The Issuer Academy: Innovate. Scale. Impact

Episódios

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  Boring is the Destination: Why Stablecoins Will Win When Nobody Notices Them 22.06.2026 32min

  Stablecoins are no longer just a crypto conversation. They are becoming a practical layer of global payment infrastructure. In this episode of The Issuer Academy: Innovate. Scale. Impact, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Stefan Colins, COO at Venly Finance, and Tim Joslyn, CTO at Paymentology, to explore how stablecoins, cards, wallets, and traditional rails are converging to make payments faster, cheaper, and almost invisible to end users.
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  Localisation as a Superpower: Building in South Africa’s Payments Market with Bank Zero 31.03.2026 17min

  Digital banking, fintech innovation, and payments infrastructure are reshaping financial services worldwide. And South Africa is becoming one of the most interesting markets to watch. In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Lezanne Human, Co-founder at Bank Zero, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they explore how a branchless, zero-fee digital bank is partnering with a global payments infrastructure leader to unlock South Africa’s massive untapped market and redefine alliance banking across emerging markets.
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  How Chikwama Pay Is Building a Borderless Bank on WhatsApp 10.03.2026 16min

  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.
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  Embedded Finance and Earned Wage Access: How Payroll Is Redefining Financial Wellness 24.02.2026 29min

  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.
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  Dignity by Design: How UnDosTres is Expanding Access to Credit Across Latin America 11.02.2026 37min

  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.
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  How Stablecoins Are Powering Everyday Payments 21.01.2026 33min

  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.
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  2025 Rewind: Lessons, Leaders & the Road to 2026 18.12.2025 41min

  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.
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  Why Credit Is the Next Big Battleground for Digital Banks 03.12.2025 47min

  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.
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  Inside Snappi, Greece's First Digital-Only Bank 19.11.2025 54min

  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.
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  Profit Meets Purpose: The New Era of Inclusive Finance 05.11.2025 52min

  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.
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  Why Everyone Is Betting Big on Saudi Arabia’s Fintech Surge 21.10.2025 31min

  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.
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  Fintech Built for Saudi, Connected to the World 08.10.2025 37min

  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.”
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  Innovation, Inclusion, and Impact: The Future of MENA Finance 18.09.2025 50min

  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.
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  Fraud vs Innovation: The Thin Line in Digital Banking 10.09.2025 1h 6min

  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.
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  How Word-of-Mouth Built South Africa's First Black-Owned Unicorn Bank 27.08.2025 40min

  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.
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  Go Global, Think Local: Why Winning in Payments Is a Regional Game 13.08.2025 39min

  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.
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  The Rise of the Companion Card: Powering Africa’s Mobile-First Economy 30.07.2025 23min

  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.
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  Beyond Access: Can Tech Raise a Financially Empowered Generation? 16.07.2025 45min

  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.
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  Smarter Cards, Simpler Stacks: Innovating at the Infrastructure Layer 01.07.2025 35min

  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.
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  In the AI Stampede, Who’s Stopping to Ask the Right Questions? [LIVE FROM MONEY 2020] 11.06.2025 38min

  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.