Judging Panel
We are delighted to welcome a stellar panel of judges from across the spectrum of the Open Banking eco-system. The events team at Open Banking Expo will ensure that there are no conflicts of interest during the judging process, and all judges will sign an NDA to ensure no information is shared outside of the judging process.
Adam Betteridge
Adam Betteridge
Fintech, Partnerships & Open Banking Lead TSB BankAdam Betteridge is an innovation leader at TSB Bank, where he leads the Fintech Labs & Open Banking initiatives. He has successfully launched the award-winning TSB Labs Fintech Innovation Lab Programme, reaching 5 million customers with innovative propositions and is responsible for Open Banking strategy at TSB.
Adam Hubbard
Adam Hubbard
Senior Manager Payments Strategy & Industry Nationwide Building Society
Agnieszka Scott
Agnieszka Scott
Head of Smart Data Department for Business & TradeAgnieszka Scott leads Strategy, Industry Engagement and Digital Innovation activities for the UK Government’s Smart Data team. She brings together industry representatives, government departments and regulators to develop innovative solutions, shaping the future in which data delivers benefits for individuals, businesses, and wider society. With over two decades of expertise in policy, regulation and compliance, Agnieszka has successfully implemented transformative changes across multiple sectors. She is passionate about turning bold ideas into practical solutions that power innovation and create a more inclusive digital economy.
Alexandra Bloomfield
Alexandra Bloomfield
Assistant Commercial Director, Financial Services HM Revenue & CustomsA South African in North Yorkshire! I’ve worked in various roles across Orange/EE/BT over the last 10 years, with my most recent appointment being the Payments Strategy Lead for the Group. As well as being the outward facing industry person, I’m also the business owner for our internal PSP, so a significant proportion of my role is to balance the needs of our customers against cost to serve, and ensure an exceptional digital experience whilst balancing the need for efficiency and compliance. I’m a passionate advocate for Open Banking, across all forms, and it’s my ambition to embed it in every part of our ecosystem across our brands.
Ana Climente
Ana Climente
Head of Open Banking Spain BBVAAna Climente is Head of Open Banking at BBVA Spain in charge of connecting with new ecosystems to promote partnerships with 3rd parties and developing new ways of distributing financial services through APIs. Before, she was Head of Digital transformation for enterprise clients at BBVA Spain leading the creation of solutions leveraged on data for enterprise clients to help them make better financial decisions.
Previously, Ana was Vice President of payments and collections in the transition to SEPA and was in charge of developing cash management solutions at BBVA. And has also represented BBVA and the Spanish financial sector in different EBA and EPC working groups.
Ana joined BBVA in 2005. Before that, she worked as strategy consultant at Accenture, specialized in B2B solutions for Europe, Middle East and Africa. She also started up Adquira, a leading Spanish procurement company.
Ana graduated in International Business Administration with a double degree in Spain and Germany in 1998.
Archi Shrimpton
Archi Shrimpton
Senior Manager, Open Banking & Open Finance Lloyds Banking GroupArchi has 15 years’ experience in financial services, having worked in a variety of strategy, outsourcing, transformation and change roles. Today he leads industry engagement on Open Banking and Open Finance for Lloyds Banking Group.
Aswin Peter
Aswin Peter
Senior Product Lead, CX & Open Banking Payments Strategy British Gas
Chris Miller
Chris Miller
Open Banking & New Industry Developments Tesco Bank15+ years Financial Services experience defining commercial strategy and delivering Open Banking propositions to market. Experienced in solving complex payments problems to unlock value for customers whilst driving cost saving benefits and generating growth across organisation. Current focus on defining and driving Tesco Bank Open Banking strategy for future growth across Payments and Data Sharing capabilities, as well as management of Pay by Bank to provide customers a viable alternative to debit card payments.
Clare Ambrosino
Clare Ambrosino
Co-Founder Smart Data GroupClare Ambrosino is the Co-Founder of Smart Data Group, bringing over 13 years of experience in stakeholder engagement, public affairs and strategic communications with a focus on data, financial services, and technology policy.
A passionate advocate for innovation and consumer empowerment, Clare has held influential roles across both the public and private sectors – including at Open Banking Limited, the City of London Corporation, the European Parliament, and leading UK public affairs consultancies. Her work has consistently focused on driving forward transformation, generating momentum and shaping policy in highly regulated sectors.
Recognised as a rising star in Fintech, Clare was named in Innovate Finance’s Women in FinTech Powerlist. She is committed to ensuring that smart data initiatives deliver real impact – boosting competition, driving innovation, and improving lives across the UK.
Colin Payne
Colin Payne
Head of Innovation FCA
Conrad Ford
Conrad Ford
Chief Product & Strategy Officer Allica BankConrad Ford is Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Allica Bank (www.allica.bank), named by The Sunday Times as the UK’s fastest-growing company, and by Deloitte as the UK’s fastest-growing fintech firm ever. Backed by TCV – investors in the likes of Netflix, Revolut & Spotify – Allica is reimagining banking for established SMEs with the latest technology. Previously Conrad was sole founder of Funding Options – a fintech listed in the 2022 FT1000 ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing firms – that latterly sold to leading neobank Tide.
David Cox
David Cox
Payments Strategy Lead Virgin Media O240 years payment industry experience having worked for a major UK bank, a large clothing retailer and now Virgin Media O2. I currently support multiple payment methods across a myriad of channels for both consumer and business customers and can honestly say payments have never been so exciting!
David Parker
David Parker
Director Polymath ConsultingDavid is the founder and CEO of Polymath Consulting who work on projects and advise organisations across the Cards & Payments industry since 2005
Having launched Polymath Consulting three months before the first open loop prepaid card in the UK Polymath has been involved with Fintech and Digital Banks since their conception
He is an active mentor, NED and advisor to boards including Chairing: Payoma (Irish Acquirer) and KYP (enterprise risk management), NED on: Hands In and advisor to Swiipr, WAC, along with others. Previously he was involved with companies including Curve and 3S Money.
In consultancy he has worked across the complete value chain helping banks with their overall E-Money/Prepaid and Emerging Payments strategy right through to market entry analysis; as well as working with telcos, processors and programme managers on segment analysis, certification and membership applications.
He is an active contributor to forums on linkedin and a regular media commentator on the future of e-money/emerging payments
Dr Ruth Wandhöfer
Dr Ruth Wandhöfer
Global Fintech 50 InfluencerDr. Ruth Wandhöfer has been instrumental in shaping the future of finance and money during her impressive career over more than 23 years. She operates at the nexus of technology, identity, finance, regulation and cyber security and advises and speaks to international audiences on the evolution of the digital economy.
As a sought-after keynote speaker, author and recognized global authority on banking, technology and regulation she is a very influential female leader in the Fintech space, promoting the understanding, development and deployment of new business models and technologies for our digital future across payments, financial markets and processes.
After a distinguished career of over 11 years with Citi, Ruth has also advised the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the White House, the Singapore MAS, the EBRD and the OECD.
She is a Visiting Professor at CASS Business School (now Bayes), where she gained her PhD, teaching Fintech in Banking and Finance and Digital Money as well as providing Executive Training on topics such as Financial Market Infrastructures, Payments and the Future of Value in a World of Technological Change. She is also a Visiting Professor at the London Institute of Banking and Finance and an occasional lecturer at Queen Mary London School of Law.
Since 2018 Ruth is also an independent Non-Executive Director on various boards ranging from regulated banks and stock exchanges to Fintechs in addition to being an active Angel and VC investor for years.
In the past she has been the Chair of the Statutory Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) Panel in the UK and board member of the London Stock Exchange Group, Gresham Technologies and Digital Identity Net.
Furthermore, she advises the City of London Corporation, the British Standards Institution and the European Third Party Provider Association (ETPPA).
Ruth was named as one of 2010s ‘Rising Stars’ by Financial News; named in Management Today’s 2011 ‘35 Women under 35’ list of women to watch and identified as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance 2012 by the Treasury Risk Magazine. She received the ‘Women in Banking and Finance Award for Achievement’ in 2015 and in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 she was named on the global ‘Women in Fintech Powerlist’ of Innovate Finance (Senior Leader in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).
So far, she published three books: “EU Payments Integration” (2010), “Transaction Banking and the Impact of Regulatory Change” (2014) and “Redecentralisation: Building the Digital Financial Ecosystem” (2023).
She balances this extraordinary career while raising her two children and championing for a better work life balance for single parents and more support for women entrepreneurs. She is also in the process of writing a novel dealing with the implication of Quantum AI.
Ellie Hewitt
Ellie Hewitt
Director, Payments Consulting KPMGEllie is a Director in KPMG’s Payments Consulting practice, leading payments strategy, commercialisation and product; as well as KPMG’s Open Banking and Open Finance teams. She has extensive experience in the payments industry, recently leading product strategy for open banking and real time payments for Visa. Ellie has extensive experience in product innovation, use case design, M&A activity, and running large transformation programmes. Ellie’s experience extends across Europe and Australia, working across the industry with large banks, payment schemes, payment infrastructure operators, fintechs and regulators.
Eyal Sivan
Eyal Sivan
Mr Open BankingEyal Sivan, also known as Mr. Open Banking, is one of the foremost global experts in the open banking space.
In his efforts to drive advancements in open banking worldwide, Eyal created the unique personal brand Mr. Open Banking. Under this persona, he hosts the only podcast dedicated to the open banking community, interviewing the key leaders, innovators and influencers who are driving the emergence of open banking around the globe. Since its launch in 2020, the podcast has grown to over 60 thousand subscribers, with Eyal being recognized by Open Future World as the number one Open Finance Influencer in the world for 2022.
Today, Eyal is the General Manager for North America at Ozone API, global pioneers of open banking who’s platform powers some of the largest and most advanced data sharing ecosystems on the planet. In his role, he is responsible for expanding the firm’s global position as a leading open banking solution provider to the United States, Canada and beyond.
Faith Reynolds
Faith Reynolds
Director, Devon Fields Consulting Devon Fields ConsultingFaith is an independent consumer finance expert. She is a member of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Services Consumer Panel where she chairs the EU Working Group and is the lead for technology and innovation. She acts as the Customer Representative on the Open Banking Implementation Entity Steering Group and authored the widely-read report, ‘Open Banking: A Consumer Perspective’. She recently joined the Current Account Switch Service as an independent non-executive director. Faith is also a member of the RegTech Council.
Previously, Faith was a member of the Payments Strategy Forum, ESMA’s Financial Innovation Standing Committee Consultative Working Group, as well as CILEX’s Strategic Risk Committee. Between 2010-2012 Faith pursued the Clore Social Leadership Programme, undertaking research into Big Society while based at the Institute for Government and more recently helped the Institute look at how it creates impact.
Huw Davies
Huw Davies
Co-Founder & Co-Chief Executive Officer Ozone APIHuw is a globally recognised pioneer in open banking and open finance. He led the development of the UK open banking ecosystem during his time as a key member of the leadership team within the Open Banking Implementation Entity and has continued to drive open finance globally as the CEO of Ozone API.
A seasoned executive with almost 30 years in the banking industry. He is the former Global Head of Payments at HSBC where he led multi billion dollar global revenue businesses. He has also previously led Digital Payments at MasterCard, overseeing the launch of initiatives such as contactless payments in the London transit system and Apple Pay across the UK.
He has a proven track record of building high growth businesses, both within major corporations and startups.
Huw and the team at Ozone API believe Open Finance will change the world and are on a mission to provide the technology and expertise to banks and central banks to unleash that huge potential.
Jamie Kruspel
Jamie Kruspel
Chief Transformation Officer Mainstreet Credit UnionLeading Digital Transformation and Operations for Mainstreet Credit Union, Jamie finds every opportunity to help people achieve more than they thought possible and use technology to make things easier for members (and customers).
Jamie is passionate about strong communities. He volunteers with the United Way, Animal Rescue Foundation, Verge Social Capital, and the London Chamber of Commerce.
In 2016, Business London Magazine recognized him as a “Top 20 Under 40” recipient.
Jamie holds an engineering degree from Western University and completed his Master’s in Business Administration at Ivey in 2021.
He lives in London, Ontario, with his wife, Jen, his five-year-old daughter Eva, their menagerie of pets, and a drum set.
Janine Hirt
Janine Hirt
Chief Executive Officer Innovate FinanceJanine Hirt is the CEO of Innovate Finance (IF), the industry body representing the world-leading UK FinTech sector. Having joined the initial IF leadership team in 2015 first as Head of Community then Ecosystem Director, she moved into the COO role in 2017 before stepping up to lead the organisation in 2021. Janine is passionate about driving transformation to create a more democratic, transparent and inclusive financial services sector for all. Her professional career has been marked by roles that sit at the intersection of policy, international relations, and industry, including senior positions at Chatham House, (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) and the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. Janine has been selected as one of the top 50 most influential women in UK tech by Computer Weekly for the last three years running and has been included in the Women in Trade Association Powerlist for the past two years. Janine is a regular speaker at international conferences and has been featured in broadcast media and print publications including Sky News, BBC World News, ITN Business, CityAM, Forbes, and the Financial Times.
Janine received her BA Magna Cum Laude from Boston College, JYA at Oxford University, and her MSc from the London School of Economics. Janine is an American, British, Swiss and German national who calls London and NYC home.
Joris Hensen
Joris Hensen
Founder & Co-Lead, Deutsche Bank API Program Deutsche BankJoris Hensen is responsible for the client facing business of the Deutsche Bank API Program, which he co-founded in 2015. With more than 50 partnerships and a company-wide coverage of data-based products, Deutsche Bank is now one of the world’s leading open banking players. The Developer Portal of Deutsche Bank gives partners quick and easy access to more than 40 API products, enabling them to connect personalized apps and services and thus open up new areas of value creation.
Joris’ work includes brand and partnership development in the area of open banking as well as the expansion of internal processes and structures to accelerate the bank’s digital transformation.
In his more than ten years at Deutsche Bank, Joris Hensen has worked as a project manager on various international projects. He became enthusiastic about innovations and trends early on and set up a corporate foresight program in which he developed future scenarios and innovation strategies for Deutsche Bank. He now regularly writes and publishes on the topics of foresight, innovation, and APIs.
In his spare time, Joris is committed to supporting entrepreneurial school and financial education as well as social entrepreneurship for more than 400,000 young students in India (www.karmaheld.de).
Lana Abdullayeva
Lana Abdullayeva
Chair, iNED & AdvisorChair, iNED and Senior Advisor, with wealth of global experience in finance & banking, data & tech, as well as governance, Lana helps businesses to scale and sustain growth. She works with digital businesses, driving an evolutionary shift with positive impact to economies and society. Currently Chair of the Board @Serene, iNED @Fyorin.
Scientist by education, strategist by experience and visionary by heart, Lana brings a distinctive mix of industry knowledge and technical expertise from decades of exec and non-exec experience, working with some of the world’s most influential institutions across established and fast-growing economies.
An independent speaker and author, who occasionally speaks to the professional forums about technology evolution, how it is transforming industry sectors, changing consumer behaviour, influencing society and humanity. In her thought-provoking publications, she analysed current and historical trends, their impact on future market developments, as well as their systemic implications.
Laurent Grandin de Raimbouville
Laurent Grandin de Raimbouville
Principal Payment & Subscriptions Lead Vodafone GroupLaurent Grandin de Raimbouville leads the Vodafone Group Global Payments and Charging Team, driving strategic payment and monetisation initiatives across European markets. He specialises in scaling payment platforms, optimising customer checkout experiences, and developing partnerships with global payment and digital ecosystem providers, while operating in highly regulated environments.
Laurent has an extensive 20+ years of experience in payments, digital charging, and financial services, working at the intersection of telecommunications, technology, and regulation. He plays a key role in vendor management and commercial strategy with partners such as Netflix, Spotify, Warner Bros, Epic Games, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and payment providers, while also supporting regulatory compliance and audit readiness across multiple markets.
Throughout his career at Vodafone, Laurent has contributed to the evolution of large-scale payment architectures, the launch of new payment products, and the development of long-term monetisation roadmaps, with a strong focus on customer experience, performance optimisation, and compliance in highly regulated environments.
Louisa Murray
Louisa Murray
Chief Sales Officer RailsrLouisa Murray, a trailblazer in financial services, began her career in the early 90s as one of the first female derivatives traders in the City. Lou was a founding member of the UK Swaps Desk at CIBC Wood Gundy, trading Deutsche Marks and subsequently Euro Swap books. Louisa held various directorships but she now serves as the Chief Sales Officer at Railsr, becoming one of the first employees at the innovative embedded finance company. Through rapid expansion, Lou continues her commitment to nurturing and supporting the Railsr team.
Melanie Lazarus
Melanie Lazarus
Ecosystem Engagement Director Open Banking LimitedMel joined OBL in April 2025 to oversee the evolution of a comprehensive engagement strategy with the open banking ecosystem of banks, fintechs, trade bodies and media. She is responsible for stakeholder relationship management, brand development, thought leadership, digital engagement and customer insights. She will also play a pivotal role in supporting OBL’s transition into the next phase of open finance. Prior to joining OBL, Mel spent 20+ years in marketing leadership in the financial services and consumer tech industries – including Barclays, Sky, O2 and Samsung.
Nilixa Devlukia
Nilixa Devlukia
Chair Open Finance AssociationNilixa is the chair of the Open Finance Association, an industry body representing the demand side of open banking and open finance.
Nilixa is also the founder of Payments Solved a consultancy advising on the regulatory framework open banking and open finance. Digital assets, CBDC and payment services both in the UK and globally. Nilixa is an experienced regulatory expert and lawyer with a Masters in European Competition Law and over 20 years of banking and payments experience gained from her time at Barclays, the FCA, the European Banking Authority and as Head of Regulatory at the Open Banking Implementation Entity. Nilixa has worked extensively with the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the World Bank and regulators across the globe. Nilixa has represented the UK and FCA on various EU and UK level committees including the ECB SecurePay Forum, the EU API Evaluation Group, the UK Payment Strategy Forum, the ECB Market Advisory Group for a Digital Euro and currently sits on the EU Payments Systems Experts Group and Data Expert Group. Nilixa is a well know public speaker and works with industry, regulators and legislators to drive changes in the financial services ecosystem for services that are secure, transparent and inclusive.
Phillip Mind
Phillip Mind
Director for Digital Technology & Innovation UK FinancePhillip is Director for Digital Technology and Innovation at UK Finance.
He has a particular focus on how legislative and regulatory policy impacts digital transformation in finance and banking. He works across the digital transformation landscape on digital identity, AI, new digital money, tokenisation, open banking and data protection.
His previous role focussed on influencing payments strategy and regulation in the UK. Phillip has a public policy background with previous roles at HM Treasury and in local government.
Robert Driver
Robert Driver
Principal, Open Banking, Digital Technology & Innovation UK Finance
Russ Thornton
Russ Thornton
Chief Technology Officer Nottingham Building SocietyRuss Thornton is Chief Technology Officer at Nottingham Building Society, leading its core banking and mortgage transformation strategies. With over 35 years’ experience, Russ has delivered large-scale digital change across banks, fintechs, and global financial institutions, including Shawbrook Bank, where his transformation work helped triple loan book and deposit growth. He’s held senior roles at Cofunds, Legal & General, Aegon, and WorldRemit. A strategic and values-driven leader, Russ brings deep technical expertise and a track record of building high-performing teams, improving customer outcomes, and embedding lasting cultural change to support Nottingham Building Society’s ambition to become a leading specialist lender.
Ruwani Hewa
Ruwani Hewa
Director of Payments Starling BankRuwani Hewa is an experienced payments leader with over 17 years delivering customer-centric solutions across card and account-to-account payments. She has driven strategic planning, market positioning, product strategy and delivery, and go-to-market execution, underpinned by deep expertise in governance and large-scale technical delivery.
She recently joined Starling Bank as Director of Payments, a role that sits at the heart of how Starling moves money, serves customers, and supports partners. Ruwani has previously held senior roles at Nuapay/GoCardless, Barclaycard, and American Express.
Stephen Wright
Stephen Wright
Head of Regulation & Standards, Bank of APIs NatWest GroupStephen has been leading market engagement and the delivery of regulatory requirements with respect to Open Banking/Finance at NatWest Group for the past nine years.
His career spans product management, tactical and strategic planning, and transformation delivery roles in banking and telecommunications.
He has a keen interest in payments from his experience in card issuing, card acquiring, PAYG top-ups, digital payments, ATMs, and account-to-account payments.
Steve Boms
Steve Boms
Executive Director FDATASteve has two decades of experience working inside government, public and private companies, trade organizations, and the technology industry. He assists organizations as they engage with policymakers in Washington, across the country, and around the world. Steve has spent his career focused on complex financial services public policy issues, having worked in the United States Congress on the committee with jurisdiction over banking. He has led global advocacy efforts and public policy teams for equity options exchanges, large U.S.-based financial institutions, and leading fintech firms. A recognized expert on the intersection of financial technology and public policy, Steve has testified before the United States Senate, the Senate of Canada, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on financial services and technology.