Speaker list

• Aadil Bundeally is a London-based transformation leader with extensive consulting, interim management, and in-house advisory experience across global banks, financial institutions, and insurance firms.
• He brings comprehensive industry knowledge spanning regulatory landscapes, customer journeys, value chains, revenue models, operational processes, organisational design, integrated systems, and governance-risk-compliance frameworks.
• Aadil combines deep expertise in fintech innovation, automation & AI, and regulatory compliance to deliver strategic transformation challenges for both, established organisations and budding start-ups requiring fractional C-suite support.
• Highly analytical, detail-oriented and hands-on delivery-focussed, he holds four postgraduate qualifications including an MBA, and maintains a strong commitment to altruism and philanthropy alongside his professional practice.
• Aadil works in a fractional/affiliate capacity with BABL AI (AI audits and training), Valutico (valuation and due-diligence tech), Pedagogue.io (AI adoption & micro-learning), AI Risk (agentic AI strategy), and Control Plane (cloud security services).
• Aadil is a highly-regarded speaker and host at industry events, known for commanding stages as an MC, keynote presenter, fireside chat host, and panel moderator who drives insightful, engaging and memorable conversations.

Adam Armer believes finance should be a force for good. With over 18 years’ experience across banking, insurance, and technology, he has dedicated his career to helping people strengthen their financial wellbeing while creating a positive impact on their communities and the planet.

As a Director at Doconomy, Adam works with banks and institutions around the world to bring sustainability into everyday financial services. His passion lies in showing how innovation can empower individuals, build resilience, and turn ambition into measurable change.

Adam 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.

Aliya Shibli is a senior reporter and writes for The Banker, a specialist publication from the Financial Times, where she has been since August 2023. Aliya writes news and analysis spanning the global banking sector and focuses on regulation and technology.

Amit has more than 25 years of consulting and technology experience in Financial Services Industry. He is Managing Director (Partner) at Accenture and leads the Open Finance practice for Accenture globally and has strong subject matter expertise in Open Banking, Open Finance and the associated API economy and has published multiple white papers and thought leadership articles on these topics.

In his current role , Amit has been engaged with the many of the top Global banks and regulators in addressing the Open Banking and Open Finance agenda and has been involved in multiple projects involving work around Strategy & Operating Model, PSD2 program delivery, Regulatory Standards creation, API technology Enablement and OB directory setup. Amit also has significant expertise in related topics like Embedded Finance, Banking as Service and Digital Wallets and has published white papers and thought leadership articles on these topics.

Andrea Cox is an industry expert specialising in affordability and financial vulnerability, with over 20 years of experience crafting data-driven solutions across diverse sectors. Her expertise includes conducting detailed income and expenditure assessments and identifying financial vulnerabilities early on.

Throughout her career, Andrea has made a significant impact in various industries including banking, finance, retail, telecom, utilities and debt management. Her comprehensive understanding of the affordability challenges in these sectors allows her to develop tailored strategies that effectively address financial distress.

As a thought leader, Andrea frequently shares her insights on affordability at industry conferences and workshops, where she is known for her forward-thinking approach and practical solutions. Her dedication to addressing financial vulnerability has not only influenced policy and practice but also helped countless organisations navigate their affordability challenges successfully.

Andrew has spent the majority of his executive career in the specialist lending and banking industry, including being the founder and CEO of Masthaven Bank. In addition to his current role of being CEO of Masthaven Finance he is also an investor and portfolio non-executive director of numerous companies predominately in the banking, financial technology, open banking and property sector.

Andrew Self is the interim Head of department for open finance and open banking at the FCA. He joined the FCA from the PSR, and brings a wealth of experience in open banking, having led the PSR’s work in this area since 2022. Prior to this, he was the senior manager responsible for access to cash and digital payments. Although he began his career in financial services, working on credit pricing and economic analysis, most of his experience is in regulatory policy. Before joining the PSR, he spent a decade at the energy regulator, leading teams in supervisory and policy roles across retail, wholesale, and regulated networks.

Andrew is the architect for z/OS Connect focusing on providing the ability for z/OS customers to unlock the data in their systems through modern RESTful APIs. He is also involved with open source maintaining several projects related to z/OS Connect and contributing to the Zowe project.

Arunjay Katakam is the author of The Power of Micro Money Transfers (2020), Generation Hope: How Inclusive Economics Can Help Us All Thrive (2024), and The Future of Finance is OPEN (2026). He is a writer, speaker, thinker, serial entrepreneur and recovering wealth-chaser, having realized in May 2020 that by wanting to be super rich, he was part of the problem. In 2020, Arunjay created the Inclusive Action Lab, a nonprofit startup incubator that is incubating moonshot ideas focused on ending poverty for the last billion people by 2030.

Arunjay left a career in investment banking and has spent almost two decades in international development, working with the GSMA Mobile Money and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among other development agencies, to increase financial inclusion through cross-border payments and digital public infrastructure. He spent four years at the UN, where he worked closely on the G20 Roadmap to enhance cross-border payments. He has long advocated for open, inclusive, low-cost financial systems — including in this UN paper he wrote on open, regulated global payments networks.

In a previous life, he built four startups (with three successful exits, including one to Twitter) and mentored over 20 inclusive fintech startups with DFS Lab and was a venture builder with Catalyst Fund.

Bhaswant Gandham is the Customer Journey Manager for Open Banking Payments at NatWest, where he leads the end-to-end design and delivery of customer journeys across the bank’s Open Banking payments ecosystem. His remit spans regulatory compliance, performance optimisation, customer experience, TPP engagement, and the commercialisation of payments APIs.

With over eight years of experience in product management across NatWest and Coutts, Bhaswant has consistently championed customer-centric innovation in digital banking. Over the past five years, he has specialised in payments, with a deepening focus on Open Banking. He is passionate about unlocking the potential of Open Banking to deliver seamless, secure, and scalable payment experiences—balancing frictionless journeys with robust fraud prevention.

Charlie is the Policy Director at Startup Coalition. He leads Startup Coalition’s advocacy and sits on the Department for Business and Trade’s Smart Data Council.

Chris has been in the credit industry for over 25 years and joined Bill Gosling Outsourcing Limited (previously Allied International Credit) in April 2024 as UK Managing Director. Prior to this he was Managing Director for over 5 years at Zinc Group Limited. For the previous 10 years he held leadership roles in PRA Group, one of the largest global debt purchasing firms, jointly running the UK business for a period, as well as their outsourced operations in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Chris also held management roles in global banking groups including MBNA (Bank of America) 1999-2004, M&S Money (HSBC) 2004 – 2007 and Citi Group 2007 – 2009. His areas of responsibility have spanned collections and recoveries leadership for unsecured and secured credit products, litigation & contingency (Debt Collections Agency) operations, client / 3rd party management, outsourcing, business transformation, and operational strategy & analytics.

Chris manages PSE Consulting’s business and is well known in the UK and EU for his regular insights into payments innovation. He has spent the last 20+ years leading assignments for major clients during his time at PSE and Accenture. His particular specialisations include customer proposition development, market entry strategies and enterprise value creation. Chris is a highly effective communicator, with very strong analytical skills and able to deliver recommendations to C-level clients and company Boards. Chris regularly supports major enterprises, corporates and global digital merchant’s payments bringing new market perspectives and identifying fresh opportunities for innovation and expansion. He has also delivered payment assignments for Fintechs, banks and processors on topics such as: regulatory impacts, new acceptance methods, open banking, BNPL, gateway/acquirer convergence, and opportunities for M&A and inorganic growth.

Christian has been active in open banking since 2017 and is passionate about the innovation, change, and force for good that the open economy brings to UK consumers and businesses.

Building on over 20 years of experience in payments, lending, and everyday banking, he joined Open Banking Ltd (OBL) in 2021 as Head of Ecosystem Support. His team helps 800 fintechs and banks implement and maintain their open banking propositions, as well as produces OBL’s monthly ecosystem performance reporting. He leads the ‘Levelling up Performance & Availability’ and ‘Financial Crime Data’ workstreams as part of the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee programme, as well as the ‘Industry Engagement’ effort within the ‘Commercial Variable Recurring Payment’ workstream.

Prior to joining OBL, Christian worked for Citibank in the US, then in Belgium as Director of their credit cards business, before becoming Managing Director of dutch credit card issuer ‘ICS’ in Belgium. In these roles, he developed partnerships in the telecom, e-commerce, retail financing, insurance, and travel sectors. He relocated to the UK in 2016, joining HSBC as Head of Product Development – everyday banking. He is also an advisor to fintech mozzeno in Belgium.

Clara Balon is Head of SHIFT, an exclusive community of over 250 fintechs that is committed to advancing the open finance agenda through collaboration, advocacy, and knowledge exchange. She also leads Ignite, SHIFT’s incubator programme designed to support fintech founders in validating, designing, and scaling innovative solutions. Clara’s career spans consulting, SaaS AI, and early-stage startups, with a focus on commercial growth, artificial intelligence, and strategic innovation. She holds a degree from the University of Cambridge and an MPA in Digital Technologies and Policy from UCL, and has a particular interest in the intersection of technology, AI, policy, and society.

Coen ter Wal is Head of Technology and Operations at the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), which represents the wholesale financial markets in Europe. Coen leads AFME’s technology and operations team, which is responsible for policy work and industry initiatives related to AI, operational resilience, data sharing, scaling of DLT-based capital markets and enhancing operational efficiency. Prior to joining AFME, Coen worked in consulting and as a FinTech policy lead at the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), where among other areas he was responsible for DNB’s position on data sharing in financial markets.

Cormac Bane
Senior Product Manager, Global Payments

Cormac Bane is an experienced product manager specialising in payments innovation and operational optimisation. With a strong background in scaling payment solutions and enhancing transaction efficiency, he brings valuable insights into leveraging technology to drive seamless, secure, and customer-centric financial services. Cormac is passionate about advancing open banking initiatives that foster collaboration, improve user experience, and enable smarter financial ecosystems.

Cristina has a breadth of experience with over two decades in B2B PR, communications and marketing in the UK and Europe. A builder of bridges, partnerships, ideas and teams, she’s deeply passionate about fintech, open banking and open finance. An award-winning fintech communicator, she runs Goodkopp, an independent London-based B2B tech PR agency supporting start-ups and scale-ups, with deep sector expertise, enthusiasm for growth, boundless energy and a “pragmatic creativity” approach to B2B communications.

Dan Akrigg
Director of Technology, Skipton Building Society

Dan Akrigg is a visionary technology leader at Skipton Building Society, where he serves as Director of Technology. With nearly three decades of experience, Dan has been instrumental in driving the Society’s digital transformation—modernising legacy systems, championing agile delivery, and creating intuitive, member-first experiences. His leadership has helped shape a resilient, forward-thinking organisation that blends innovation with purpose. Passionate about empowering teams and unlocking potential through technology, Dan continues to redefine what’s possible for members, colleagues, and communities alike.

With almost 2 decades of experience in the payments industry, I have a passion for working with organisations to understand their challenges and enable them to grow. The payments industry is fast moving and therefore it’s key that we enable banks/intermediaries and merchants in Europe to grow and expand globally. It’s important that we understand the consumers and how to increase adoption with this ever-changing industry.

40 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!

Dr Cristina Alexandra Trifan is a culturally agile strategist and interdisciplinary researcher with a background in digital narratives, decolonising methodologies, and over a decade of experience leading international projects and working with organisations across Europe and the Asia-Pacific. At Datambit, Alexandra leads stakeholder engagement, marketing, strategic product development, and research innovation in deepfake detection, AI governance, and compliance, overseeing the full project life cycle from bidding to delivery.

Dr Stephen Whitehouse is a recognised leader in the digital economy and payments. He heads Oliver Wyman’s European practice, advising banks, fintechs, merchants, regulators, and global tech platforms on strategy, growth, and innovation. He previously held senior roles at Kearney, Strategy&, Barclays/Barclaycard, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Booz Allen Hamilton. He holds a DPhil (PhD) and an MSc in Mathematics from the University of Oxford, where he was also a Senior Scholar. His doctoral research focused on predicting the weather on Mars, and he has taught as a Senior Lecturer at Oxford.

Emma’s portfolio at the ODI encompasses public policy, events and engagement, Data as Culture, communications and marketing, product and innovation, ODI Membership and the ODI Summit. Emma’s team comprises individuals with multi-disciplinary expertise to deliver behaviour and culture change consultancy – specialising in the global data ecosystem -  policy and public affairs research, engagement and influencing, convening and collaborating with our network of influential stakeholders and audiences worldwide and sharing the ODI’s research and thought leadership.

Emma has over 30 years of strategic business experience, gained in senior roles at the BBC and UK Cabinet Office, and founding – and running – a successful consultancy practice. A former journalist and editor, Emma is a member of the ODI’s Executive Leadership team and advises the board. She is a board director of OpenUk and Executive Chair of Allegory.

Gabriella Dixon is a Management Consultant at Woodhurst, a firm focused on digital transformation within banks, building societies, and specialist lenders. Gabriella specialises in data management & AI, with an Actuarial background. She has worked with financial services firms across the UK to improve their technical landscapes and internal capabilities for a better customer experience and optimised operational efficiency.

Gam Dias is a global leader in AI strategy, data-driven transformation, and Responsible AI adoption, with over 18 years’ experience guiding Fortune 500s, scale-ups, and public sector organizations to achieve measurable impact. As founder of Hubbl Technologies, he created the first Salesforce-native process mining tool for Agentforce deployments, enabling empathetic, high-impact automation.

A former Partner at 3Points Digital, Gam designed IBM’s “AI for Leaders” program and led enterprise data and AI transformations for Applied Materials, delivering multi-million-dollar benefits. He has advised organizations including Walmart Labs, Rio Tinto, and Grupo Salinas on aligning AI innovation with business outcomes.

An adjunct professor at IE Business School and author of The Data Mindset Playbook and the upcoming Agents Unleashed (2025), Gam is a sought-after speaker who bridges technology and business strategy. A US citizen currently based in Madrid, he champions transparent, ethical, and human-centric AI adoption worldwide.

Garri’s experience in business runs back more than 30 years, dedicating the past 20 of them to finance, sales, consulting, global and regional business development strategies. Mr Galanter holds a PhD in Mathematics and, from 1987 to 1992, was a member of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science. He is passionate about using technology to drive innovation and improve people’s lives. Garri Galanter believes that open finance has the potential to transform the financial services industry, and he is committed to helping Salt Edge lead the way in this area.

Gavin helps unlock data-enabled value at sector, national and international scale. He has created over a dozen companies, employing 100’s of people, and delivering $100M’s in measurable impact. He co-chaired the development of the Open Banking Standard, co-chaired the UK Smart Data Council, and was founding CEO of the Open Data Institute. He has mentored, chaired, and been a director of over 40 organisations across diverse sectors. He currently runs data governance organisation ib1.org to acceleratur Net Zero Future. Connect via dgen.net.

Georgios is a payments executive, who has worked across the payments value chain, with issuers, digital currency wallets and merchants. Currently Georgios leads the payments practice of NVIDIA, working with payments companies and FinTechs to accelerate their Machine Learning and AI innovations.

Hannah is the Public & Regulatory Policy & Government Affairs Lead for the External Affairs Team at Capital One (Europe) plc. Hannah joined Capital One in April 2024.

Hannah previously worked for the British Retail Consortium (BRC), where she represented retailer views primarily on payments issues and developments, working to drive forward innovation in retail payments. She has sat on several working groups and committees including JROC’s Open Banking working groups, the CBDC Engagement Forum, and SCOR.

Prior to working at the BRC, Hannah worked in Policy at the FCA. She led the ‘Access to Insurance’ piece of work which resulted in new signposting rules in travel insurance, and led the ‘Cancellations and Refunds’ guidance which looked at the interplay between section 75 and insurance. Hannah also worked on the FCA’s broader work on vulnerable consumers and access to financial services.

Prabhpreet Singh Gill (Harry Gill), is a serial investor and fintech entrepreneur pioneering a global digital ecosystem for financial inclusion.

Harry’s mission is rooted in the belief that the future prosperity of emerging economies depends on broad access to finance: giving small merchants the tools to compete in the digital economy, enabling workers to remit wages with ease and ensuring underserved households can rely on secure, locally regulated digital services.

He advances this mission through his primary roles as Chairman of financial technology company, Pay10 and his family office, Eastern Fortune Investments (EFI), where he is building the foundations of an inclusive financial infrastructure.

As Chairman of Pay10, Harry has grown the company into a high-growth, global Alternative Payment Method (APM) platform. The company currently operates regulated entities in India, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, with more than 10 additional licenses in progress worldwide. Pay10 has also established entities in 14 countries across four continents. By aligning closely with national development agendas and leveraging domestic payment infrastructures, the company has positioned itself at the forefront of the APM revolution. Its secure, seamless solutions continue to challenge conventional banking models and advance financial inclusion.

Under Harry’s leadership, Pay10 UAE became the first fintech to go live in production on the Central Bank of the UAE’s regulated Open Finance framework in April 2025 and subsequently processed the country’s first live Open Finance transaction in July 2025.

Harry is also a recognized thought leader. He regularly participates in global policy forums such as the Qatar Economic Forum and the Dubai Fintech Festival and is a member of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute. His commentary has appeared in outlets including Forbes and

The Fintech Times, where he underscores that regulation and innovation must co-exist and that the future of embedded finance in MENA will be homegrown. Harry articulates a vision where fintech is more than apps and APIs. In trusted hands, it becomes a lever for financial sovereignty, a platform for SME resilience and a bridge for migrant workers to sustain economies at home and abroad – entrepreneurship in the service of society.

Heather is an Associate Director in the Payments practice at fscom, with extensive expertise in compliance maturity within the payments services industry. She has supported firms through FCA authorisations and supervision engagements, ensuring robust compliance frameworks aligned with regulatory expectations and industry best practice. Heather has led safeguarding audits and risk assessments for payment institutions and e-money firms, helping to identify vulnerabilities, strengthen risk management, and address fraud risks. She regularly advises on complex regulatory enforcement actions, providing practical solutions to achieve compliance while minimising business disruption.

Helene is an innovation and payment specialist. She has extensive regulatory experience in the UK and internationally.

She joined the FCA in June 2019 and is a senior manager in the innovation department aiming to support beneficial and responsible innovation in the financial services sector, including through our different sandboxes, innovation pathways and sprints. She also led policy on payments matters, including open banking, fraud and crypto.

Before joining the FCA, she worked at the European Banking Authority, where she developed a number of instruments in the payments space and led the supervisory work with all EU national competent authorities. Prior to that, she worked at the FSA/FCA in a range of roles ranging from supervision to competition and in the industry in compliance roles.

She holds a PhD in law.

Henk was appointed CEO in January 2022 to implement an effective and appropriate governance and management framework for the organisation, and to manage the delivery of the CMA Roadmap and the operations of OBL.

He is now leading the next phase of the development of open banking as it moves to a new regulatory framework and Future Entity.

Henk joined OBL from Post Office Ltd, where he had more than nine years’ experience in senior roles in innovation, including Managing Director of Digital Services and as Deputy CEO, Financial Services and Telecoms.

He has considerable expertise in managing profitable and consumer-focused blue chip and start-up firms, including senior roles at Egg PLC, Prudential UK, and Belgian internet bank.

Ian White is Senior Vice President of Open Banking & Open Finance at Mastercard, based in London. He leads the commercial side of Mastercard’s Open Banking business across Europe, working with financial institutions, PSPs, and merchants to expand adoption of Open Banking solutions across payments and data. His focus includes use cases such as account top-ups, bill payments, e-commerce, data aggregation, lending, and digital onboarding.

Since joining Mastercard in 2017, Ian has held senior leadership roles across strategy, product, and general management in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Before Mastercard, he worked in management consulting, advising Private Equity and Corporate clients on due diligence, corporate strategy, and business transformation across global markets.

Irina is an accomplished leader in crypto and fintech with over 18 years of experience building world-class brands at the intersection of payments and technology, across Europe and Asia. Currently, Irina is leading Wallet’s global expansion strategy with a target of 15 new countries in the next 2 years
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Previously, she was CMO at Volt, driving their brand and global marketing strategy. She was also part of Southeast Asia super-app giant, Grab, where she helped to launch GrabPay, Grab’s mobile wallet, and GrabRewards, its loyalty platform across Southeast Asia.

Isabel is a seasoned Payments and FinTech industry expert with over a decade of experience. Since joining Nationwide Building Society as Digital Payments & Cards Director, she has also been appointed Deputy Director of Payments and continues to bring her start-up/scale-up experience to further Nationwide’s ambitions.

Prior to joining Nationwide, Isabel held key positions at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Lloyd’s Bank, Banked, Zopa, and Shieldpay.

Isabel’s a recognised industry thought leader, contributing to events and publications in the FinTech and Payment spaces globally. As a passionate advocate for inclusivity in finance and technology, and actively seeks to mentor a variety of people to encourage more diversity in FinTech & Payments. She’s a member of industry groups, including Women of FinTech, Women in Payments, and the 19% List and sits on advisory boards across the ecosystem.

With her extensive expertise, Isabel wants to help shape the future of payments and ignite people’s passion for the ecosystem.

James leads techUK’s financial services programme of activity. He works closely with firms across the sector to ensure innovation and technology are fully harnessed and embraced by both industry and regulators.

Prior to joining techUK James worked at other business organisations including TheCityUK and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in roles focused on supporting the financial & related professional services eco-system, with a particular focus on financial technology and market infrastructure.

Jane Barratt, Chief Advocacy Officer and Head of Global Public Policy at MX, is a personal finance expert and champion of financial strength. In her role at MX, Jane works with financial institutions, industry groups, government & regulatory bodies to ensure people have the tools and data they need to improve their financial outcomes. Through her position as the Co-Chair of the board of the Financial Data Exchange, Jane brings together the complex financial ecosystem to solve the core problem of how to promote competition and innovation while protecting the privacy and security of people and their financial data.

Through her financial education courses on LinkedIn Learning she is helping hundreds of thousands of people all over the world improve their financial skills through online video courses. Previous to MX Jane was Founder & CEO of GoldBean, an education-first financial advisory platform; and spent two decades driving growth for Fortune 500 companies.

Joanne Biggadike is an experienced Data Governance specialist who has created Data Governance frameworks within the Financial and Insurance industries, With a background in heavily regulated financial organisations Joanne is a keen supporter of appropriate governance with a focus on business led data communities which include technology, rather than are the responsibility of technology.  A regular speaker at industry events Joanne has most recently provided input into AI Governance with a particular focus on how Data Governance is a crucial foundation to any AI initiative. Joanne is currently the Head of Data Governance for the Data Office at Schroders.

John Penrose is the Founder of the Centre for Small-State Conservatives. He is also Chair of the Conservative Party’s in-house think tank (the Conservative Policy Forum or CPF); a member of Onward think-tank’s Editorial Board; an Associate Fellow at Bright Blue think-tank; a founding Board member of the Council for Countering Online Disinformation; and a founding Commissioner of the Commission for Carbon Competitiveness as well. He is a prominent policy thought-leader on the centre-right of UK politics, as well as a former MP, Prime Ministerial anti-corruption Tsar and serial Government Minister.

Jonathan is Chief Commercial Officer at Abound. Jonathan leads on Abound’s partnerships and new products, including our recent credit card, retail finance and other API-driven partnerships. Jonathan’s prior experience includes Head of Data Science at Capital on Tap, Associate Partner at McKinsey & Principal at Oliver Wyman. He has a PhD and MSc in Complexity Science, and a BSc in Mathematics, all from the University of Warwick.

Kate Wells is a Research Officer at the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, where she

investigates how mental health problems and financial difficulties intersect, and how policy

and regulation can unintentionally disadvantage people with these challenges. Drawing on

extensive on-the-ground experience of debt, benefits and insolvency, she brings a clear view

of the real barriers people face. Kate recently contributed to welfare reform policy work and

is researching vulnerability data sharing. She is especially interested in how Open Banking

and inclusive design can embed users’ voices, strengthen consent and reduce harm while

promoting financial wellbeing for vulnerable groups

Kerri-Anne Sproson is a dynamic strategy leader at Skipton Group, driving forward the organisation’s purpose through bold, customer-centric innovation. She works closely with executive teams and a diverse external network to tackle pressing societal challenges, using data and insight to shape forward-thinking solutions. With a sharp eye on industry trends and a commitment to meaningful impact, Kerri-Anne brings clarity, energy, and strategic momentum to complex transformation agendas.

Lauren is acting Executive General Manager of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Consumer Data Right Division.

Australia’s Consumer Data Right (CDR) enables safe and secure consumer and product data portability in the energy and banking sectors. Non-bank lending will join the CDR in 2026.

The ACCC delivers the CDR enabling technology solutions, accredits parties to receive CDR data, supports participants with testing and on-boarding, provides guidance, monitors and enforces

Over the past decade, Lauren has led a range of compliance, enforcement and policy matters for the ACCC including competition and consumer enforcement, product safety investigations and regulation, and delivery and regulation of Australia’s Consumer Data Right.

Lauren holds a Master of Management from Monash University, a Bachelor of Laws, and Bachelor of Commerce (Management) from the University of Adelaide and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.

Director of Coalitions and Research, CFIT

Leon Ifayemi is the Director of Coalitions and Research at the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), where he leads coalition strategy and has convened over 100 global firms, policy makers, and academics to drive financial services innovation in the UK.

He is also a Board Member at Digital Leaders, focusing on AI, digital transformation, and public policy. Leon has extensive fintech and proptech experience, having served as Director at SPCE Group and in Private Equity at Edmond de Rothschild. A seasoned panellist, he brings expert insights on fintech strategy, innovation, and transformation to industry events.

Director of Customer Acquisition and Open Banking at Capital One UK

10 years experience in customer lending, many lessons learnt in credit strategy and underwriting across credit card, car finance, and unsecured personal loans. I have been involved in developing open banking use cases related to payments, affordability, and underwriting.

Liz is Cofounder and CEO of Ctrl-Shift and has spent her now long career focusing on the opportunities created where people, business and technology meets. Over the past 20 years Liz has focused on the opportunities that the sustainable use of personal data brings for businesses, individuals, and society. She has worked extensively with Blue Chip businesses, Governments and Legislators and Think Tanks to support the development of our personal data economy.

Throughout her career Liz has worked both in and for large corporates and has developed deep skills and strong networks across private, public and the third sector. She brings deep and strong experience in the impact of business models and operating environments on the shifting landscape of consumers, digital, trust and value.

Liz combines vision married with evidence and market knowledge, business strategy and operational implementation and the ability to bring together strong teams to deliver extraordinary results.

Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion. His core policy focus is on digital technology for the public good with a particular interest in technologies such as AI and blockchain and areas of application such as fintech and trade.

In Parliament, he specializes in legislation that deals with technology. He introduced a private members’ bill that proposed the regulation of artificial intelligence and was integral to the passing of the ground-breaking Electronic Trade Documents Bill.

On technology, he has previously co-authored House of Lords Select Committee Reports on: Democracy and Digital Technologies [2020], Artificial Intelligence [2018], and Digital Skills [2015] and under his own auspices published an influential report encouraging government testing of blockchain solutions for policy delivery, DLT for Public Good: leadership, collaboration and innovation [2017] He is also adviser to several tech and fintech companies.

On inclusion, and again under his own auspices, he has published influential reports on accessibility in the public realm and support for disabled students as well as Lords reports on Financial Exclusion [2017], Social Mobility [2016] and, for the Cabinet Office, The Lord Holmes Review on opening up public appointments to disabled people. He continues to advise the government on diversity and inclusion.

An ex-Paralympic swimmer, Chris won nine gold, five silvers and one bronze medal across four Games, including a record haul of six golds at Barcelona 1992.

Iain McNicol, Lord McNicol of West Kilbride is a British Labour politician, campaigner and Non-Executive Director. As well as being a Government Trade Envoy.

• UK’s Trade Envoy to Kuwait, Jordan, and Palestine
• Co-founder of Rewired Earth
• Chair of the Nuclear Industry Association NiA
• Non-Executive Director – RCK, ELCOM & Salad Holdings
• Deputy-chairman (speaker) in the Lords in 2020-24
• Labour Shadow Spokesperson for Dept Business & Trade 2023-24

Iain holds several Non-Executive Director and strategic advisor roles across the fintech, tech and energy sectors.

He previously served as the General Secretary of the Labour Party and member of the Shadow Cabinet from 2011-18. Iain was National Political Officer of the GMB Union, and has a long history of organising in both the Labour Party and the trade union movement.

Iain began his involvement in political organising as president of the Student Union at Dundee Institute of Technology in 1991. Iain holds a blackbelt in karate and plays the bagpipes.

Luke Charters is the Labour Member of Parliament for York Outer.

Before his election to Parliament, Luke had a distinguished career in financial services. He began at the Bank of England, contributing to payments infrastructure projects and the polymer banknotes programme, before moving to the Financial Conduct Authority, focusing on fraud prevention. Subsequently, he led the Fraud and Compliance department at the global fintech company Remote.

Since entering Parliament, Luke has concentrated on financial services, convening debates on fraud and economic crime. He serves as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Technology (FinTech) and on the Public Accounts Committee.

Luke is the Director of Standards, Strategic Policy and Public Affairs at Open Banking Limited (OBL). He is responsible for shaping the organisation’s strategy, helping to deliver mass adoption of open banking enabled products and services in the UK, and supporting regulatory and government stakeholders in the development of a sustainable policy environment.

As part of his role, Luke oversees the Open Banking Standard, aiding participant firms in growing the open banking ecosystem. He is also accountable for OBL’s monitoring function, ensuring conformance of the CMA9 with the CMA Order; and manages OBL’s Public Affairs activity, coordinating external engagement with Government, political, and regulatory stakeholders.

Prior to joining OBL, Luke spent 12 years at Barclays in various roles, including: Head of Government Relations and Policy for its Retail, Payments, and Wealth businesses; Head of Strategic Affairs; and Chief of Staff to the Chairman. He began his career in the UK civil service.

Open Finance Manager – Financial Conduct Authority

Lynn leads the Open Finance policy team at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), overseeing the design and delivery of the FCA’s Open Finance roadmap. An experienced financial analyst and senior manager with international experience in Singapore, Italy, and the UK, she has led key regulatory initiatives including the Credit Information Market Study, Consumer Duty’s fair value rules, and General Insurance Pricing Practices remedies. As former manager of the Remedies Unit, she championed evidence-led, competition-focused regulation. Combining technical expertise with strategic foresight, Lynn is passionate about fostering innovation and ensuring Open Finance delivers fair value and real benefits for consumers.

What will you be sharing with delegates during your session?

“Get first-hand look at the FCA’s exciting vision for Open Finance and the key milestones ahead. Discover how the evolving regulatory framework will shape the industry, empower consumers, and drive the next wave of financial innovation.

Macs Dickinson is Director of Engineering at LHV Bank, where he leads all things Engineering across Retail Banking, SME Lending and Banking Services. With a focus on technical excellence, developer experience, and AI-driven innovation, he helps shape the future of banking infrastructure and delivery. Macs is passionate about building high-performing teams and exploring how technology can enable better financial services at scale.

Marion is a highly accomplished business leader with an exemplary track record of driving growth through innovation, change and superlative people leadership. Marion is Chair and Trustee of the Open Banking Implementation Entity, where her key priorities are maintaining the existing implementation of open banking, as well as working with the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee (JROC) to decide the future direction of open banking in the UK.

Marion also fulfils a non-executive director portfolio, contributing to the growth and advancement of financial services companies.

Marion was Director of Payments, NatWest (2015-2022), responsible for setting the Payments strategy and prior to joining NatWest, she was President of MasterCard UK & Ireland developing a world beyond cash through an innovative approach to everyday Payments.

Before joining MasterCard, Marion was CEO of VocaLink, where during her tenure the Faster Payments Service was launched and Voca and Link were merged.

Marion has held international Managing Director roles at Reuters, in London and Hong Kong.

Marion was previously chair of the Advisory Board of the Payments Association (2021-2023).

As Director of AI and Decision Intelligence at Moneybox, Marko Katavic leads the data science and machine learning teams. He is responsible for the company’s AI and personalisation strategy, with the ultimate goal of providing a best-in-class experience that supports customers in achieving their financial goals. Before joining Moneybox, Marko held leadership positions at both B2C and B2B companies, including Meta, DAZN, and Ipsos, where he honed his expertise in data-driven strategies and personalisation.

Marko is a successful second-time entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Fiinu plc, the London-listed fintech behind the Plugin Overdraft® platform.

Marko is also a former elite athlete with a doctorate in artificial intelligence and unbundling banking services. His fintech experience includes over 20 years on Wall Street and the City of London including ten years with leading banking, treasury, risk and payments companies. He has served as a treasury steering committee member at four DAX-30 companies.

Prior to Fiinu, Marko founded one of the largest overdraft-style lenders in the UK which developed a fully automated software robot that lent and recovered over $1 billion in small increments in the UK without reliance on credit bureau data. His previous business was independently valued at $171 million after five years.

Maud is an experienced management consultant at Woodhurst, specialising n strategy and transformational change across the financial services sector. She enjoys working directly with clients to create tangible change and make a positive difference to their long-term strategies. Maud is also an active member of Women in Open Banking.

Based in Brussels for the past 22 years, Monica Monaco is the owner and managing director of TrustEuAffairs. TrustEuAffairs advises its clients on Eu legislative relevant initiatives since 2013. Monica served as a Board Member of the Society of European Affairs Professionals (SEAP) between 2012 and 2015. Furthermore, she has served two mandates as Member of the European Commission Payment Systems Market Expert Group (PSMEG).

Monica’s areas of focus are financial services, payment systems and digital payments, including crypto assets.

Monica has been Senior Manager for EU Relations and Regulatory Affairs in the Legal Department of Visa Europe for more than ten years, being responsible for the relations with the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council Working Group on Financial Services, as well as with various national regulators.

Before joining Visa Europe she has been working as a Consultant for both Andersen, Deloitte & Touche and the OECD in Paris, dealing with a variety of financial services matters. She also worked for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, in the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations.

Monica holds a Master’s Degree in Economics, European Law oriented, from L.U.I.S.S.- Guido Carli University in Rome, Italy.

Neil Sinclair is the Director of Strategy & Customer Solutions at Pytilia, responsible for company direction, product positioning, and key strategic partnerships. Leveraging Pytilia’s strong R&D focus, Neil has played a critical role in securing and delivering an impressive track record of UK-wide Innovation Calls and Competitions. Prior to joining Pytilia, Neil held senior roles across Financial Services, Telecoms and Technology Consultancy, specialising in digital transformation and enterprise/solution architecture.

Nick Robertson started his career in Advertising before co-founding ASOS.com in 2000. He was CEO from 2000 to 2015 and then joined the board as a non executive director, a position he still holds today. Nick has chaired the ASOS Foundation since its inception in 2012 raising over 12 million pounds to improve the lives and prospects of young adults. Nick is also a board Director of AFC Wimbledon, the most successful fan owned club in the EFL and Chairs Gandys International, a brand dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children through education.

Nicola has been passionate about building and scaling businesses for over 25 years, from the early days of the consumer internet to today. Her career spans roles as CEO, Co-Founder, Managing Director, Investor, as well as Corporate Innovation & Transformation Specialist. Her industry focus includes FinTech, FMCG & Media. She lived and worked in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, France and is now based in her hometown, Berlin.

She is currently Managing Director at Qwist the leading independent European Open Banking platform provider, with key markets in DACH, Spain and Portugal. She led the business through a major transformation as CEO until the formation of a new Group following the acquisition of ndgit. Prior to this, she was Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director at OptioPay, an Open Banking Fin-/AdTech company, as well as in a leading growth and innovation role at PayPal in Europe. Nicola fundamentally believes that we need to use technology to democratise financial services. Open Data and data authorship, distributed data models and innovative embedded finance models are one way to move towards a more equitable future.

Nicola is passionate about creating positive impact in the world. She holds board positions in for-profit social impact businesses (Vested Ltd. among others), supporting female founders as well as solar energy company Wattz. She is also an advisor to impact accelerators and funds like Village Capital and Planet A Ventures.

Pavle Avramović is Head of the Market & Infrastructure Observatory at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, University of Cambridge, where he leads research on the intersection of technology and financial regulation. His work examines how emerging technologies integrate with regulatory frameworks, with particular focus on data sharing systems, digital identity, and how regulatory authorities can foster innovation through coordinated oversight and public-private collaboration. Pavle’s recent work includes leading CCAF’s flagship global and APAC open banking and open finance reports, analysing regulatory frameworks and market developments across multiple jurisdictions in collaboration with international partners.

Previously, Pavle established the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s first Emerging Technologies Hub, creating novel regulatory approaches to emerging technologies. During his time at the FCA, he developed the FCA Quantum Security work programme, co-chaired the FCA Synthetic Data Expert Group, and led horizon scanning work on cross-regulatory matters through the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum.

Pavle holds an MSc in Information Systems and Digital Innovation from the London School of Economics and has authored and contributed to over 25 publications on regulatory innovation and financial technology.

Rachael is a partner in Freshfields’ Data, Tech and Cyber Practice, specialising in the intersection of data, AI, and financial services. She provides strategic advice to financial institutions and fintech companies, helping them navigate complex regulatory challenges relating to data and AI. A key aspect of her work involves advising on international data-driven M&A, such as the acquisition of an AI credit risk platform. Rachael’s deep understanding of digital regulations enables her to advise on the development of data and AI strategies, ensuring clients build trust with users while achieving their business objectives in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Rebecca is a seasoned leader in financial innovation, currently leading the Innovation and FinTech practice at JLR Global Financial & Insurance Services, where she drives long-term strategy and innovation initiatives in partnership with a global mobility and FinTech ecosystem. Previously, she was the Head of APAC and Global Head of Data & Research at a Tel Aviv-based FinTech platform, enabling digital transformation for tier-1 global banks. With over a decade of experience in capital markets across the Asia Pacific region, Rebecca brings a wealth of expertise to her roles. Rebecca has also contributed to academia, designing and teaching the FinTech Entrepreneurship course for MBA students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and serving as a visiting researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

As leader of the Market Intelligence team at Equifax, Rhys is responsible for transforming Equifax’s rich data assets into a clear, insight-driven view of the UK credit markets, identifying the critical trends and emerging themes that will shape the future of lending and risk management.

Rhys cultivated his expertise over a decade within Equifax’s client-facing analytics function, advancing to a senior advisory role. As a trusted partner to a wide range of financial institutions, he guided them on sharpening their credit risk and affordability strategies through the strategic application of data.

Rhys brings a proven blend of analytical rigour and commercial acumen, bridging the gap between raw data and its real-world impact. He draws on this deep experience to reveal the powerful stories that credit data tells us about the market’s challenges and opportunities.

Richard Caven is a Worldwide Banking Specialist at AWS. He is responsible for the development and execution of strategic initiatives to help customers migrate to the cloud and drive their digital transformation journey. Richard joined AWS in 2018 from Barclays where he was a Managing Director and COO for the Global Treasury function.

Rik Coeckelbergs is the Founder and Managing Director of The Banking Scene, a network organisation for bankers and is passionate about building communities and conceptualising ideas, enabling sustainable business models. Over the years, the community grew to 5 inspirational events in Luxembourg, Amsterdam and Brussels, the biggest with +400 attendees.

Before his entrepreneurial journey, Rik worked for +10 years in the financial services industry in various roles, both as an external consultant and in internal roles in business, strategy and marketing. In 2009, he created a LinkedIn community called “Innovation In Payments”, which today is LinkedIn’s largest payments group worldwide with +100k members.

Rik Coeckelbergs is a regular speaker and blogger on thebankingscene.com and a guest writer for third-party websites. Occasionally, Rik contributes to publications, like in 2019 in “Regtech Blackbook – The Sequel”. More importantly, in 2021, Rik contributed to 2 chapters in Chris Skinner’s most recent bestselling book “Digital for Good”, an interview with Marc Lauwers, CEO of Argenta, on purposeful banking and a second one sharing his vision for the bank in 2040.

Rochelle is a Product Owner at Allica Bank, where she leads the core banking product features and liquidity solutions squads. With extensive experience across global payments markets spanning APAC and EMEA, she has successfully built products from the ground up across diverse banking segments including SME, private banking, and consumer markets. Her comprehensive background in fintech product development positions her uniquely to identify opportunities and drive rapid, impactful change in the evolving banking landscape.

Russ Thornton is Chief Technology Officer at Nottingham Building Society, leading its core banking and mortgage transformation strategies. With over 30 years’ experience, Russ has delivered large-scale digital change across banks, fintechs, and global financial institutions, including Shawbrook Bank, where his transformation work helped double 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.

Sadip Wagle is Co-founder and Lead Solutions Architect at Datambit, building cloud-native, multimodal deepfake detection systems. He brings 9+ years in software engineering and AI, with a Distinction MSc from Coventry University and NVIDIA AI Professional certification. Previously working at MNCs like Juniper Networks and Zynga, he later freelanced on automation and applied AI/ML. Sadip’s work spans data pipelines, adversarial dataset generation (2.3M+ assets), model training/evaluation, and GPU-optimised deployment across Azure, AWS and GCP. He has led benchmarking and explainability initiatives and delivered enterprise demos. His focus areas include scalable inference, audio-visual forensics, and trustworthy AI.

Samantha Fogerty is the Co-Founder and COO of Payl8r, a UK fintech that has pioneered inclusive lending by opening access to credit for underserved markets. Under her leadership, the company has scaled to over £1 billion in referred transactions reaching more than 2 million customers, and built a team of 40.

Her entrepreneurial journey began working on local markets, where she learned resilience, adaptability, and problem-solving first-hand. Despite challenges with dyslexia, she built her career in financial services without prior industry experience, adopting a learn-by-doing mindset that has shaped her disruptive approach to lending.

At Payl8r, Samantha has championed innovation in consumer credit, embedding technology and open banking data into decision-making to provide fairer, more responsible outcomes. She is also passionate about creating opportunity, building strong teams, and supporting diversity in financial services.

Founder of Well Be It | Keynote Speaker| Bestselling Author | Executive Coach| Helicopter Pilot | Human Factors Expert | Mindfulness Coach |Cognitive therapist

How do you lead high performing teams, who are robust, driven but also emotionally intelligent? How do you lean into failure so you can grow as an organisation, whilst unapologetically striving for excellence? How do we lead inclusively, when do we make bold decisions, when do we ask for help? How do you create psychological safety?

Wherever you are on your leadership journey, “getting it right” can feel like a big ask. And just when you think you’ve mastered it, the rules of game change, for our idea of “good” leadership is constantly evolving.

Don’t worry – you’re not in this alone.

After graduating from Cambridge University, Sarah followed her dream to become a combat helicopter pilot in the RAF. As a Squadron Leader she led on operational combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and she was the first female helicopter pilot to fly and lead UK Special Forces missions in Iraq. So she has a proven track record leading teams to victory in the most extreme conditions. A qualified mindfulness coach and human factors facilitator Sarah combines her military expertise with proven cognitive techniques to expertly guide you on your own journey of discovery. Translating lessons from the battlefield directly to the boardroom you’ll not only be captivated by her stories – you will leave the room, equipped with practicable and implementable tools. You’ll be ready for action. You’ll be ready to lead in the new era.

She is fluent in “alpha male” and whilst she takes her work seriously, she doesn’t take herself too seriously. In her No1 Best Selling books FLY HIGHER and THE UNI-TASKING REVOLUTION. She has a young son who she adores and who keeps her on her A game.

Shivani is a treasury product specialist within the GPS business in EMEA, based in London.  Shivani is responsible for complex cross-product client solutioning and market management for the suite of GPS payments and receipts products in the region. She previously held various roles within the business including liquidity management and cross-currency payments.

She is also really passionate about supporting her colleagues professional and personal development and serves as Co-Chair for the London chapter of the employee network LEAD (Leadership, Education, Advocacy, Development). She also mentors young professionals in the charity sector through their career development.

Shivani joined the bank in 2017 and prior to that spent 10 years at Citibank across their New York, Hong Kong and Dublin businesses supporting new product launch and international expansion.

A Sri Lankan native, born and raised in Dubai, Shivani obtained a bachelors degree in the US from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

She is a keen baker and spends her free time with her husband, 2 toddlers and their 2 mainecoon cats.

Simon is the Director of Policy, Strategy and Communications at Cifas, the UK’s leading, not for profit fraud prevention service. Before joining Cifas in June this year, Simon was Chief Policy and Communications Officer at Stop Scams UK. Simon Started his career in the Civil Service working across a number of Whitehall departments including as Deputy Director for Telecommunications and Internet Policy at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and as Head of Policy on the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking. He joined Three, the mobile phone network as Director of Public Policy in 2013. Simon served as a local Councillor in the London Borough of Waltham Forest and as Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Housing Development for six years until May 2022 leading work on one of the most ambitious house building and regeneration programmes in London.

Simone Plances leads the Smart Data Accelerator at the FCA, driving the transition to open finance by enabling the development, experimentation, and testing of cutting-edge proofs of concept. With a career spanning Italy, Brussels, and London, he’s built deep expertise in policy and innovation across emerging tech and financial services.

Siobhan leads the digital markets team at BEIS. Her team is currently delivering projects including planned legislation to give the CMA stronger powers to promote competition in relation to the largest tech firms; and measures in Part 3 of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill which will enable Smart Data across the economy. Her previous roles have been at the Competition and Markets Authority, Ofcom, in social research consultancy and in local and central government.

Soeren Rode Jain Andreasen has held various leadership roles in the financial sector and is known for his expertise in digital transformation and driving the adoption of new technologies in the banking industry. Andreasen’s professional journey includes working at prominent financial institutions where he has played a pivotal role in leading transformative change and innovation. He spent over a decade at Danske Bank, where he served as the Chief Digital Officer and was responsible for the bank’s digital transformation efforts in the United Kingdom. During his tenure, he played a crucial role in implementing innovative solutions, launching Open Banking, and improving the backend systems of the bank. In 2024, Andreasen joined the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) as the Enterprise Digital and Innovation Officer. This appointment came after CIBC signed a multi-year agreement with Microsoft to migrate many of its operations to the cloud. Andreasen’s role at CIBC involves leading the bank’s digital strategy and driving innovation in the organization. Notably, Andreasen currently heads Digital Customer Engagement at Nordea, the largest bank in the Nordics. In this role, he is responsible for Digital Channels, Onboarding of clients, the origination and servicing of everyday banking products, digital money transfers, and the optimization of the retail payments experience. Andreasen is a sought-after speaker at conferences and events worldwide, where he shares his insights on topics such as open banking, customer experience, data & AI, and the paramount importance of enhancing backend operations in the banking sector.

Sovon Chatterjee is the Director of Product Management at HSBC; an accomplished Product Management expert, bringing 20+ years of extensive experience in the banking and finance sectors. His career spans various roles in Sales, IT, Operations and Product Management across Asia and Europe, allowing him to develop a comprehensive understanding of both market dynamics and technical requirements, enabling him to effectively engage with clients and stakeholders whilst driving product adoption and satisfaction.

Throughout his career, Sovon has successfully led the development and management of key products and propositions, leveraging his engineering expertise to bridge the gap between technical teams and business objectives.

Tim joined Sopra Steria in December 2022 as Executive Client Director for the financial services industry. In this role, Tim is responsible for the financial services go-to-market strategy across all Sopra Steria solutions, including debt management, outsourcing and consulting, helping our partners understand where our expertise lies and how they can benefit from it. He is focused on establishing long-term partnerships, including with QUALCO UK, that deliver excellent experience and outcomes for our clients and their customers.

Tim joined Sopra Steria from Arrow Global, where he established and led a number of outsourcing partnerships with some of the UK’s leading retail banks. Prior to Arrow, Tim worked at PwC for almost 10 years, most recently leading their UK business development team. The financial services industry has been a focus throughout his career and he brings with him a wealth of practical experience in this market.

Tom specialises in technology policy at the intersection of competition and data protection. A UK Government economist by background, his experience spans the Department for Business, Bank of England, HM Treasury, Ofgem, and the Competition and Markets Authority, where he played a central role in building the case for the new Digital Markets Competition Regime. Most recently, Tom oversaw the public policy efforts of Gener8, a UK data intermediary, where he founded and led the Coalition for Online Data Empowerment (CODE), a global coalition of businesses advocating for effective data portability. He is now Head of Europe for the Data Transfer Initiative (DTI), which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering technology users to transfer their data between services.

Victoria Cleland is the Chief Cashier and Executive Director of Payments.

She leads work on:

• the operation, strategic development and enhancement of the UK’s real-time gross settlement (RTGS) service and CHAPS;
• the Bank’s policy approach to wholesale payments, particularly in relation to our RTGS and CHAPS operations, and international work to enhance cross-border payments;
• the Bank’s contribution to delivering the National Payments Vision, including inputting on retail payments strategy, as a member for the National Payments Vision Delivery Committee;
• making sure our banknotes have the latest anti-counterfeiting technology, so that people can have confidence that the notes they use are genuine;
• making sure there are enough high-quality banknotes in circulation, working closely with financial institutions, suppliers and retailers; and
• making sure holders of Scottish and Northern Ireland notes are protected if a commercial banknote issuer defaults.

Victoria is a member of the Bank for International Settlement’s Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures and Cross-Border Payments Co-ordination. She is also chair of the Bank’s RTGS/CHAPS Board.

Her previous roles include Deputy Head of the Special Resolution Unit, Private Secretary to the Deputy Governor, and positions relating to financial market infrastructure and the financing of small businesses in the UK.

Victoria is the executive sponsor of our staff disAbility Network, a director of the Business Disability Forum and an ambassador for the charity Sense.

She has a BA in philosophy, politics and economics from the University of Oxford, and an MBA from Imperial College London.

Vladimir Bendikow is a senior technology and analytics expert, currently serving as the Chief Data Officer (CDO) at FBN Bank Limited. With a robust career spanning over two decades, Vladimir has established himself as a thought leader in the field of data, analytics, and the use of technologies. At FirstBank UK Limited, Vladimir has been instrumental in transforming the bank’s data strategy and advanced operating model. He has led initiatives to implement self-service analytics, enabling business users to access and analyze data independently, significantly improving decision-making processes and operational efficiency across the organization. One of Vladimir’s notable achievements includes the successful implementation of a comprehensive data governance framework, ensuring data quality, consistency, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

As a recognized thought leader, Vladimir frequently shares his insights and experiences at industry conferences and events. He discusses topics such as the importance of data governance, the challenges of implementing self-service analytics, and the future of data management. Vladimir believes in the power of data to transform businesses and advocates for a proactive approach to data management. Looking ahead, he aims to continue driving innovation in the field of data management and helping organizations advance their digital ecosystems and optimize business processes. His goal is to lead FirstBank UK towards becoming a data-centric, more digital “lean” organization, where data is at the core of all strategic decisions.