Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based President operating in the Payments space. If you think a President is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Ling Hai
Co-President, Asia Pacific of Mastercard
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About Mastercard: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Ajay Bhalla
President, Cyber and Intelligence Solutions of Mastercard
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About Mastercard: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Paul Baker
Vice President Product Management, Identity Solutions, Cyber & Inteligence Solutions of Mastercard
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About Mastercard, Mastercard: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Paul Stoddart
President New Payment Platforms of Mastercard
Paul Stoddart is the Founder & Chairman of VocaLink & he attended Bangor University in 1994.
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About Mastercard, VocaLink: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Louise Holden
Vice President, Humanitarian & Development of Mastercard
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About Mastercard: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Neil Taylor
Vice President Data Strategy of Mastercard
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About Mastercard: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Mark Barnett
President UK & Ireland of Mastercard
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About Mastercard: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Liz Oakes
Executive Vice President of Mastercard
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About Mastercard: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Carlos Menendez
President, Enterprise Partnerships of Mastercard
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About Mastercard: Mastercard provides payment processing products and solutions, and related consulting services.
Hélène Alunni-Botteri
Senior Vice President, Innovation Group of Wells Fargo
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About Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion assets providing banking, insurance, and investments.
Marc Cantwell
Vice President of American Express
Marc is a product guy. Well, he used to be. Nothing makes him happier than hunting for the most important customer problems to solve – and right now, streamlining and supercharging internal customer journeys are where he can make the biggest difference. That means Marc and his team need to think bigger and broader than any one product as they focus on the digital workplace experience for their fellow employees. With fifteen years at American Express under his belt, Marc currently is an executive within the company’s Digital Workplace team, with responsibility for strategy, transformation, and the colleague experience. Although Marc’s interests skew more towards the value and impact of technology, as well as a relentless focus on the end-to-end customer experience, he secretly knows more about engineering than he lets on, having earned a BSc in theoretical and mathematical physics from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in Information Technology for eCommerce from the University of Sussex. When not hard at work creating the world’s best colleague digital experience, Marc puts his knowledge of emergent collaboration and communication technology to practical use, running his Dungeons & Dragons campaign without the headache of trying to schedule half a dozen adults to be in the same place at the same time.
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About American Express: American Express is a global financial services company best known for its credit card, charge card, and traveler’s cheque businesses.
Antonio Gagliardi
Vice President – Strategy, Product, and Analytics – Merchant Services of American Express
Before founding CompareEuropeGroup, Antonio was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company in their UK Financial Services practice. Prior to this, Antonio worked at Bain & Co and at JP Morgan Chase. Antonio holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, with a special distinction for finishing in the top 10%, and graduated summa cum laude from Bocconi University.
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About American Express: American Express is a global financial services company best known for its credit card, charge card, and traveler’s cheque businesses.
Stephen Lemon
Co-Founder | Vice President | Strategic Partnerships & Corporate Development of Currencycloud
Steve has worked in Foreign exchange and international payments, pretty much forever, and participated in the first FinTech of the late 90s wave (before it was even called Fintech) as founding team member of HiFX. The current, product lead revolution has tipped him over the edge and he’s now a fully paid up FinTech geek, of the opinion that we live in exciting times and that Open APIs will change the world. Stephen currently also serves as a Non-Executive Director and Advisor for a number of early stage FinTech companies, and has recently mentored for the 2017 cohort at Techsters. In his personal time Steve is a keen amateur photographer, motorsport lover and live music fan.
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About Currencycloud: Currencycloud specializes in a fully cloud-based platform for B2B cross-border payments.
Judith Shackleton
Vice President M&A Integration of Visa
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About Fraedom, Visa: Visa is a multinational financial services company that facilitates electronic payment systems throughout the world.
Alisa Bornstein
CPO Europe – Vice President of Visa
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About Visa: Visa is a multinational financial services company that facilitates electronic payment systems throughout the world.
Jeppe Juul-Andersen
Senior vice President of Nets
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About Nets: Nets is a provider of payments, card, and information services with an ambition.
Richard White
Co-Founder and President of Goodlord
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About Goodlord, Pickles: Goodlord offers a cloud-based software to help estate agents, landlords, and tenants manage the rental process.
Richard Wray
Vice President of Operations of Carta Worldwide
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About Carta Worldwide: Carta Worldwide is an international leader in digital transaction technology, specializing in mobile & emerging payments.
George Kazianis
Co-Founder & President of BlocSide Sports
George is the Co-Founder and President of BlocSide and the Only4Stars International Sports and Entertainment Corporation (I.S.E.C). He was a licensed FIFA player agent and official agent for the Hellenic Football Federation. Over his 30 years in the football industry, he has built up a client list of elite youth and well-established players. Furthermore, George is renowned and widely recognized by major football clubs, such as AFC Ajax, FC Internationale Milano, and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, for his scouting prowess, youth camps, emphasis on developing young talent, and professionalism. He also has managed to acquire the exclusive rights to start building the Ajax brand name in Southern Europe, starting with Greece and Cyprus. Previously, George was the owner of AllStar Sports Consultancy, a Players & Match Agency in Athens, Greece.
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About BlocSide Sports: BlocSide Sports is creating a digital platform that leverages frictionless payments, mobile ticketing and blockchain technology.
Ignacio González-Páramo
Vice President, Global Compliance & Regulatory Affairs of Payvision
Ignacio González-Páramo is Vice President for Global Compliance and Regulatory Affairs at Payvision and Acapture. In this role, Ignacio is in charge of corporate compliance with applicable legislation and acts as point of interaction with authorities and regulators. He also takes care of external engagement and public affairs on behalf of Payvision and Acapture as Payment Institutions. Currently, Ignacio represents both companies before the European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF), where he sits on the Board and the Technical Committee. Ignacio is a long-standing professional with a legal background and extensive experience in the payments industry. Prior to joining Payvision, he worked at ServiRed, S.A., the major domestic payments scheme in Spain, in various capacities, most recently as Head of Rules and Compliance. Ignacio holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICAI-ICADE), Madrid, and a Master’s degree in e-commerce and IT from Universidad Carlos III, Madrid. Ignacio is often a speaker and panellist in industry events and is also a contributor on the blogs of Payvision and the Cross-Border Ecommerce Community, providing readers with insights on how to face regulatory challenges and compliance-related issues.
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About Payvision: Payvision, an independent payment solutions provider specializing in global card processing for the ecommerce market,
Yoyo Chang
Co-Founder, CEO and President of KodyPay
Yoyo is a Taiwanese born British entrepreneur who is a co-founder and the current CEO of KodyPay. Yoyo co-founded KodyPay in the final year of High School and successfully raised US$6 million over 2020/21. Hoping to build a career in investment banking, Yoyo had started to invest in the stock market at the age of 13. With returns of over 80% in Q4 2016, he led his school team to first place in a national investment competition. During Yoyo’s first year at the University of York, Yoyo self-invested £120,000 of trading profits to build a pilot product for KodyPay. Yoyo has studied at King’s College, University of Cambridge and Langwith College, University of York.
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About IIC Holdings, KodyPay, Nerd Ventures: Revolutionising in-person payments to grow your business with a trustworthy and innovative solution.
George Evers
Senior Vice President, Product, Realtime Payments of VocaLink
George has spent the last 15 years driving technology innovations, leading product and strategy development across emerging technologies and enabling digital banking channel transformation. He is a huge advocate of providing more businesses and consumers with access to immediate payments.George joined VocaLink in November 2014 as Immediate Payments Services Director. He oversees the international development of VocaLink’s real-time payments proposition and associated mobile payments solutions. Since joining, George has pioneered the development of international strategies for VocaLink in the US, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. Before joining VocaLink, George was Head of Channels within the Corporate Banking Division at RBS. It was there that he developed a Corporate Banking self-service channel strategy and managed existing core digital channel propositions. George also held the position of Head of Product Management & Development for RBS Global Transaction Services where he managed the growth development of the UK Domestic Cash product set. Building on VocaLink’s 2014 success of implementing Immediate Payments in Singapore, George’s most recent career highlight has been part of the team involved in the signing of a contract with The Clearing House- a partnership that will bring real-time payments to the United States.
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About VocaLink, VocaLink: VocaLink develops and operates payments infrastructure solutions in the United Kingdom.
Peter Randall
President, Founder of SETL
Peter Randall is the SETL’s COO, Credited with revolutionising the equity exchange market in Europe through the establishment of Chi-X Europe Ltd, Peter led the company’s growth as founder and CEO, from an unknown multilateral trading facility to become one of the top 5 trading venues in Europe by volumes traded. Subsequently, Peter was appointed CEO of Equiduct, where he restructured the business, and turned it into the fastest growing trading platform in Europe in 2012. Prior to Equiduct and Chi-X, Peter was COO at Instinet Europe Ltd, and Executive Director of FIX Protocol Ltd.
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About SETL: SETL is a technology company that focuses on blockchain settlements and payments.
Simon Haslam
President and Chief Executive Officer of Elavon
As President and Chief Executive Officer at Elavon, Simon Haslam is responsible for the overall vision, strategy, and execution of Elavon’s worldwide mission of enabling global commerce. Before taking on his current position, Simon was President of International Markets at Elavon where he worked to expand Elavon’s presence to new markets in Europe, Mexico and Brazil. Simon joined Elavon with the addition of the Citigroup portfolio in 2005. At Citigroup, Simon served as Head of Credit and Risk with responsibility for all credit and fraud related activities impacting Citigroup’s Pan-European Merchant Acquiring Business. In 1995, Simon was elected as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. He serves as chairman of the board for Santander Elavon Merchant Services – Elavon’s newly created joint venture in Spain. He is also chairman of the board of Elavon do Brasil – Elavon’s joint venture in Brazil and Elavon Mexico. Additionally, Simon is a board member of Visa UK and UK Cards.
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About Elavon, Network International: Elavon helps businesses, small and large, accept all payment types.
Rebecca Goudman-Peachey
Vice President and Head of Risk of OSMM
Rebecca has special expertise in the online payment market having had many years of experience, working with leading Merchant Acquiring Banks and IPSPs. Rebecca is also responsible for spearheading OSMM’s branding and go-to-market strategy with a large knowledge of the card payments, business operations, systems management, issuing/acquiring operational set-ups and migrations, and project and supplier management. Rebecca serves as the Company’s Compliance (MLRO) Officer and is registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority as an individual responsible for the management of Onestopmoneymanager Ltd. Rebecca holds a Master of Laws in International Finance and Banking Law, Bachelor of Laws and is currently undergoing a PhD regarding the regulatory environment of merchant acquiring.
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About OSMM: OSMM is an innovative e-commerce acquirer whom understand the needs and desires of merchants.
Teemu Sorvisto
Senior Vice President – EMEA of JUNO TELE
Teemu brings over 15 years of professional experience in Business Development, Sales and Marketing from Mobile, Apps, Information Technology and Software businesses across markets globally. He has been in leadership positions in multinational mobile and cloud solutions companies such as Nokia, BlackBerry and F-Secure, being responsible for business development, partnerships and operator channel sales in mobile application ecosystem and VAS divisions. Teemu has a thorough understanding of various mobile solutions, related technologies and modern business models. He comes with a broad experience in leading and developing business across regions in EMEA, Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America, while he has been living in the UK, Singapore and Finland.
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About JUNO TELE: JunoTele is a mobile payments technology company.
Peter Radcliffe
President of P20
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About P20, PR Specialist: P20 provides account identification, payment, warning messages, criminal account targeting, and cyber security solutions.
John Sebastiano
Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, ebilling and payment solutions of ebpSource
Co-founder John also joined ebpSource from CheckFree where for over five years he was responsible for international software sales. John has a highly successful track record in global business, having negotiated numerous enterprise software agreements and multi-lateral partnerships in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. John’s prior IT background includes senior international sales and divisional management roles with Lanier Corporation and Harris Systems, Canada. John graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
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About ebpSource: ebpSource is the most experienced team in the international electronic billing and payment industry.
John Sebastiano
Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, ebilling and payment solutions of ebpSource
Co-founder John also joined ebpSource from CheckFree where for over five years he was responsible for international software sales. John has a highly successful track record in global business, having negotiated numerous enterprise software agreements and multi-lateral partnerships in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. John’s prior IT background includes senior international sales and divisional management roles with Lanier Corporation and Harris Systems, Canada. John graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
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About ebpSource: ebpSource is the most experienced team in the international electronic billing and payment industry.
