fintech innovation. At a time of reflection and anticipation, with our panellists we take a look at the developments and trends that have graced the industry over the past 12 months, as well as what to expect in 2025.

July 29, 202436 min

Episode 23: Fintech For Good 2024

Is fintech really good? There's certainly a lot of effort by many players in the industry to make a difference in society. Whether it's offsetting carbon or providing services for the underbanked, this Podcast will explore what "doing good" actually means, and understand how fintech is making a difference. Our panellists will examine why the fintech industry is in the perfect position to "do good", and determine once and for all whether "fintech for good" is the latest industry fad or whether it's here to stay.

May 27, 202439 min

Episode 22: Digital Assets 2024

Digital assets are a constant trending topic within fintech. With the rise, and somewhat fall of cryptocurrency with popularity at an all time high but consumer trust wavering, as well as the rise of blockchain technologies and even CBDC’s making an appearance. With digital assets on the rise, this Podcast will take a look at the current digital asset landscape and how the industry has evolved over time.

April 22, 202440 min

Episode 21: Embedded Finance

Embedded finance has been a consistent trend within the fintech scene for the past few years. With the potential impact on the industry being huge, in this Podcast we take a look at the current embedded finance landscape and the opportunities it can bring.

February 19, 202437 min

Episode 20: Paytech 2024

Payments are an everyday facet of peoples lives, whether you are a regular consumer, a business or beyond. The industry is constantly working to innovate and create new and better ways to pay. In this Podcast, we take a look at the disruption of the traditional payments ecosystem and the opportunities fintech's have taken to revolutionise the way people pay. With the help of our panellists, we will breakdown the factors shaping the payments industry, and discover what's next for an industry that's already innovating to the max.