In this episode, we speak with Deji Oguntonade, one of the early builders of digital payments in Nigeria. With more than three decades in the industry, Deji has played a key role in shaping how payments evolved, from early card and mobile initiatives to large-scale fintech innovation. His experience spans leadership roles at major institutions, including driving innovation at GTBank, launching practical payment solutions at First Atlantic Bank, and working on payments and inclusion at a global level. Now as Managing Director of Digits & Data Limited, Deji shares clear, first-hand insight into how payments developed, what held progress back, and what matters most for the future of payment systems in Nigeria and beyond.

In this episode of Made in Payments, we speak with Curtis Vanderpuije, Co-Founder of expressPay, about what it truly takes to build payment infrastructure from the ground up. Curtis shares how expressPay started long before modern APIs were available, manually handling mobile airtime and building systems through trial, resilience, and sharp decision-making. The conversation offers a clear look at the realities behind early fintech growth, the thinking required to scale responsibly, and the practical lessons that still apply to payment businesses today.

In this final episode, we speak with Eduofon Japhet, Managing Director at HabariPay, about career growth, leadership, and owning every step of the journey. Starting out as a Software Developer, Eduofon shares how she moved into payments and gradually stepped into leadership by taking responsibility beyond her formal role. The conversation highlights how real growth comes from stretching yourself, learning continuously, and being open to change. This Women’s Edition closes with a clear message for anyone in the industry or considering a shift: building a strong career in payments is possible, and leadership is earned through action, not titles.

Open banking is built on the idea that giving consumers full transparency and control over their data will help them make better decisions. But is that really the case? Behavioral economics suggests otherwise - people don’t always act rationally, even with the right tools. In this episode, Eyal speaks with renowned behavioral economist Dan Ariely to explore how insights into human behavior can improve open banking. They discuss the roots of behavioral economics, the role of paternalism, and how concepts like friction and motivation can help create financial services that truly benefit users.

Imagine a world where financial services are no longer separate, daunting entities but seamlessly integrated into the digital experiences you know and love. A world where buying a car, booking a trip, or even grabbing a coffee means having instant access to personalized financing options, secure payments, and innovative insurance solutions. This is Embedded Finance: an omnipresent, invisible hand guiding your financial decisions with unprecedented ease and intelligence, so that financial services are always there when you need them, and fade into the background when you don’t. In this episode, Eyal sits down with Simon Torrance, CEO and Founder of Embedded Finance & Insurance Strategies, to discuss how open banking, paired with real-time payments and agentic A.I., will help fill the gap between financial needs and financial services.

What defines the value of a thing? Is it a question of utility, aesthetics, rarity, emotional connection, or a combination of all these aspects? When it comes to digital assets, this question becomes even more complex, as evidenced by the rise and subsequent fall of NFTs. Beyond just digital, The continued evolution of Web3 and DeFi has now set the physical world and the digital world on a collision course, changing perceptions of ownership, trade and value. To dig deeper into the philosophical question of digital value and its impact on the physical world, Eyal turns to Bianca Lopes, economist, serial entrepreneur, and international speaker on the subjects of data, identity, fintech and crypto.

If you’re a merchant and you want help with chargebacks, this episode is for you! Friendly fraud is anything but friendly for merchants. In this eye-opening discussion, expert payments attorneys Larry Haines and Bryce Van De Moere expose the growing epidemic of customers who receive goods or services, then fraudulently dispute legitimate charges with their credit card companies. It’s chargebacks, baby – and they’re a growing problem.

The payment processing industry harbors a troubling secret: merchants are being placed on MasterCard’s Match List for simply possessing inventory of newly prohibited products—even when they’ve never processed a payment for these items. This enforcement approach contradicts the very purpose of Match, which was designed to punish actual payment processing violations, not potential ones. During this eye-opening conversation with Chris Dryden, Bryce Van De Moere, and Jeremy Stock, our payments experts reveal how merchants who immediately comply with bank requests to remove prohibited products are still being matched weeks later without justification.

Many merchants are completely unaware of the hidden traps in their processing agreements. The podcast unveils the often one-sided nature of merchant agreements and discusses essential strategies for protecting against unfair practices in the industry.Join in this lively discussion between attorneys Christopher Dryden and Bryce Van De Moere of Global Legal Law Firm.

In this episode of the Biz to Biz Podcast, we’re joined by Kevin Gaither - a seasoned sales leader with over 25 years of experience building, scaling, and fixing sales teams at high-growth startups. With eight startups under his belt, three successful liquidity events, and multiple companies reaching the Inc. 500 and Deloitte Fast 500 lists, Kevin has seen it all and made more than a few mistakes along the way.

In this powerful episode of the Biz to Biz Podcast, we welcome Josh Basile - a C4-5 quadriplegic, disability rights advocate, lawyer, and changemaker. After a life-altering beach accident in 2004 left him paralyzed below the shoulders, Josh turned personal tragedy into purpose, dedicating his life to empowering others with disabilities.

In this inspiring episode, host Allen Kopelman sits down with Jonathan Sessa: a proud veteran, successful business owner, and passionate mental health advocate. Jonathan opens up about his journey from military service to entrepreneurship, sharing how discipline, resilience, and purpose have shaped his path.

In this episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, recorded live at Money20/20 USA 2025, Grant Evans and Justin Hanna speak with Lauren Langbridge, Commercial Director for Wise Platform in the Americas. They discuss how Wise Platform drives its mission of money without borders across the region, how it builds trust and competes in one of fintech’s toughest markets, and how major partnerships with institutions like Morgan Stanley and Nubank scale the model across the Americas. Lauren also covers regulatory and market realities, Wise’s long-term growth priorities, and what success means beyond revenue, from trust to adoption and impact. As always, The Shelf of Shame returns with her pick for what should disappear from the industry.

In this episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, Grant Evans and Justin Hanna speak with Jack Mangnall, Co-Founder of Shape Technologies, about one of fintech’s biggest races right now: embedded payments. They unpack what truly defines embedded payments, how they reshape monetisation and user experience, and how Shape helps software companies create new revenue streams through seamless payment integration. Jack also shares which sectors lead the way, why many ISVs still hesitate, and how future innovations will drive the next wave of growth. He reflects on Shape’s selection for the JPMorgan Chase Fintech Forward Programme and closes with his pick for the Shelf of Shame.

In this episode of The Payments Shed Podcast, Grant Evans and Justin Hanna speak with Alexander (Xander) Hastings, Head of Channel Partnerships at Rail, about how Rail is reshaping cross-border payments by connecting traditional banking with stablecoin networks. Xander explains how Rail powers faster and more transparent global transactions, how it now processes around ten percent of global B2B stablecoin payments, and why stablecoins are shifting from speculative assets to true payment rails. They also discuss Rail’s hybrid infrastructure, multi-bank redundancy, and how Ripple’s investment supports new corridors and liquidity access. Xander closes the episode with his pick for the Shelf of Shame.