Iana Dimitrova, CEO of OpenPayd
Iana Dimitrova, CEO of OpenPayd, discussed the significant changes in embedded finance and the payments landscape over the past three years. She highlighted the rise of blockchain technology and the increasing adoption of stablecoins as key developments. Dimitrova noted a shift in perception, with blockchain now being understood for its utility beyond Bitcoin, leading to a demand for interoperability between fiat and digital assets. OpenPayd has focused on building a platform that connects traditional finance with digital assets, allowing customers to choose between fiat and blockchain payment rails.
Regarding the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MICA) regulation, Dimitrova sees it as a crucial framework for driving the adoption of stablecoins and improving cross-border payments and FX. She revealed that OpenPayd recently received a VAS license in Europe and is in the process of upgrading it to MICA, observing a growing demand from customers for stablecoin trading and global money management leveraging this infrastructure. MICA, she believes, provides the necessary assurance and trust for wider adoption, especially in regions outside Europe where stablecoins are addressing real-life payment problems not solvable by local fiat systems.
When questioned about platform security with digital assets, Dimitrova emphasised that MICA fosters enhanced customer protection, asset custody requirements, fund segregation, and stronger operational resilience. While acknowledging that some major stablecoins are excluded from MICA, she stressed the need for a comprehensive infrastructure that can operate both within and outside Europe to cater to all use cases.
On the topic of payment fraud, Dimitrova admitted there’s no single answer, describing it as an ongoing challenge due to the increasing sophistication of fraud, particularly with the rise of AI. She suggested that a combination of technology and human resources is essential to manage its evolving nature.
Finally, Dimitrova discussed the impact of AI on global payments. She stated that AI is already being used to improve back-end processes at OpenPayd, including customer success, sales, fraud management, and transaction monitoring.Looking ahead, she believes AI will be crucial in rationalising cross-border payments by selecting the most efficient routes for payments and currency exchange.
Pablo Villegas Garcia, EMEA Payments Head at AWS
Pablo Villegas Garcia, EMEA Payments Head at AWS, discussed key trends and innovations in the financial sector at Money20/20. He noted that the payments industry is projected to reach $3.1 trillion by 2028, driven by the digital economy.
Garcia highlighted three main trends: AI/Machine Learning, real-time payments, and the evolving threat landscape. He explained that AI, particularly GenAI and Agentic payments, is gaining traction, with examples such as Mastercard using AI/ML to significantly improve fraud detection. Real-time payments are becoming widespread, though they introduce challenges related to securing and monitoring transactions at scale, as demonstrated by JPMorgan’s real-time screening of trillions of dollars. The threat landscape is also shifting, with tools like FraudGPT and DarkBART aiding fraudsters, but cloud technologies are helping improve deepfake detection, with IDVerse achieving 99.99% accuracy.
Regarding payments innovation, Garcia expressed excitement about GenAI’s practical applications, such as generating suspicious activity reports and enhancing customer experience for fintechs like Remita. He also highlighted the transformative impact of GPU acceleration in speeding up real-time fraud detection and reducing costs, citing AWS’s partnership with Nvidia. While still in early stages, quantum computing, particularly with Amazon Braket, shows promise in improving fraud detection precision, as evidenced by a proof of concept with Deloitte Italy.
When discussing financial crime, Garcia identified authorised push payment (APP) fraud, synthetic ID fraud, and false positives as major concerns. APP fraud, which caused nearly half a billion pounds in losses in the UK alone, significantly impacts customers. Synthetic ID fraud is on the rise, with deepfake fraud spiking by over 3,000%. False positives, increasingly prevalent with more real-time payments, require leveraging technology and additional data to distinguish legitimate transactions from fraudulent ones.
Finally, Garcia addressed the role of industry consortiums in fraud prevention, noting both financial services-led groups like TMNL and broader industry consortiums such as Verafin. He emphasised that the crucial aspect for both types is the ability to share data securely and anonymously, ensuring privacy while effectively protecting genuine customers, especially as cross-border payments expand.
Eliza Wyman, Product Director for Identity and Fraud at Experian
Eliza Wyman, Product Director for Identity and Fraud at Experian, shed light on the escalating sophistication of global payment fraud. She referenced a Merchant Risk Council report that projects global losses from payment fraud to hit 3.2% of total annual e-commerce revenues by 2025, with small and medium-sized enterprises bearing the brunt of this impact.
Wyman highlighted three primary fraud concerns for Experian in the UK. Firstly, Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud continues to be a major operational hurdle for businesses. Secondly, she believes that money muling and scams are significantly underestimated by both the industry and consumers. Experian’s research indicates that while over half of consumers dismiss the idea of money muling applying to them, a substantial portion have encountered online solicitations for such illegal activities, and a notable percentage personally know individuals involved. Wyman stressed the urgent need for increased industry efforts to educate consumers about the repercussions of participating in these schemes. Thirdly, identity theft remains a top stressor for consumers and businesses alike, affecting one in three companies. Fraudsters now easily acquire personal data online or from the dark web, fabricating identities to secure credit cards, loans, or open accounts in victims’ names.
Despite the growing cunning of fraudsters, Wyman offered a positive outlook, noting that countermeasures are proving effective. She revealed that in the first quarter of 2025, nearly £130 million in third-party fraud losses were averted, an increase from £118 million in the corresponding period of 2024. Furthermore, the number of prevented fraudulent current and savings account openings surged by 92% year-on-year in Q1 2025, demonstrating improved organisational defences and strategic technology deployment.
Discussing deepfakes and Generative AI (GenAI) fraud, Wyman confirmed their difficulty for human detection and their status as a significant threat. Experian’s data indicates that 35% of UK businesses have been affected, with the impact on retail banks nearly doubling from 2024 to 48% in early 2025. Digital-only retailers have also been severely hit. Wyman urged organisations to deploy advanced AI technology to combat these threats, noting that a mere 23% of businesses are confident in their current tools, despite readily available solutions. She acknowledged that while consumers may be wary, they largely trust organisations to protect their data, underscoring the imperative for accelerated technology adoption.
Finally, addressing the challenge of balancing friction and convenience in fraud prevention, Wyman advocated for a real-time, risk-based, and dynamic approach. She proposed leveraging orchestration and decisioning platforms to apply specific verification measures only to suspicious transactions or users exhibiting unusual behaviour. This targeted approach, she explained, effectively reduces overall friction for legitimate customers while simultaneously lowering operational costs for businesses.
Shachar Bialick, Founder and CEO of Curve
Shachar Bialick, Founder and CEO of Curve, recently returned to the podcast, discussing the evolving landscape of digital wallets and the role of AI in global payments, as well as the impact of regulation.
Bialick stated that the “wallet wars” are primarily driven by the wallet offering the best customer experience and superior distribution. He drew a parallel to the Betamax vs. VHS era, suggesting that distribution scale is paramount for success. Companies like Curve achieve this scale through partnerships with issuers and OEMs (e.g., Samsung, Huawei, Swatch, Garmin) and payment networks (Mastercard, Visa, PayPal). While competition for the ultimate customer interface remains, he believes it necessitates strategic partnerships to achieve the necessary scale.
Regarding payment fraud, Bialick indicated that the advancement of digital wallets actually helps reduce it. By integrating with phone interfaces, wallets gain access to additional metadata such as geolocation, behavioural patterns, and device IDs. This richer data allows for better identification and prevention of fraud rings that might use similar devices to create multiple accounts.
When discussing AI’s impact on global payments, Bialick sees it as a significant opportunity for Curve. He explained that Curve was designed to be form-factor agnostic, supporting various payment methods from physical cards to digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and wearables. He anticipates that as agentic commerce (AI-driven purchasing) gains momentum, the customer interface for buying items will change. Bialick believes that agentic commerce will require wallets to integrate identity and payment access, making wallets essential for enabling AI-driven interactions with merchants. Curve, in this scenario, positions itself as the wallet provider that facilitates identity and payment access, collaborating with agentic AI to manage customer preferences and budgets.
Finally, Bialick addressed the impact of regulations on digital wallets, highlighting the significant role of the European Commission in opening up Apple’s NFC technology in Europe. He recounted “Project Elah,” Curve’s four-year effort to convince the European Commission that Apple’s restriction of alternative wallets to NFC was anticompetitive. This led to the European Commission’s decision in January 2024 to open the market for alternative wallets on Apple devices, which in turn prompted Apple to open NFC access globally by August 2024. Bialick noted that while this was a major victory for a level playing field, the UK’s implementation through the secure element adds development complexity and cost. He expressed hope that the UK will follow Europe’s lead in offering an easier NFC solution, expecting other global regulators to follow suit.
Gabriela Nistor, CEO of Salt Bank
Gabriela Nistor, CEO of Salt Bank, shared insights into the bank’s journey and its innovative approach to fraud prevention at Money20/20.
Salt Bank, Romania’s first neobank and a subsidiary of Banca Transilvania, launched just over a year ago and has already attracted half a million customers. Nistor explained that the bank’s foundation is built on technology from Engine by Starling Bank, chosen for its proven success and pre-integrated core banking, call centre, and card processing systems.
Nistor noted that common fraud types in Romania mirror European and global patterns, with social engineering being prevalent. Fraudsters often impersonate banks or other institutions to trick vulnerable individuals into revealing card details, clicking malicious links, or disclosing credentials. To combat this, Salt Bank has embedded trust and safety as a core value. Their cards, for instance, omit sensitive data, and higher payments require a second-factor password.
Inspired by Starling Bank and a conference presentation on protecting vulnerable individuals, Salt Bank recently launched two unique functionalities: “Call Monitor for your own protection” and “Help Mama.” “Call Monitor” allows customers to verify the legitimacy of a call from Salt Bank through a real-time banner in their app (green for legitimate, red for fraudulent). “Help Mama” is designed for parent protection, allowing adult children to become “protectors” for their parents. While protectors cannot access their parents’ funds or transactions to maintain privacy, they receive push notifications for suspicious payment requests made to their parents. This enables them to intervene if, for example, a parent is being scammed. Nistor emphasised that this product caters to the desire for both protection and independence among older adults, particularly those aged 60-80, and is unique in the market.
Looking ahead, Salt Bank plans further innovations in fraud prevention, including features to protect even older parents (over 80), where privacy concerns may be less critical than for younger age groups. This approach aims to provide peace of mind for Romanians working abroad, knowing their parents back home are protected. Nistor hinted at another new functionality under the trust and safety pillar, which she hopes to announce next year.
