Paul Thomalla

Independent at Independent Payments Guy

Speaker

Paul Thomalla is a seasoned professional in the payments industry, with a career spanning over three decades. He has held leadership roles in numerous payments firms and has recently been involved in regulatory spaces to guide and spearhead changes in global payments. His advisory roles have covered a range of areas including the UK's NPA, PS2 and PSD3, CRD5, and the application of AI and Blockchain in payments. Currently, he is focusing on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and their regulation.

Paul's expertise lies in understanding the shifts in domestic payment policies worldwide and the necessity for these changes. Over the past three years, he has consulted with over 500 executives, providing advice on the transformations that digitalization will bring to the payments industry.

In addition to his advisory roles, Paul has launched a podcast, "Bitesize Payments," which aims to demystify the history of payments, their functioning, and the roles of different players in the industry.

Before his current endeavors, Paul held significant positions at various organizations. He was the Head of Industry and Regulatory Affairs at Finastra and served as the CEO and General Manager of Europe, Middle East, and Africa at ACI Worldwide. His executive roles also include tenures at Stratus Technology, IBM, Destiny USA, Microsoft, and Catalyst Technologies.

Currently, Paul is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Credit Research Institute (ECRI) at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a Brussels-based think tank that discusses EU affairs across all European financial policy areas.

His past service includes roles on the UK Payment System Regulator (PSR) advisory board, the Payments Strategy Forum for the UK, Ecommerce Europe's Payments Experts Taskforce, and the Executive Board of Nexo, an international association that develops and promotes open messaging standards (ISO20022) for card payments.