The region’s leaders in payments took part in the MEA Finance, Leaders in Payments Conference and Awards held on the 11th of September 2025, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, JBR in Dubai.
Affirming its place as the regions’ apex dedicated payments summit, it again honed in on the key developments and technologies that will prepare the ground for the new world of payments in the Middle East and Africa.
MEA Finance’s deftly managed event remained fully attended from start through to finish, replete with leaders from banking and finance, regional payments leaders, concerned corporates, visionary thinkers and innovators from fintech, and leading-edge payments technology providers, all capturing the avid focus of the audience, there to understand and benefit from insights into the latest developments and outcomes in the world of payments.
More than thirty industry leaders took part as speakers addressing almost 500 delegates at this important industry occasion. Proceedings were opened by Osama Al Rahma, Head of Business Development and Wealth Management at Emirates Investment Bank and the Chairman of FERG, setting the tone with a thought-provoking keynote address.
The debates started with the panel titled Challenging Times, looking at the many challenges facing those active in the world of payments. The discussion was moderated by Anna Zeitlin, Partner at Addleshaw Goddard and included Dr. Jospeh George, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Doha Bank; Rashid Basheer, Head of Digital Channels from Al Ansari Exchange, Paul Carey, EVP Cards, Payments and Fintech at Al Futtaim; Sara Raza, Head of Cobrands – Card Business at Emirates NBD and Nauman Hassan, Regional Director for MENA at Paymentology.
The second panel, Teamwork Tested – Payment Gateways and APIs, asked how payment gateways and APIs will continue to develop, and was moderated by Rajesh Nagpal, Director of Technology at GBM accompanied by Vibhor Mundhada, CEO of Neopay; Saud Al Dhawyani, Chief Platforms Officer at Emirates NBD and Ramana Kumar, CEO Middle East at Paytm.
A presentation by Ahmad Jishi, Data and AI Leader at GBM followed panel two then panel three, Dealing with Deadlines, discussed the looming deadlines of mandated global payments commitments. The discussion was moderated by Isha Chander, Chief Administrative Officer for CEEMA, Payments, at JP Morgan sitting alongside Anand Sampath, MD and Head – Payments, Collections and Client Implementation GTx at FAB; Anna Rita Sa, Head – Transaction Banking Product Management, Cash Management at ADCB and Alaa AlRousan, Head, Middle East and North Africa at Swift.
The next panel, was preceded by an industry address made by Cem Soydemir, Regional Head of Payments Go-To-Market from Swift, the fourth discussion session, Cross Border Payments and Remittances started with Siddharth Ghaisas, Payments Strategy and Technology at Accenture as the moderator. Joining were Ahmed Salahy, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Careem Pay; Kerim Yebari, Director, Head of Institutional Cash and Trade, Eastern and Southern Africa at Deutsche Bank; Osama Al Rahma, Head of Business Development and Wealth Management at Emirates Investment Bank and the Chairman of FERG and Sagar Chandiramani, CFO at Virtuzone.
Panel 5, Technology and AI – Present in the Future looked at the present and future role of AI in payments and was moderated by Bryan Stirewalt, Executive Advisor at Grant Thornton who was joined by Somu Roy, MD for Outsourced Payment Services in the UAE, Network International); Venkata Prasad Indraganti, Senior AGM, Head of Transaction Banking, Commercial Bank of Qatar; Dr. Abdulla AlTaee, Chief Operating Officer, United Arab Bank and Gyan Prakash Srivastava, Group Head One Data and Analytics, Mashreq.
The closing panel of the day, panel six, Real time Leaders, looked at the factors behind the lead the region is taking in the development of payments. The discussion was moderated again by Bryan Stirewalt, Executive Advisor at Grant Thornton in conversation with Gregory Thomas, Head of Group Strategy and Corporate Development at RAKBANK; Uzair Kapadia, MD, Head of Cash Products, Transaction Banking AME at Standard Chartered; Sudarshan Seshadri, Head of Retail Banking Division, National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain – NBQ and Naman Kapoor, Managing Director – Head of Payments for Middle East and Africa (MEA).
