Claim OwnershipThe Issuer Academy: Innovate. Scale. Impact
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Welcome to The Issuer Academy: Paymentology’s Podcast to Innovate, Scale, and Provide Impact. Every week, we unlock the secrets behind transformative card programmes and next-generation payment experiences.
Through in-depth conversations with industry leaders, real-world case studies, and technical deep-dives, we explore how advanced payment solutions can overcome traditional barriers and open new markets.
Whether you're a startup founder, a retail banking executive, or a fintech enthusiast ready to reimagine the future of payments, join us as we decode emerging trends, debunk industry myths, and share the strategic insights that fuel innovation and impact across the globe.
Through in-depth conversations with industry leaders, real-world case studies, and technical deep-dives, we explore how advanced payment solutions can overcome traditional barriers and open new markets.
Whether you're a startup founder, a retail banking executive, or a fintech enthusiast ready to reimagine the future of payments, join us as we decode emerging trends, debunk industry myths, and share the strategic insights that fuel innovation and impact across the globe.
22 Episodes
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Cross-border payments remain one of the biggest barriers to financial inclusion across Africa. While people travel, trade, and work across borders every day, their money often doesn’t move as freely. In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Smangele Khumalo, Chief Operating Officer at Chikwama Pay. Together, they discuss how the company is building a borderless digital bank designed for the way Africans live and trade.
Embedded finance, payroll-linked lending, and earned wage access are reshaping financial wellness across the GCC. In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Dr. Allan Villegas, Co-founder and CEO of Liabify, and Tim Joslyn, CTO of Paymentology. Together, they share insights on how earned wage access, alternative credit scoring, and financial wellness platforms are transforming the way people interact with money across the GCC and other emerging markets.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Arpit Gupta, Co-founder at UnDosTres, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they dive into what it really takes to move a cash-first economy into digital-first behavior.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Jonathan Chan, Co-founder and Head of Partnership at RedotPay, and Minh Ha Truong, Head of Growth for APAC at Paymentology. Together, they explore why stablecoins are reshaping cross-border payments and how blockchain technology is driving real financial inclusion.
In this special year-end episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu looks back at the standout moments that defined 2025 for issuers, digital banks, and fintechs. From bold predictions on the end of plastic cards to the rise of agentic AI, this best-of compilation brings together the sharpest insights from leaders at Mastercard, Visa, Paymentology, Apis Partners, Snappi, and more.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by David B. Shipper, a Strategic Advisor for Retail Banking and Payments at Datos Insights, and Rob Macmillan, the Group Product Manager for Credit at Paymentology. Together, they discuss how digital banks and fintechs are redefining credit, from instant approvals and hyper-personalization to embedded lending and next-gen infrastructure.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Efi Chatziantoniou, Chief Operating Officer of Snappi; Leda Glyptis, a client-first executive, advisor, author, and speaker; and Julie Sutton, Head of Growth for Europe at Paymentology. Together, they break down how Snappi built trust, simplified banking, and leapfrogged legacy systems in one of Europe's most traditionally branch-led markets.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Adam Battersby, a Partner at Apis Partners, and Joy Macknight, a Financial Journalist, Editor, and Presenter. Together, they unpack how global investing is reshaping financial inclusion, from Buy-Now-Pay-Later innovations to AI-driven personalization.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Birce Arslan, the VP of Fintech and Business Development for EEMEA at Mastercard, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they explore Saudi Arabia’s emerging fintech ecosystem, the key factors driving its explosive growth, and how Vision 2030 is creating unprecedented opportunities for payment solutions.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Bassam Aleidy, CEO of Enjaz, Ibrahim Farag, Chief Product and Growth Officer at Enjaz, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they dive into how Saudi Arabia is revolutionizing digital payments, with 79% of retail transactions now being cashless, and examine how companies like Enjaz are building innovative solutions that are “Built for Saudi, Connected to the World.”
In this episode of The Issuer Academy, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Godfrey Sullivan, SVP of Products & Solutions at Visa CEMEA, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they explore why MENA is emerging as the world’s next fintech powerhouse, how innovation in remittances, credit, and stablecoins is transforming financial access, and why collaboration between global networks and agile processors is critical for building the next generation of financial services.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Paul Trueman, Executive Vice President of Cyber and Intelligence at Mastercard, and Stephen Bowe, Chief Product Officer at Paymentology. Together, they unpack the fine line where innovation meets fraud, revealing how scams are becoming hyper-personalised, why tokenisation and one-time-use cards are game-changers, and how AI is both a security superpower and a scammer's weapon.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Rohit Subramanian, Chief Strategy Officer at TymeBank, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they explore how TymeBank became South Africa's first black-owned digital bank to achieve unicorn status.
In this special edition of The Issuer Academy, host Merusha Naidu brings together Paymentology’s regional leaders and Chief Revenue Officer Anna Porra for a rare behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to scale card programs globally. From APAC’s super app ecosystem to Latin America’s fast-paced fintech growth, the Middle East’s compliance-first innovation, and Europe’s cash-to-contactless transformation, this conversation unpacks how local realities shape global fintech success.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Julius Abuje is joined by Alfred Mukudu, a Financial Services Go-To-Market Leader at Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Naima Yusuf, Head of Business Payments at M-Pesa Africa. Together, they dive into the growing role of companion cards in Africa's mobile money ecosystem.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Theo Kitshoff, CEO and Co-founder of Sticitt, and Drisha Kirkman, Head of Programme Management and Sustainability (MD South Africa) for Paymentology. Together, they explore the intersection of financial literacy and technological innovation.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Carl Raven, Head of Issuer Enablers at Visa, and Thomas Benjaminsen Normann, Product Director of Digital Services at Paymentology. Together, they dive into what it really means to innovate in issuing, from AI agents and tokenization to flex cards, cloud-first infrastructure, subscription managers, and ecosystem partnerships.
![In the AI Stampede, Who’s Stopping to Ask the Right Questions? [LIVE FROM MONEY 2020]](https://s3.castbox.fm/d2/6f/86/5a4297d8c08726d0f7e4bb795542f319eb_scaled_v1_400.jpg "In the AI Stampede, Who’s Stopping to Ask the Right Questions? [LIVE FROM MONEY 2020]")
In this special live episode from Money 2020 Europe in Amsterdam, host Merusha Naidu explores the AI revolution in payments with Theodora Lau, founder of Unconventional Ventures and author of "Banking on Artificial Intelligence," and Tim Joslyn, CTO at Paymentology. Together, they unpack the realities of AI in financial services, what’s working, what’s performative, and what’s missing the mark. They explore how AI is improving productivity, speeding up onboarding, powering internal support, and automating loan origination, while also confronting the risks of bias, misuse, and hype-driven decision-making.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Leda Glyptis, Author, Advisor, Chair of Bourn AI and Professor at the University of Loughborough, Pauline Molloyi, Acting COO at OM Bank, South Africa's newest digital bank, and Anna Porra, CRO at Paymentology. Together, they navigate redesigning financial systems for true inclusion and impact in South Africa and beyond.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Michael Galvin, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Toqio, and Ignacio Gironella Merino, Head of Sales Europe at Paymentology and Global Sales Director at MeaWallet. Together, they discuss how tokenization is revolutionising payment security, why cards are becoming the backbone of embedded finance platforms, and how businesses are leveraging these technologies to create seamless, secure customer experiences.
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