Europe

The European Advisory Board was established in 2014 to focus on the industry issues most relevant to the European region. Since then it has provided invaluable guidance to CPI, especially in development of the European Summit program. In 2015 a working group to examine the supplier enablement challenge was established and continues to seek solutions to help overcome this challenge.

Simon Barker
CEO & Co-Founder, Conferma

Simon Barker is co-founder and CEO of Conferma. He is responsible for developing and executing the company’s strategic vision to optimise B2B payment processes, through the use of innovative virtual card technology. Prior to establishing Conferma in 2004, Simon accumulated vast experience of the business travel industry during 18 years as Managing Director of NIS Travel Management Solutions. Simon was recently recognised as one of the 25 Most Influential Executives in the travel industry by Business Travel News for Conferma’s ground-breaking work modernising the business travel industry’s payment processes.

Nicki Bisgaard
Group Head, PayTech Group

Nicki has enjoyed more than 35 years in the cards and payments industry internationally. Most recently as Group Head for PayTech – a specialist advisory services company supporting payment schemes, banks, processors and corporate clients on leveraging the opportunities provided in this highly specialized space worldwide. PayTech has under his leadership delivered more than 700 projects in 32 countries in the past 10 years alone and provided consulting services to 65% of the world’s 20 largest banks and a long list of smaller ones. Today, PayTech is recognized as a leader in their field of specialist payments expertise. Prior to founding PayTech, Nicki had a distinguished career from leadership positions as CEO at EnterCard, Head of Corporate Products at Visa Europe, Senior Vice President and head of products at DNB and Marketing Director at Sparebankort in Norway.

He was instrumental setting up the new and very successful FinTech company EedenBull in 2018 in response to customer demand from banks looking for practical support for new and innovative payment solutions in a time where new technologies, new regulations and new players are changing the way consumers and businesses think about payments. He was consequently appointed Chief Executive Officer at EedenBull in May 2018.

Simon Gilson-Fox
VP, Global Product Management, Global Corporate Payments, American Express

Simon is a Vice President within Global Product Management, where he leads the Global Business2Business (B2B) Product Management Function, responsible for managing a portfolio of Global Corporate Payment (GCP)’s suite of products used by corporate buyers and suppliers. With American Express for 14 years, during his tenure at American Express Simon has always been in the Commercial Payments arena – working with many of the Fortune 500 and Footsie 250 companies to implement Commercial Payment Solutions. Prior to joining American Express, Simon was an Officer in the British Army.

Brooke DiNatale
Head of European Large Market Commercial Products, Mastercard

Brooke DiNatale leads the European Large Market Commercial Products team for Mastercard, based in London. Her team is responsible for the development, launch and management of T&E and B2B Commercial Payment solutions in Europe. Prior to joining Mastercard, Brooke spent 10 years at American Express in London and NYC. Most recently she led the development and management of international loyalty solutions for Corporate Products, primarily focused on creating and launching a company-level loyalty program for the Middle Market space in 11 countries. Brooke also held roles in global business transformation, pursuing M&A opportunities and global business development, and creating partnerships with banks and travel agencies. She was previously director of finance for a satellite media company and spent several years as an investment banker.

Andreas Hagenbring
Managing Director, AirPlus International

Andreas Hagenbring serves as Managing Director AirPlus International, responsible in particular for Finance (CFO), Global Services and Regulatory & Risk. AirPlus is a highly specialized business travel payment company and one of the leading global corporate card issuers with 1,300 employees. It provides services to more than 50,000 corporations in more than 60 countries. Prior to joining AirPlus International, Andreas Hagenbring spent altogether ten years in senior management roles in Mergers & Acquisitions and Investor Relations of Lufthansa Group. Previously, he was Project Manager Mergers & Acquisition at the auditing firm Ernst & Young and a German private bank. Andreas Hagenbring has studied International Management in Malente and Chelmsford.

David Harrison
Founder & Director, PaySavi

David has over 20 years’ experience in the payments industry and was previously with a major UK Commercial Card issuer before being asked to join Visa Europe. He has held a series of senior leadership positions including Head of Commercial Card Products, Head of Government Services, Head of European Market Development and Regulatory Workstream leader.

David established PaySavi in 2018 to develop payment optimisation, data and business development solutions for service providers and their clients. Based in London, PaySavi provides access to experts in business development, proposition development, research and data architecture based in Europe and Asia Pacific.

In addition to working with issuer, acquirer, fintech, government and end user clients, PaySavi works with regulators and business associations. Its sister company, SaviCom, provides advisory and implementation services on GDPR, PSD2 and IFR.

Chris Holmes
SVP, KAE Consulting

Chris is a Senior Vice President at KAE, the strategic marketing consultancy. Chris joined KAE in 2007 and during this time, he has managed multiple high profile global projects across the payments space (focusing on various issuing and acquiring topics across both the commercial and consumer payments sectors), banking, FinTech, AltFi and telco industries. His specialist skills are geared to NPD, market sizing and opportunity assessments, benchmarking, and best practice identification. He also heads KAE’s FinTech practice as well as KAE’s wider marketing and business development activity. Chris holds a BSc (Hons) Business Studies degree from the Cass Business School and is also a qualified professional marketer (DipM) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Prior to joining KAE, Chris provided market research and consultancy support on Responsible Business Practice and international development opportunities for the UK Food and Drink industry.

Helen Jones
Head of Business Solutions, Europe, Visa

Helen joined Visa from Basware where she led their Financial Services Product group developing B2B solutions for Global Financial Institutions. Prior to Basware, Helen held leadership roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Transaction Services business in Transaction Management, Commercial Card solutions, and operations.

Prior to joining the GTS business at BAML, Helen began her career at MBNA in consumer and small business cards. Helen was also part of BAML’s European senior female leadership group where she actively mentored, coached and developed junior female talent.

Jacco Kort
Product Owner, ING Commercial Cards

Jacco is central Product Owner Commercial Cards. Prior to this role, he was Head of Product Commercial Cards within ING. The ING Commercial Cards product coverage spans travel and expense and purchase to pay solutions for clients in the SME, Mid corporate public and corporate sector. He has over 18 year’s experience in banking and an extensive background in Retail and Wholesale payments, product management, marketing, issuing and acquiring. This includes several product launches, post-merger integrations as well as high profile strategic projects within the payment space. Jacco holds a degree in Business economics, IT audit and recently acquired Stanford’s LEAD certificate in Corporate Innovation.

Dean Leavitt
Chairman & CEO, Boost Payment Solutions

Dean Leavitt is the founder and CEO of Boost Payment Solutions, the only acquirer in the United States focused exclusively on the business-to-business electronic payments. Dean is a well-respected veteran of the electronic payments industry with nearly 25 years of experience in various leadership roles at both public and private companies. Dean has received numerous awards from his industry peers and is often asked to speak at industry events. Dean currently serves on the advisory board of Commercial Payments International, having previously served two terms on the board of directors of the Electronic Transaction Association. Dean holds a B.A. with high honors from Emory University, where he served on the college’s Alumni Board of Trustees from 2002-2008.

Allister Mitchell
Director, Cards & Product Channel Management, Silicon Valley Bank

Allister has worked across the Banking and Payments Industry for over 20 years, helping organisations assess new markets, build infrastructure, undertake integrations and transform P&L’s. His roles have spanned strategy development & execution, product innovation & development, commercialising technology, customer portfolio management, business development, partnerships and channel management.

His experience in financial services cut across payments, ecommerce, process and user digitisation, data products, emarket places and policy compliance. Allister has previously held senior roles with leading brands, Fleetcor Technologies, Lloyds Bank, mastercard and Royal Bank of Scotland Group, across multiple countries and regions. He holds a Food Manufacturing & Business Management degree, post graduate Diploma in Marketing and Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Marc Pettican
Managing Director, Commercial Payments, Barclaycard

With over 20 years in the payments arena, Marc Pettican has seen significant development in technology and innovation across the payments industry, and has been a driving force in shaping new propositions for Barclaycard’s corporate portfolio. Marc joined Barclays over two decades ago and has extensive experience in acquiring, Payment Gateways, Data Security and Commercial Payments. He has undertaken a succession of senior leadership & general management roles in Barclaycard, covering Small Business through to Global Corporate. More recently he spent two years transitioning The Logic Group technology provider into Barclaycard post acquisition, and is now in his current role as Managing Director for Barclaycard Commercial Payments, overseeing the adoption of B2B & Virtual payments across all segments.

Steve Robson
Head of Wholesale Cards, EMEA, Citi

Steve has been the EMEA Head of Wholesale Cards since June 2012, with responsibility for Commercial Cards and Prepaid. He joined Citi in January 2010 and prior to working in Cards he was the EMEA Head of Business Development for Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions. Steve has more than 20 years’ experience of financial services and product management in the UK and continental Europe. He previously worked for Barclays and Barclaycard in the UK and France in both Cash and Cards. He holds a BA Hons degree in French and Economics and a Masters in French Literature and holds the Chartered Institute of Marketing Post Graduate Diploma and the Association of Corporate Treasurers Cert. Cash Management.

Reza Satongar
Founder & CEO, Dataflexnet

Reza Satongar is the founder and CEO of UK-based Dataflexnet Limited. Dataflexnet provides innovative solutions for 3 main sectors: travel agents, corporate travel managers, and credit card companies. Dataflexnet has nearly 25 years’ experience working with blue-chip companies, having developed a range of products and services for online bookings, expense management, T&E and PSP. With Virtual Card System, SharePay, and Authentication System, Dataflexnet has introduced services designed specifically to help the payment processing industry overcome the challenges of recently introduced security and data sharing regulations. With FlexUTN the company provides a Virtual Card platform delivering the highest levels of payment security and process excellence.

Brian Tomkins
European Head of Corporate Cards, HSBC Global Payment & Cash Management Group

Brian Tomkins is European Head of Corporate Cards for HSBC’s Global Payment and Cash Management Group. He leads the European strategy, development and commercialisation for the full suite of Corporate Card Products and solutions. Prior to joining HSBC, Brian was Vice President of Commercial Cards for Citibank’s Treasury and Trade Solutions business, where he was responsible for the Product Strategy & Development of Business to Business Commercial Card Payment Solutions. He started his career with Diners Club International and subsequently spent 15 years with Citibank. During his tenure at Citibank, he held numerous management positions in the Consumer and Commercial Card divisions, including Operations, Customer Service, Project and Product Management and spent several years working internationally.

David Voss
Head of Commercial Card, MEA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

David Voss is head of Commercial Cards, Global Transaction Services, for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He is responsible for product management, new business growth, sales support and account management for the EMEA commercial cards platform. Voss also works with all regions to develop the company’s card capabilities globally. Voss joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch in May, 2017 and has more than 18 years of experience in the cards industry. He has held a variety of senior sales, product and account management roles across Europe, including with G.E, Lufthansa AirPlus and most recently in consumer cards. He is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt process practitioner. Voss is based in London and speaks fluent French and German.

Ajay Adiseshann
Founder & CEO, Paymate

Ajay is a technology entrepreneur with strong experience in building and leading successful technology companies. In 2006, he founded PayMate India Pvt. Ltd. with an aim to introduce mobile payments in the country. Over the years, he transformed PayMate into a leading B2B digital payments provider in India. Prior to PayMate, Ajay founded and grew Coruscant Tec, an early leader in mobile content, that offered VAS services to leading Indian Telecom companies for a number of years. The company was sold to Mukta Arts a listed media firm in 2008

Amer Qavi
CEO, Swipezoom

Amer Qavi is Founder & CEO of Swipezoom, a fintech company that develops and markets SaaS-based solutions for the B2C and B2B sectors. Amer’s experience as a problem solving entrepreneur spans 27 years across several industries such as healthcare, hospitality, telecommunications and IT and include notable exits from businesses he founded along the way. Prior to that, he has held numerous positions within the healthcare industry. As a certified clinical specialist, he has trained Ophthalmic, ENT and Neuro surgeons on the use of minimally invasive surgery and laser based procedures; has been involved in setting up master distribution networks for ICU Medical, 3M, Alcon and Johnson & Johnson and helped architect numerous government-backed healthcare initiatives, most notably in the area of laser surgery and infection control. He is a regular speaker at entrepreneurship, e-commerce and technology industry events; is an e-exporting advisor to the UK Department for International Trade (DIT), has held steering positions in entrepreneurship organizations, such as the EO and MBRE, and is a mentor to several technology startups. Amer studied Bioengineering at Texas A&M University.

Arda Yağcıoğlu
Corporate & Commercial Cards Payment Solutions Senior Manager, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

Arda is leading Commercial Credit and Debit Card Payments Solutions (Business, T&E and P-Cards) and UAEPGS at ADCB. With over 15 years of experience in the card payment systems and financial industry, he has also held key roles in product management & development, partnership management, strategy and marketing. Prior to joining ADCB he was based in Istanbul where covered an affluent Miles Program at Akbank, implemented a B2B commercial card product at Finansbank and launched and leaded the sales of Amex Corporate Card in Garanti Bank. He holds a BA in Political Science and MSc in European Ecomonics. He is married with a 5-year-old daughter.

Feroz Khan
Director, Corporate Cards Solutions & Retail Cards Acquisitions, Majid Al Futtaim Finance

Feroz is currently heading Corporate Cards Business & Retail Cards Acquisitions for Majid Al Futtaim Finance in the United Arab Emirates and successfully leading the Digital Transformation of customer on-boarding process. He oversees the Corporate Cards Business covering T&E, Purchase Card & Central Travel Account solutions along with responsibility for new customer acquisition for retail cards. He has spent over 18 years in payment business and has held senior leadership roles covering product, portfolio, partnerships and sales management areas. Before joining Majid Al Futtaim, he worked with several prestigious global and regional financial institutions including Citibank, Barclays, Mashreq & Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

Gouranga (GD) Dhanagare
VP, Commercial Cards Head, MENAPT, Citi

GD is the VP and Commercial Cards Head in MENAPT cluster, based in Dubai, UAE. His professional experience spans 25+ years, encompassing key roles in Global Program Leadership, Strategic Client Partnerships, Business Development, E-commerce Product Development and Project Management – within the Financial Services (Commercial Payments & Cards), Business Travel and Airline sectors. He joined Citi in 2016 – after having relocated to Dubai in 2013 as the Commercial Payments Solutions (CPS) business leader for MasterCard Middle East & Africa – responsible for Strategy, Product Management, Issuer Enablement and B2B / SME Partnerships. Prior to his Middle East move, GD had an extensive tenure with American Express, based in Sydney, Australia – covering regional and global Client Relationships, E-commerce Product Management and Business Transformation projects – in the Asia-Pacific region. GD holds a Computer Science degree, with progressive Management Studies and Project Management qualifications.

Kailash Nair
Head of Commercial Cards, MENAT, HSBC

Mark Turner
Chief Commercial Officer, Vice President Global Commercial Card , American Express Saudi Arabia

Mark Turner is Chief Commercial Officer and Vice President of the Commercial Card Group at American Express Saudi Arabia. In this role Mark is responsible for the Commercial Card business. He is also responsible for bank partnerships and the associated product development. He champions corporate payment innovation and advises senior executives on their digital/enterprise payments across all industries, in many cases designing new and complex solutions from a suite of Islamic based products. Mark leads the digital corporate product development to ensure the company provides relevant next generation solutions for his clients. Prior to this Mark was the Chief Strategy Officer for Saudi Arabia leading the Strategic Partnership Group in Saudi Arabia. Mark spent 8 years in Singapore as Vice President Asia Pacific leading various regional businesses. During Mark’s tenure in Asia, he was responsible for significantly expanding American Express’ footprint across the JAPA region, re-designing and successfully growing various business lines, in addition, he was also responsible for leading the Joint Venture & Acquisitions group. This included successfully leading and concluding market entry with the first equity based joint venture for The American Express Company (AXP) to the People’s Republic of China. Mark joined American Express in 1990, and has held various senior executive roles across 4 Continents managing and growing both card issuing and acquiring businesses around the globe. Mark was educated in the UK and holds an MBA in Business Studies from Hull University UK and holds an Honorary Professorship by Guangzhou University, PR China. Mark is married, enjoys travelling and the occasional round of golf.

Nicki Bisgaard
Group Head, PayTech Group

Rakesh Khanna
VP, Head of Business Solutions for CEMEA, Visa

Rakesh Khanna is the Vice President, Business solutions head for CEMEA at Visa Inc. focused on commercializing and executing key solutions for Small, middle & large market and the public sector. He is responsible for the strategy and delivery of Visa’s business solutions for the region. He joined Visa in 2014 as head for CEMEA and also managed the European region for Large Market from Oct 2016-May 2018.

Rakesh has 20 years of experience across financial services and banking. He joined Visa in Nov 2014 from Standard Chartered Bank where he spent 10 years in London and Singapore heading strategic products and solutions for the bank globally that included lending and Asset backed finance. His last position was the Global Head product for Receivables Services & Invoice financing. Prior to this, he was with GE in a variety of roles in India, US & London spanning sales, relationship management, change and transformation roles including Six Sigma and Lean initiatives.

Raman Arora
Head Commercial Card Product, AVP, Emirates NBD

A Banking Professional specializing in payments with over 18 years of experience in this field spanning across two countries and seven organizations. By virtue of working in all the major functions, have acquired in-depth learning on the lifecycle of a payment card. Currently working as Head of Commercial Cards in Emirates NBD, Dubai. All-inclusive role involving Product Management, Business Development and Relationship Management. Involved in formulating strategies, leading initiatives, identifying next big opportunity and enhancing product proposition through tie ups or technology. Skills Acquired – Acquisition, Distribution Channels, Business Development, Account Management and Product Management.

Virginia Reinecke
VP, Commercial Product Lead, Mastercard

Virginia Reinecke is a seasoned Commercial payments expert having worked in the industry since 2003. As the MEA Commercial lead, she is responsible for defining and executing the overall Product strategy for Commercial and critical segments such as SME, T&E, and B2B. The responsibilities include the go-to-market approach, pricing, distribution, and portfolio optimization. Commercial Products Solutions presents a significant opportunity for MEA region. The program has experienced substantial growth in the last few years, being one of the leading segments for Mastercard.

Since joining Mastercard in 2013 Virginia (“Jimi”) has served as the Commercial lead for South Africa and more recently Southern Africa. During this time Virginia was instrumental in defining and executing the Commercial strategy for SA that is differentiating us in the market and helping us gain market share in the division. Prior to joining Mastercard, Virginia spent most of her working life with the Citi EMEA Commercial card business serving in roles across Implementation, Product and Sales with key achievements being launching their local card operations in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. Virginia started her career at Westpac Bank in Australia. She is married with two children, and enjoys playing team sports.

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Europe