The Payments Shed

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Julie Fergerson, CEO of the Merchant Risk Council , for a deep dive into the challenges merchants are facing across payments, fraud, regulation, and AI in 2026 — and why collaboration across the ecosystem matters more than ever. Julie explains what the Merchant Risk Council actually does, who it represents, and why it has become one...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Jordan Lawrence, Co-Founder of Damisa , to unpack why traditional cross-border payments remain so inefficient — and why stablecoins could fundamentally reshape how global commerce moves money. Jordan shares the thinking behind launching Damisa, and where the biggest pain points still sit across correspondent banking, FX, settlement...

Live from FTT Payments, Grant Evans is joined by guest co-host Dwayne Gefferie for a conversation with Sadra Hosseini, CEO of Ryft, unpacking the reality behind the growing hype surrounding agentic commerce. The conversation explores where AI-driven commerce is genuinely starting to emerge today, and where the industry may be getting ahead of itself. Sadra shares why behavioural shifts and workflo...

Live from FTT Payments, Grant Evans is joined by guest co-host Dwayne Gefferie for a conversation with Sarah Gorton, Financial Services Lead at Protect Group, exploring how embedded protection products are beginning to reshape the economics of payments and commerce. Sarah explains how refund protection can move payments beyond pure infrastructure and into a genuine revenue and conversion driver fo...

Live from FTT Payments, Grant Evans is joined by guest co-host Dwayne Gefferie for a conversation with Marc O'Fathaigh, Country Manager for UK & Ireland at Klarna, exploring how consumer expectations around payments are rapidly evolving beyond traditional retail checkout. Marc shares why Klarna is expanding further into sectors like travel, services, and everyday spend, and why flexibility...

Live from FTT Payments, Grant Evans is joined by guest co-host Dwayne Gefferie for a conversation with Nanna Bergmann, Managing Director of Moonrise by Lunar, exploring the realities of cross-border payments, instant infrastructure, and machine-driven money movement. Nanna explains why many cross-border payment challenges are actually “last-mile” problems rather than correspondent banking issues,...

Live from FTT Payments, Grant Evans is joined by guest co-host Dwayne Gefferie for a conversation with Michaela Weber, SVP of Payments at BigCommerce, exploring how commerce platforms, embedded payments, and AI are reshaping the merchant landscape. Michaela shares how payments are increasingly becoming part of the core commerce product rather than a bolt-on service, and why merchants are beginning...

Live from FTT Payments, Grant Evans is joined by guest co-host Dwayne Gefferie for a conversation with Sean Hederman, CTO at Zilch, exploring how payments data, loyalty, and AI are reshaping the future of embedded finance. Sean shares why transaction data is increasingly becoming one of the most valuable assets in financial services, and how first-party payments data can unlock more intelligent an...

Recorded live on stage at FTT Embedded Finance & Super Apps, Grant Evans is joined by guest co-host Dwayne Gefferie for a live conversation with Ed Moore, CRO at Payrails, exploring why the next generation of payments infrastructure is moving beyond traditional platforms and orchestration. Ed explains the growing importance of the “payments execution layer”, and why merchants are increasingly...

In this episode, host Grant Evans is joined by Jake Dovey, CEO of PayModum , for a candid conversation on why so many merchants still feel underserved by the payments industry — despite more products, providers, and platforms than ever before. Jake shares his journey from working inside payments to building PayModum, and why he became convinced the industry was solving problems for itself rather t...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Nikogiannis (John) Karantzis, Managing Director & CEO of ISX Financial , to unpack why global payments infrastructure still feels so fragmented — and what it takes to fix it . John shares his view on how the industry ended up with complex, stitched-together ecosystems , and the hidden cost this creates for merchants operating ac...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Fiennes Davey, Group Head of Payments at Kingfisher plc , to explore what payments really looks like from the merchant side of the table in 2026. Fiennes brings a rare perspective — having worked inside a global acquirer before moving into a major retailer — and shares why payments is finally getting the strategic attention it deser...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Tim Hughes, CEO & Co-Founder of DLA Ignite and author of Social Selling: Techniques to Influence Buyers and Changemakers , to unpack what’s actually working in social selling and thought leadership in 2026 — and what needs to be left behind. Tim breaks down why, despite years of hype, social selling is more relevant than ever ,...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Oliver Pugh, Co-Founder of yetipay , to unpack how embedded payments are reshaping the economics of hospitality — and what it really takes to scale fast in the process. Oliver shares the journey behind yetipay’s rapid growth from £400k to £5m revenue in just 18 months , and why the biggest unlock wasn’t just product — it was rethink...

In this episode, host Grant Evans is joined by Boris Diakonov and Eduard Panteleev, Co-Founders & Co-CEOs of ANNA Money , for a deep dive into how AI, automation, and regulation are reshaping small business finance. Boris and Eduard share their journey building together — from early ventures in digital banking to launching ANNA — and why they believe a co-CEO model can be a strength, not a com...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Mark Fairless, Group CEO of ClearBank , to explore how modern banking infrastructure is evolving to support the next generation of fintech and digital money. Mark shares ClearBank’s journey from building cloud-native banking rails to becoming a critical infrastructure provider powering fintech growth, and how real-time capabilities...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Spencer Levitt, Co-Founder , and Kara Parkey, Head of Strategic Accounts at Coast , to tackle one of fintech’s most overlooked problems — why selling complex products is still so broken . From slow, inconsistent demos to disconnected handoffs between sales, product, and implementation teams, the conversation unpacks how product demo...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Nadja Bennett, Strategic Accounts Director , and Megan Coulson, UK Public Policy Lead at TrueLayer , to unpack how regulation, innovation, and commercial reality are finally converging in UK payments . The conversation dives into the original intent behind open banking , what policymakers got right (and wrong), and how the UK has be...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Omar Ebeid, Founder & CEO of Zeal , to challenge one of the biggest structural issues in payments — the ISO race to the bottom . Omar breaks down how the industry became trapped in price-led competition , and why many ISOs struggle to differentiate beyond rates, terminals, and basic service. The conversation explores the hidden...

Live from MPE Berlin , host Justin Hanna chats with David Jofre Tejada, VP of Business Development at Shift4 , to unpack how one of payments’ fastest-scaling players is building a truly global platform. David shares what’s driving Shift4’s rapid expansion across Europe and beyond , and why merchants entering new markets are demanding more than just payments — they want integrated, end-to-end comme...

In this episode, hosts Grant Evans and Justin Hanna are joined by Dan Owens, Chief Strategy Officer at Oceanpayment , to explore what happens when Western fintech meets the scale and speed of the APAC payments ecosystem . Dan shares his journey from the European fintech scene to Hong Kong , reflecting on the cultural, commercial, and regulatory differences between East and West. The conversation d...

Live from MPE Berlin , host Justin Hanna is joined by Jacob Spencer, CRO at BR-DGE , to break down why payments orchestration is becoming a core part of modern merchant infrastructure. Jacob unpacks the real problem orchestration solves — from fragmented payment stacks to limited visibility — and why more merchants are turning to orchestration to gain control, flexibility, and performance across t...

Live from MPE Berlin , host Justin Hanna is joined by Alexandre Fernandes Ribeiro, Global Payments & Orchestration Leader at Solidgate , to explore why payment orchestration is no longer just infrastructure — it’s becoming a core commercial strategy for enterprise merchants . Alexandre breaks down how orchestration helps merchants move away from PSP lock-in , regain control over pricing and pe...

Live from MPE Berlin , host Grant Evans sits down with Robert Kraal, Co-Founder of Silverflow , to explore why card processing modernisation has become one of the most urgent priorities in payments today . Robert shares why traditional banks are increasingly turning to fintech partners rather than building in-house — and what’s really driving that shift, from speed and talent to long-term relevanc...

Live from MPE Berlin , host Grant Evans chats with Duygu Inanc Koyunpınar , Head of Product at DIMOCO , to explore how Open Banking has shifted from concept to core checkout infrastructure across Europe . Duygu shares why early challenges like fragmentation, UX friction, and trust barriers held back adoption — and what’s changed to drive real momentum today. The conversation dives into why DIMOCO...