Meet the team

Jason spent 20 years working in B2B publishing, amassing a wealth of experience, knowledge, understanding of the sector, and growing his network. For the last 10 of those years, he specifically worked with financial, business, and fintech publications, including World Finance, European CEO, Fintech Finance, eFintech, Future Banking.

His role was to continuously provide tailored made solutions to meet the client’s requirements in a business-to-business environment and worked with some of the world’s biggest publishers to do this. These include Haymarket media group, World News Media, Future plc (formerly Highbury House) and Global Trwade Media, to name a few.

Jason is most regarded and known for establishing and co-founding Fintech Finance and the Fintech Finance Magazine. He spent four and a half years building the brand and its titles into the widely recognised and respected publications they are now known to be.

Jason is the CEO of eFintech and also the Co-Founder of the Fintech Power 50.

An experienced technologist, his early corporate successes led him to form his own enterprise software company, producing and selling to Universities and institutions. A hands-on role, he executed this idea from concept to maturity, while also leading the international sales for an advanced engineering company before its M&A.

A former Senior Adviser at UK trade & investment, where he used his time to build contacts in technology, IoT and Smartcities sectors, as well as the investment and accelerator environment. Managing a team of seven, his role facilitated a good understanding of the London technology environment. He then continued his passion for supporting Start-up and Scale up organisations by joining London & Partners as the tech & urban specialist on the Mayor’s international business programme. Helping London companies internationalise.

Having now stepped out of the public sector, he is continuing to support ideas, Start-ups and Scale-ups as the editorial director of eFintech and co-founder of the Fintech Power50.

 

Claire is an experienced editor and writer with 25 years of experience in the publishing industry. As a tech journalist, Claire has covered every subject possible over the years, from the launch of broadband and next generation mobile networks to the arrival of the metaverse and Web3.

Starting his career in a software research centre in 2010, Raf spent the last 6 years in the fintech industry. Heading a fintech ecosystem in Belgium as Director of Business Development & Community, Raf developed a passion for the industry and events. Having successfully executed large and small scale events in different industries and around the world, Raf is now the CEO of Fintech Week London and CCO for eFintech.

Chris is a dynamic and highly creative designer with more than 23 years’ experience in the publishing industry. Working as an Art Editor for some of the largest publishing houses in London, including TI Media (then Time Inc & IPC Media), BBC Magazines, Haymarket, Egmont, Bauer Media and the Press Association. His experience and knowledge spans across designing for Business, Sport, Film, Men’s & Women’s Lifestyle and National Newspapers.

After relocating from London to York, Chris launched Yorkshire Creative Media – an independent media company with international clients – designing publications within the areas of Fintech (The Power 50 Annual and The Fintech Finance Magazines), Business & Corporate Governance (Ethical Boardroom Magazine), Ford Motors (Ignition for TrustFord) and HomeServe (Warm&Dry Magazine).

Polly Jean Harrison is an award-winning journalist, content creator and general opinion holder from North Wales specialising in digital media. Having written for a number of major publications on a whole host of topics, Polly has been with eFintech since 2020, with a particular interest in spotlighting women in the industry and the incredible things they do. When she’s not writing she can usually be found crocheting, snacking and hanging out with her dog.

Digital and print journalist.

Digital and print journalist.

Dominic Brough is Head of Video Production at eFintech. He is responsible for the recording, editing and delivery of webinars, podcasts and event videos for eFintech.

He initially gained 5 years’ experience within a customer service based roles therefore gaining exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. These skills then lead him into the sales side of the publishing business which is where he has been for over 15 years, winning multiple awards, and has progressed from a classified position to now the role of Business Development Director working for The Fintech Time’s associated multi media channels and Events. In his time in the industry he has managed large teams of sales staff to high standards, created and overseen events from concept to execution, launched publications from scratch and overseen expansion of platforms for almost every media he has worked on.

A business development professional who specialisies in driving growth. Andrew adopts a consultative approach to ensure specific client requirements are met whilst focusing on exceeding expectations for service quality. He’s a capable strategist with a proven track record of working on major projects to establish new offerings and enhance brand visibility. Commercially astute and entrepreneurial with an instinct for identifying and maximising new business opportunities. He has a strategic focus on web 3.0 and blockchain investment strategies including NFT advisory work with UK based artists.

Richie mainly specializes in economic development and diversification within the management consulting realm, specifically around internationalization (international trade and foreign direct investment (FDI)), as well as international business, international education, and capability development.

Having lived in seven countries with over 15 years professional experience, he spent almost 5 years until 2018 with PA Consulting based in London, having a portfolio of high-level government and multinational corporate clients in Europe, North America and the Middle East. He now uses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as base of operations.

Richie is currently the Head of Strategy for Dubai-hqed RISE as well as a volunteer mentor in Middle East and Africa for the Mayor of London’s International Business Programme

Since graduating from King’s College London in 2016 with a Law degree, Nathan has found himself drawn into the world of Fintech and Startups, spending most of his time working in and around the Silicon Roundabout. He is an experienced writer and editor for a number of different publications, ranging from Fintech to Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, to Law, Education and Football. He finds himself most at home with reporting on events and conducting interviews, both inside and outside of Fintech. In addition, he has a passion for Podcasting, having worked with a number of up-and-coming Podcasts based in the UK.

Ania has over ten years of professional experience in the financial, telco, IT consulting, consumer technology and fintech sector across corporations, small & medium enterprises and start-up firms in the APAC region. Since going freelance in 2017, Ania has worked as consultant for Fintech executive search in APAC region, product development and now more focus on marketing and communications of Fintech growth in the Asia region.

A seasoned Asia business platform builder who possess good Asian & Greater China markets and technologies understanding and network. Enthusiastic in facilitating partnership developments within the region and beyond and foster the evolution in the financial world.

Max is an undergraduate student at the University of Exeter with an avid passion for Sales and Fintech. He focuses on the Middle East and North Africa where he uses his network to make further connections within key industries and organisations. Within his position, he aims to augment awareness and sales of our products and services within an ever-growing region as well as improving connections with crucial organisations and individuals within MEA.

Vanessa joined TFT in March 2019, contributing Stateside news and reports.

Contributions include;

• Ripple’s Quest to Unleash Trillions in Global Payments
• Is Ripple The Devil? CEO Under Fire at Disrupt SF
• Dr. Doom On The Future Of Money At BlockShow Americas
• Summer CryptoTravel Guide: Escape To Blockchain Island
• Brock Pierce’s Restart Puerto Rico: Cryptolife A Year After Hurricane Maria
• Brock Pierce interview: Tales from the Bitcoin floor
• niTROn Summit: TRON announces the tokenisation of BitTorrent

Jim Marous is consistently rated as one of the top 5 most influential people in banking and one of the most sought after keynote speakers for industry and corporate events. Known for his understanding of the disruption in the banking industry, Marous is the co-publisher of The Financial Brand, and owner and publisher of the Digital Banking Report. Jim speaks on innovation, digital transformation, customer experience, marketing strategies, channel distribution, payments and change management.

Jim has been featured on CNBC, CNN, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Financial Times, The Economist, The American Banker, Fintech Finance and Accenture and has spoken to audiences worldwide.

Marous has also advised the White House on banking policy and is a contributor for Forbes and the Breaking Banks radio show.

Brett King is a world-renowned futurist and speaker, an International Bestselling Author, and a media personality who covers the future of business, technology and society. President Xi Jinping cited his book Augmented on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. He has spoken in over 50 countries, at TED conferences, given opening keynotes for Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM’s World of Watson, CES, SIBOS and many more. He has appeared as a commentator on CNN, CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He previously advised the Obama administration on Fintech policy and advises regulators and bank boards around the world on technology transformation.

King hosts the world’s first and #1 ranked radio show on FinTech called “Breaking Banks” (177 countries, 6.5 million listeners). He is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Moven, a successful mobile start-up, which has raised over US$47 million to date, with the world’s first mobile, downloadable bank account, available in the United States, Canada, UK, Indonesia, Russia, Tanzania and New Zealand.

Named”King of the Disruptors” by Banking Exchange magazine and the “Godfather of Fintech” by The Australian newspaper, King was voted American Banker’s Innovator of the Year, voted the world’s #1 Financial Services Influencer by The Financial Brand and was nominated by Bank Innovation as one of the top 10 “coolest brands in banking”. He was shortlisted for the 2015 Advance Global Australian of the Year Award for being one of the most influential Australians living offshore. His books have been released in over a dozen languages and he has achieved bestseller status in 20 countries. His fifth book Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane is an international bestseller, top 10 in North America and has remained in the top-10 on Amazon for 2 years. Bank 4.0 is his latest bestseller and is available in a dozen languages

Chris Skinner is known as an independent commentator on the financial markets and fintech through his blog, the Finanser.com, as author of the bestselling books Digital Bank, ValueWeb and its new sequel Digital Human. ValueWeb describes the impact of Fintech and how mobile and blockchain technologies are changing the face of finance in building an internet of value.   As a result of the emerging internet of value, banks have to become digitalised, and Digital Bank provides a comprehensive review and analysis of the battle for digital banking and strategies for companies to compete. Digital Human, released in March 2018, builds on these two themes but looks at the wider picture of digitalisation, and how this is a revolution as it allows everyone from the plains of Africa to the mountains of Tibet to be included.

In his day job, he is Chair of the European networking forum The Financial Services Club, Chair of Nordic Finance Innovation, as well as being a Non-Executive Director of the Fintech consultancy firm 11:FS.  He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), one of the Top 5 most influential people on BankInfoSecurity’s list of information security leaders, as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal’sFinancial News and Thomson Reuters. 

He has recently been voted Game Changer of the Year and Financial Markets Advisor of the Year by Finance Monthly, CEO of the Year by CV Magazine, FinTech Speaker of the Year by TMT Global and has been an advisor to the White House, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

Founder and CEO of Polymath Consulting. I have an in depth knowledge of Payments and Payment Cards. In particular the company and myself are very well known for our work in E-money/prepaid cards and emerging payments covering areas such as mobile money/mobile wallets and Mpos.

Personally I am increasingly active in Fintech having mentored several companies including Cybertonica, Pace Invoice and Millipay through Startupbootcamp, having been also voted in both years as ‘Leading Mentor’. I am also involved with several other incubators in London and have made a number of Fintech investments over the last few years.

Polymath Consulting has now delivered over 150 projects for clients in e-money and emerging payments. More about our clients and work can be found at www.polymathconsulting.com. Given my personal background in Advertising and Marketing we bring a strong customer focused perspective to many of our projects.

Polymath Consulting is also the Publisher and Editor of the Prepaid Report, the UKs only analysis of all UK consumer loaded prepaid card fees as well as providing a complete reference guide to the UK Market as well as covering at a high level of European and Middle East markets.

Current work includes project in the Middle East, USA, Asia, Africa and Europe.

See all my blogs at www.polymathconsulting.com

Ghela is a self-proclaimed Fintech fanatic, and Founder of FemTechGlobal™, a network dedicated to challenging the status quo, and improving the inclusiveness and diversity in Financial Services. FemTechGlobal™also sponsors the annual Women In Tech, Banking Technology Award.

Frequent keynote speaker and editorial contributor, Ghela focuses on how to fast-track internal innovation, focusing on the practical application and comercialisation of fintech/bank collaboration. She has a distinct preoccupation with modernizing legacy banking systems, disruptive business models, and facilitating banks’ emerging technology consumption. Her primary focus and expertise is in constructing Proof of Concept/Proof of Value scenarios and experiment design, including tech sprint mapping and process solutioning for commercial pilot programs.

Her background in regulatory economics underpins her work with several Regtech firms in the space, as well as supports her advocacy for identity and privacy solutions. Ghela also has a successful track record in strategic business development, sales strategy and enablement, go-to-market strategy, and translating value propositions into business drivers for executive change agents in financial services.

An advocate of nurturing Customer Lifetime Value for both banks and those they serve, Ghela is a confirmed evangelist for adopting technology to transform the Financial Services industry for the greater good.

Named to Fintech 2016: Top 100 Influencers by Onalytica

Named to Brummell Magazine’s 2016 ‘30 Inspirational Women Innovators

Included in Innovate Finance’s Women in Fintech Powerlist 2016 & 2017

Named to Silicon Republic’s 2016 20 Influencers You Need to Know (Dec 2016)

Named by BBVA as one of the Women Leading the Way in Fintech, 2017

Named to the Top 50 RegTech Influencers by Planet Compliance, 2017 & 2018

Ruth Wandhöfer is an expert in the field of banking and one of the foremost authorities on transaction banking regulatory and innovation matters. With over 11 years at Citi where she drove regulatory and industry dialogue and developed product and market strategy in line with the evolving regulatory and innovation landscape, she has recently left in order to embrace a more independent career.

Ruth is a NED on the boards of the London Stock Exchange Group, Permanent TSB and Pendo Systems Inc. She is also a Partner at Gauss Ventures and an adviser to the ETPPA.

She continues to focus on her passion of bringing the financial industry and the emerging financial digital ecosystem together, in particular across the blockchain/distributed larger space, an area which she recently researched as part of her PhD.

Ruth was named as one of 2010s ‘Rising Stars’ by Financial News; named in Management Today’s 2011 ‘35 Women under 35’ list of women to watch (Sunday Times), and one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance 2012 as named by Treasury Risk Magazine. In 2015 she was the recipient of the ‘Women in Banking and Finance Award for Achievement’ and in 2016 she was named on the global ‘Women in Fintech Powerlist’ of Innovate Finance in 2016 – 2018.

She speaks five languages (EN, DE, F, ES, IT) and has completed studies in various countries, including an MA Financial Economics (UK), an MA International Politics (FR), an LLM in International Economic Law (UK) and a PhD in Finance (UK). She published two books: “EU Payments Integration – the tale of SEPA, PSD and other Milestones along the Road” (2010) and “Transaction Banking and the Impact of Regulatory Change: Basel III and other challenges for the global economy” (2014), both Palgrave MacMillan. She is a Fellow if CASS Business School and occasionally lectures at Queen Mary London School of Law.

David G.W. Birch is an author, advisor and commentator on digital financial services. He is Global Ambassador for Consult Hyperion (the secure electronic transactions consultancy that he helped to found), Technology Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (the London-based think tank) and a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey Business School. An internationally-recognised thought leader in digital identity and digital money he was named one of the global top 15 favourite sources of business information by Wired magazine and one of the top ten most influential voices in banking by Financial Brand; created one of the top 25 “must read” financial IT blogs; was found by PR Daily to be one of the top ten Twitter accounts followed by innovators (along with Bill Gates and Richard Branson), was rated Europe’s most influential commentator on emerging payments by Total Payments and was awarded “Contributor of the Year” by the Emerging Payments Association.

His most recent book is “Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin: From money we understand to money that understands us” which the LSE Review of Books said should be “widely read by graduate students of finance, financial law and related topics as well as policymakers involved in financial regulation”.

Dave graduated from the University of Southampton with a B.Sc (Hons) in Physics.

Theodora (Theo) Lau is public speaker, writer, and startup advisor, whose work seeks to spark innovation to improve consumer financial well-being.

As founder of Unconventional Ventures, she focuses on developing and growing an ecosystem of financial institutions, corporates, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists to better address the unmet needs of consumers (e.g. older adults and gig economy workers), with keen interests in women and minority founders. As part of her work, she regularly mentors and advises FinTech startups.

She is recognized as LinkedIn Top Voice for Economy and Finance, No. 1 Women in Finance by Onalytica, and Top FinTech influencer by various publications including Onalytica, Retail Banker International, and FinTech Finance. She co-hosts Rhetoriq, a podcast on longevity and fintech innovations, and runs a weekly blog on Irish Tech News. She is also a regular contributor for various top industry events, publications, and podcasts, including Harvard Business Review, MIT Tech Review, Money20/20, Finovate, RISE, American Banker, Breaking Banks, Financial Brand, Financial Revolutionist, Irish Tech News, Mercer, and INV Filter.

She provides strategic advisory services to a broad set of corporates; she advises startups and mentors entrepreneurs from different accelerators and incubators around the country. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusion – and frequently writes and speaks on the need for diversity on gender, ethnicity, age, education, and more. Her end goal is to help more financial institutions (incumbents and startups) focus on the needs of the forgotten demographics and build sustainable and inclusive business models.

Most recently, the team launched a new season of the Rhetoriq podcast called “The Other 50”, featuring women in the financial services industry, with topics from payments, financial inclusion, artificial intelligence, to cybersecurity, and beyond. Her work strives to highlight the contributions that these women have made in the ecosystem and to celebrate the value that each person is bringing to the industry.

Devie is a fintech marketing strategy and research professional with years of experience working with industry giants and startups. She has worked in strategy, marketing and analysis roles in firms like Goldman Sachs, Thomson Reuters, Ericsson, IBM, USAID and SunTec. She is a consultant and researcher for several fintech startups, banking innovation groups and investors with a keen understanding of the trends and activities of startups, banks and investors in the space.

Lawrence is a globally recognised digital finance advocate and has over 25 years’ experience as an advisor, executive and board member working with companies from start-ups to global brands in the financial services, TMT and energy sectors. He is the former CEO of Innovate Finance, the UK FinTech members association, and a Co-founder of Global Digital Finance, a not for-profit promoting fair and transparent markets for digital and crypto assets. He works in the alternative investment sector with a focus on systematic investment management strategies, big data analytics, machine learning, and distributed ledger technologies.

Based in London, he is the Principal of Elipses, a digital advisory and investment management firm, has an MBA, and sits on several commercial, not-for-profit and charity boards. Lawrence promotes ethical and sustainable finance policies for a transparent, secure and quality digital future for everyone, and is a regular Forbes contributor.