Live: Payment Expert Summit

The Cost Professional Workforce brings you all of the updates from the 2025 Cost Professional Summit Lisbon

17:20 –

“As an business, we have now at all times innovated, at all times discovered inventive options to how we meet compliance, and when a brand new regulation is available in, we get just a little extra wiggle room to innovate. Like an F1 workforce, how do you meet the aerodynamic guidelines to work on your profit?” – Scott Burrows

17:15 – Quote of the day goes to paytently’s Isabelle Delisle: ‘Crypto has by no means been nameless’.

Within the ultimate session of the day, Crypto Capitals: a watershed 12 months for different currencies, panellists thought of how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Fetch.ai have managed to thrive in a panorama formed by regulatory crackdowns in key markets and sudden political endorsements.

Delisle was joined by Dee Maher, CEO of the Gaming Division – La Royale Group/Celesta; Peter Heneghan, Principal at Bettor Capital; Scott Burrows, Head of Technical Compliance at Superbet; and Mark Grech, Founder & CEO of Pyaza.

16:30 – A brief break from our panel classes to listen to from Breno Oliveira from payabl. In his session, he notes iGaming operators and product leaders wish to optimise participant journeys and drive sustainable development.

He says funds are not a back-office perform, however central to acquisition, retention, and compliance.

16:15 – Know-how could also be racing forward, however regulation usually lags behind. Brazil’s playing legal guidelines have already shifted since their introduction, whereas different LATAM jurisdictions are nonetheless discovering their footing. The panellists famous smaller PSPs can pivot shortly, however bigger acquirers are likely to prioritise certainty and scale. Native experience and robust partnerships stay important to navigating these adjustments.

16:00 – The panellists agreed Latin America is wealthy with alternative, however the highway to success is paved with native element. For funds corporations, which means pairing ambition with persistence, and processing functionality with real value-add.

“Brazil does change on a regular basis. PIX was such a significant success, prompt funds like that are actually coming into different markets, reminiscent of Bre-B in Colombia, we anticipate that to turn out to be as in style in Colombia as PIX is in Brazil” – Gary Clarke

15:50 – Subsequent on the roster is a panel on how expertise is revolutionising cost options with localised improvements.

Olena Demchenko, Head of AML Governance of FDJ United; Filip Marušić, Gross sales Operations Lead from Aircash; Atis Ivanovs, Head of Enterprise Development at Unlimit; and Gary Clarke, Head of Gross sales at PagSeguro have taken to the stage dive into how cutting-edge applied sciences like offline-first wallets and real-time APIs are streamlining deposits and withdrawals in quickly evolving markets.

15:35 – The panellists mentioned fraud is now an AI-driven arms race, pushing operators to double down on first-party information, smarter verification and 24/7 liquidity. Stablecoins and agentic AI may remodel person expertise, and loyalty.

Some key takeaways from the session:

Fraud is an arms race: Bot farms and deepfake-enabled doc fraud are escalating. Groups are “arming up” with data-led defences quite than level instruments.

Information > buzzwords: Worth comes from how corporations ingest, construction, share and act on information (guidelines, triggers, simulations, alerting). “Don’t throw AI at an issue” with out the plumbing.

KYC with out collateral harm: Design controls that block unhealthy actors with out locking out good ones – friction is now a aggressive variable.

Verification gaps persist: In lots of markets, account-name information isn’t out there at transaction stage; suppliers are turning to open banking APIs to shut the hole.

Native rails matter: Market entry nonetheless hinges on home strategies (e.g., Pix, Swish, Bizum). Stablecoins can complement, not substitute, native acceptance.

Money nonetheless counts (in locations): Some segments nonetheless depend on cash-to-digital on-ramps; compliance on the cash-in level stays pivotal.

“The problem with AI is that it isn’t a magic bullet. You must construct monitoring programs round your individual information: guidelines, triggers, simulations, alerts. It’s not nearly adopting AI however making use of it accurately. You’ll be able to’t simply throw AI at an issue and anticipate outcomes.” – Mark Watts

15:20 – A change if tact for session 3 of the day because the consultants flip their consideration to omnichannel funds; particularly taking a look at digital wallets. Moderated by Andrea McGeachin, CEO at Neosurf, the panellists mentioned how companies can construct the appropriate infrastructure, assess whether or not present options meet fashionable shopper expectations, and study how omnichannel programs can facilitate cross-border transactions, serving to companies develop whereas delivering a seamless buyer expertise.

Panellists: Antony Jordan Head of Funds and KYC at ODDSET Sportwetten GmbH; Mark Watts, Government Director of iGaming at Aircash; Marc Cregan, Senior Director of Funds and Worldpay; Roberta Guedes Regulatory Compliance Counsel at Betboom Br.

14:15 – Golushenko identified that open banking funds require robust buyer authentication for each single transaction, not like card funds below 30 euros. This makes it much less handy for frequent, small funds. Smith agreed, emphasising the necessity for a extra seamless person journey to compete with one-click cost choices like Apple Pay.

14:10:

“I believe that Open Banking is above all a regulatory query, and it was additionally making an attempt to be carried out by regulation to facilitate, for instance, banks from opening their APIs, from permitting… As a result of we have now methods to assume that the cost enterprise is a enterprise that’s being deconstructed, popping out of the banks and going to different corporations and going to extra corporations which might be non-traditional banks.” – Martinho Lucas Pires

14:05 – Panelists unanimously praised open banking for its capacity to streamline money circulation for retailers. Shpak famous that open banking’s direct integration with banks bypasses “a sequence of regulators,” making transactions cheaper and rushing up settlements. This permits cash to be credited to an organization’s checking account immediately, which is a significant enchancment over the normal “T+2, T+3” settlement instances of card transactions.

13:48 – Shpak reveals Open Banking is a “huge deal” for the cost journey of a gaming buyer because it allows personalisation and insights for operators to higher facilitate their most well-liked cost strategies.

“Open Banking is a extremely huge deal for shoppers and finish customers. It’s not solely altering funds technique, we’ll know what advantages our finish customers from utilizing Open Banking.”

13:40 – The subsequent panel dives into the significance Open Banking is for a number of industries, and the cost rails it has birthed to be able to personalise the shopper cost journey. The panel additionally mentioned the potential of decentralisation and if there are a significant hurdles to beat earlier than it may be actually embraced by all industries.

Moderator Pavel Dergachev, Advisor & Co-Founder at 4H is joined by: Nataly Shpak, CFO of 13Aff, Martinho Lucas Pires, Head of Coverage Affairs – Advisor at Portugal Fintech – BlockReg Advisors Ltd, Olga Gunchenkova, Director of Funds at Flutter Worldwide, Rolands Grancovskis, Group Head of Funds at Thelotter Group, and Elaine Smith, Head of Partnerships at Volt.io.

13:05 – Talking to Cost Professional’s Callum Williams, payabl. Head of Product Breno Oliveria believes the adoption of stablecoins will develop from each a B2B and B2C perspective subsequent 12 months, with a “value-driven” entry into the monetary market.

Oliveira additionally shared his ideas on the stablecoin market dominance of USD-backed stablecoins and whereas be believes the US has “set the tone” for the market, he believes EURO and Dirham-backed stablecoins will quickly comply with swimsuit however as soon as trade friction has been solved.

Oliveira’s ideas shall be shared as a part of Cost Professional’s “Trade Speaks” roundtable, that shall be printed quickly.

12:25 – You’d have thought it was all smiles from the photographs, however a debate ensued through the panel round stablecoins, highlighting the very fact these cost devices stay shrouded in thriller. One of many greatest challenges mentioned, was the dearth of schooling amongst playing regulators who could view stablecoins as being the identical as different cryptocurrencies, which are sometimes not accepted. For the broader adoption of stablecoins and crypto within the playing business, this instructional hole must be closed, and the 2 regulatory our bodies should work collectively.

12:15 – Bennett said Open Banking is available in very completely different varieties. “What will decelerate Open Banking… EU banks have been compelled to supply the power to 3rd events to set off cost requests, and now banks are combating again, placing a tax on their prospects information, which we have now seen within the US.” 

“The most important problem is banks struggle again, and stifle these revolutionary cost corporations”

12:05 – The dialogue shortly turned to profitable fashions, with Ludiara Sousa, Head of Funds at Blaze, highlighting the groundbreaking influence of Brazil’s Pix cost system. She described it as a extremely environment friendly and trusted methodology that’s “very, very low” on chargebacks and offers operators a wealth of details about the participant. The minimal acceptance charge for Pix within the playing business is over 90%, and gamers can see cash of their financial institution accounts nearly immediately.

In Europe, the highway to prompt funds is a bit bumpier. Christian Reinheimer of LeoVegas and Olof Wirfelt of Trustly each pointed to open banking as a possible answer, however famous that banks are “pushing again” and “combating again” towards revolutionary cost corporations by placing a “tax on the entry to their prospects info.” Banks, which personal the underlying community, have little financial incentive to facilitate these adjustments, creating a significant problem.

12:00 – Cost Professional Editor Rachael Kennedy kicks off the Cost Professional Summit with the primary panel discussing the place may new tech take the cost business within the subsequent 5 years? 

The opening panel will function moderator Rahul Das, Head of Funds at Dafabet, Christian Reinheimer, Director Funds Product & Know-how at LeoVegas, Ludiara Sousa Head of Funds at Blaze, James Bennett CEO of Steady Mint, Evans Concha Soto CTO & Founder of ProntoPaga, and Olof Wirfelt, SVP Gross sales & Distribution of Trustly EMEA.