Roger Alexander is acknowledged as an industry expert and a veteran of the cards industry; he had a long and successful career at Barclays Bank including over 20 years at Barclaycard where he had a number of different roles in both the acquiring and issuing businesses. Since leaving Barclays he has been CEO of S2 (aka Switch), the UK’s original domestic card scheme, and President/CEO of Elavon Merchant Services, one of Europe’s foremost acquiring businesses. For the last 25 years Roger has had a portfolio of NED roles with both public and private companies in Europe and the USA. He also acts as an Advisor to CEOs of technology and financial businesses and sits on the Payments Advisory Board of Pennies, the UK’s Payments Industry Charity. Roger is a graduate of London University and has gained a reputation for strategic thought and innovation.

Sandra Alzetta

Sandra is a Non-Executive Director and advisor specialising in fintech, payments and digital transformation. She is currently an Independent NED of Boku Inc., a global provider of localized payment solutions, and of Fabrick SpA, an open finance fintech within the Sella Group. Sandra previously spent over seven years at Spotify as Vice President, Global Head of Payments and Customer Service where she helped build one of the world’s largest subscription merchants during a period of rapid international growth. She supported a business serving more than 750 million users - including 300 million paying subscribers - across 184 countries, leading the building and scaling of Spotify's global payments infrastructure and partner ecosystem. She subsequently broadened her remit to include global customer service, focusing on improving customer experience, including the application of automation and AI-driven transformation initiatives. Prior to Spotify, Sandra provided strategic consultancy to fintech businesses, including leading product and marketing at a fintech specialising in digital custody and settlement services. Sandra’s career is anchored by nearly three decades at Visa, where she held a range of senior leadership roles, including SVP of Core Products, Innovation, Acceptance and Mobile for Europe. During her time at Visa, she pioneered the adoption and scale of contactless and mobile payments across Europe. Earlier in her career, she led Visa’s Southern Europe business. Sandra’s career is anchored by nearly three decades at Visa, where she held a range of senior leadership roles across core products, mobile payments, innovation, and acceptance. During her time at Visa, she pioneered the adoption and scale of contactless and mobile payments across Europe. Earlier in her career, she led Visa’s Southern Europe business. An engineer by background, Sandra began her career working in robotics and manufacturing operations while completing her MEng with IBM sponsorship.

Mark is the Managing Director of Loyalty Consulting UK Ltd, (LCUK), one of the foremost boutique consultancy practices focused entirely on loyalty techniques and best practices for consumers and businesses. Prior to his creation of LCUK, Mark worked in the IT industry, predominantly in the international retail banking market. Mark speaks regularly at conferences and with many years of international experience. He has a vast knowledge of the full spectrum of issues and opportunities surrounding the world of CRM and loyalty together with a deep understanding of the retail financial services industry.

Sarah's role is to focus on driving strategic initiatives and value creation, identifying opportunities to enhance business performance, strengthen client relationships, and support sustainable growth. She brings more than 25 years of varied leadership experience across TSYS, Contis, Williams Lea, and GE Capital Consumer Finance. Throughout her career, she has led client relationships, led client contracting strategies, led business development, led contract negotiations, and led cross-functional initiatives, ensuring alignment between client needs and business objectives. Most recently, she led commercial strategy and client contracting for TSYS’s international processing business, and laterally held responsibility for client contracting across Total Issuing Solutions at FIS. With extensive experience in the payments and financial services industry, she specialises in building strong client partnerships, leading complex commercial negotiations, and identifying opportunities that deliver sustainable, long-term value. She is passionate about fostering trusted relationships, delivering exceptional client experiences, and helping organisations navigate the evolving payments landscape through shared commercial value, operational excellence, and strategic growth.

Robert is a valued and highly respected industry expert with a distinguished career in the card and payments industry. Robert has deep expertise in digital assets and e-money, and is highly skilled in all aspects of consumer finance issues, including banking regulation and compliance, consumer protection and AML/CTF. He was regularly named a key player in the Payments Power 10 (including #1 in 2015), a highly competitive ranking of the influential contributors in payments. Previously, Robert achieved success as a senior legal professional specialising in matters relating to cards and payments. He regularly speaks on issues facing the European Payments’ Industry including laws relating to Electronic Money, Payment Services, AML/CTF, Digital Assets and CBDCs.

A highly respected and talented business leader, with almost 50 years of experience in Banking and Payments, the last 25 of which have been in Senior Executive and Board roles. Chris is renowned for his strong leadership qualities and ability to deliver significant results, evidenced through his participation in several game-changing activities over many years of consistent achievement. Driven by a strong work ethic, a creative mind and highly tuned leadership and communication skills, Chris delivers a winning balance of leadership and people management, strategic thinking and practical implementation that brings short, medium and long term success. From 2013 to 2022, reporting initially to the Group CEO and subsequently the President and COO, Chris led the European business of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading payments technology company delivering innovative software and services to customers in over 100 countries. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with nearly 24,000 team members worldwide, Global Payments is a Fortune 500® company. He retired from his executive role in April 2022, but remained as a Non-Executive Director for several of Global Payments’ active business units in the UK, Spain, Portugal and Ireland until February 2023. Since then, Chris has begun to build a portfolio of roles where he can continue to contribute to the payments industry, with an emphasis on growth strategies and on executive development. He remains open to further opportunities of this nature.

Úna Dillon is Regional Director Europe for the PCI Security Standards Council. She is 30 years in the payments industry and has held various roles including payments advisor to Financial Regulators, policy makers, standards bodies, and card schemes, influencing change globally. Advisor on the European Commission Payments Systems Market Expert Group, was on the Board of EMVCo and she was Chair of the European Payments Council Card Fraud Prevention Expert Group for several years. She has been a Judge for these awards for 2 1years running.

Dave Edwards is Vice President of Demand Generation at American Express, International Card Services. He has a longstanding marketing career in the financial services sector, and at American Express holds a broad brief that sees him lead the demand generation team in the UK for all its varied customers, spanning both consumer and business audiences. Dave plays a central part of the brand’s efforts to understand and connect with its prospective Cardmembers, increasingly made up of Millennials and Gen Z cohorts, by focusing on their priorities and interests. His role covers brand marketing, card acquisition and Amex’s UK Experiences programme which includes high-profile sponsorships such as London Restaurant Festival, National Theatre and Somerset House Summer Series. In addition Dave spearheads innovative initiatives like the Amex Gold Unsigned programme – a ground-breaking campaign that helps champion, support and platform unsigned and emerging music artists in the UK.

Michelle Johnson is an independent consultant specialising in payments innovation and AI adoption. With over 20 years in global fintech, including senior leadership roles at Littlepay and Fexco Payments & FX, she has delivered large‑scale operational and commercial transformations across FX, open‑loop transit, and merchant services. A frequent speaker on human‑centric AI, Michelle focuses on how emerging technologies are shaping the future of the payments industry

Kelley C. Knutson is one of the payments industry’s most respected global leaders, bringing almost four decades of experience across issuing, payments technology, fintech, consumer finance, and financial services. He currently serves as Chief Growth Officer for Total Issuing Solutions (TIS), part of FIS, where he leads the company’s growth organization encompassing sales, account management, business development, partnerships, and commercialization initiatives. Throughout his distinguished career, Kelley has held senior executive leadership positions with FIS, Global Payments, TSYS, Netspend, GE Capital, Visa International, and Clear Money Ltd. He has led businesses across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, earning a reputation for driving growth, innovation, strategic transformation, and strong client relationships across the global payments ecosystem. Kelley has also served on numerous boards and advisory organizations, including M&S Money, the Prepaid International Forum (PIF), Clear Money Ltd., Dione plc, China UnionPay Data, and other payments and financial services ventures. His extensive international experience is complemented by nearly 30 years living and working in the United Kingdom, giving him a unique global perspective on payments innovation, regulation, and industry evolution. A long-standing supporter of excellence within the payments industry, Kelley has been involved with The Card & Payments Awards since its earliest years in the United Kingdom. As a judge, industry advocate, and executive sponsor representing TSYS, he helped support and celebrate the organizations, innovations, and leaders that have shaped the modern payments landscape. TSYS served as a Prime Sponsor of the awards during the formative years of the program, reflecting Kelley’s commitment to recognizing industry achievement and advancing innovation across the sector. As Chairman of The Card & Payments Awards USA, Kelley brings deep industry expertise, global perspective, and a long-standing passion for recognizing excellence across the payments ecosystem. His leadership will help ensure the awards maintain the independence, credibility, and high standards that have made The Card & Payments Awards one of the industry’s most respected recognition programs, while supporting its expansion and growth in the United States market. In addition to his current executive responsibilities, Kelley is founder of Future of Payments LLC, an advisory and thought leadership platform focused on the future of financial services, payments innovation, leadership, and industry transformation. He is also an active mentor, investor, board advisor, and community advocate dedicated to developing the next generation of industry leaders

Richard is a recognised authority in the payments space, having worked in the industry for over 25 years. Blending market experience, expansive knowledge of the political and regulatory landscape with new and emerging technologies, he is committed to designing and delivering innovation and championing customer propositions and outcomes.

Ray McDonnell is Founder & Managing Director of RMD Payments Solutions and a senior financial services leader with 18 years of experience at J.P. Morgan in several senior roles. As Managing Director and Co-Head of EU Merchant Services his focus was on fostering a team recognised for unparalleled expertise in customer relationship management and strategic sales execution. He has expertise in payments and leads high-impact digital transformation initiatives within the financial services industry, leveraging technology to drive operational efficiency and enhance customer experience. Ray has achieved significant business growth while building and developing international teams, and is recognised as a strong influencer, relationship developer, and networker. He has also expanded international presence and market share by creating innovative solutions and strategic partnerships.

Tania is the Global Head of B2B Travel for Visa Commercial Solutions, where she responsible for the creation and execution of the business strategy for this rapidly evolving, high growth vertical segment. Bringing more than 25 years of experience in the payments, financial services and telecommunications sectors, Tania has led successful businesses around the world. Prior to joining Visa in early 2024, she managed the Commercial team at Outpayce from Amadeus, serving the global travel ecosystem with new advances in payments. Tania has also previously held senior business development roles at American Express, MasterCard Payment Gateway Services, Vodafone and IDT. In addition to nurturing client and partner relationships and driving business performance, she is passionate about developing teams and is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion. She is also a volunteer trustee on the board of Food Bank Aid - a London charity that supplies over 30 food banks across the region.

Candice Pressinger is Director of Customer Data Security at Elavon Merchant Services, one of the world’s largest payments companies. Candice leads Elavon’s data security products, services and consulting solutions helping protect businesses from payments fraud, data breaches and other security threats. Most recently, she launched a Transaction Risk Analysis service to help merchants process payments without friction and maintain low rates of fraud, in line with the Second Payments Services Directive (PSD2). She works closely with some of Europe’s largest retailers including: Inditex, Primark and BP. Prior to Elavon, Candice spent over a decade at British Telecom, serving as Head of Group PCI-DSS Compliance, and leading a team of 100 professionals to implement PCI Data Security globally for 27 platforms, 80 third-party suppliers and 80m transactions per year. As a recognised industry awards winner, Candice balances the world of payments and data security with being a mum of three and likes cycling, travelling and theatre.

Jon leads Mastercard’s UK & Ireland product and solutions team with over 20 years of experience shaping the future of payments. Passionate about innovation, he’s worked at Fiserv & HSBC leading on contactless, mobile wallets, and tokenisation, helping organisations navigate change and develop new payment solutions.