Women in Payments

MetaBank’s rollout of the nation’s first prepaid card-powered federal stimulus payments expanded Thornsberry's skill set.

Campbell has worked for small to large organizations and is passionate about mentoring others to help them succeed in their careers as the pandemic opens new avenues to connect with senior leaders.

Fitzsimons became the president and general manager of Elavon Merchant Services through a couple of key leadership traits: She was always prepared to accept more responsibility during her 15 years at Elavon, and was relentless in gaining support and collaboration from others.

E-commerce has been the story of the pandemic's digital response, but security risk has also jumped, according to Kolaja.

Levy began showing leadership skills at an early age — and she has demonstrated them at Payoneer for the past 11 years.

Latin America is rapidly modernizing its payments systems, despite complex regulations from market to market, according to Saiovici.

An interesting career journey through print and broadcast media brought King to the role at Featurespace she calls 'the best of all.'

Blockchain has revolutionized international payments, and there are many more use cases in the pipeline, according to Mani.

Frew solves for consumer and small business cash flow needs by relying on her team, leadership skills and experience as a former small business owner.

Economic stimulus has been a savior for the economy, but it's taken cooperation and reliable payments technology to make that happen, according to Ziolkowski.

Remote work has not created isolation, but in fact has brought digital connections to bring people closer together, according to Kazazean.

The expansion of the True Name card program is an important step in the fight for equality for transgender people, according to Habner.

Digital technology grew quickly during the pandemic, but making it work for everyone will be the hard part, according to Seshadri.

PaymentsSource is proud to recognize the Most Influential Women in Payments, spanning multiple industries including financial services, retail, investment and technology.

In the tech-centric payments industry, the number of women in C-suite roles is rising after decades of incremental progress, but the path to leadership for Black people in the payments industry remains steep and lonely.

American Express has named Glenda McNeal, honored by PaymentsSource last year as one of the Most Influential Women in Payments, to its executive committee, marking the first time a Black woman has held that role.

While the entire economy will slow due to stay-in-place orders and temporary economic shutdowns, payments fintech is expected to fare much better than other investment sectors due to these trends.

Suneera Madhani, CEO of the digital acquirer Fattmerchant, tells PaymentsSource how the coronavirus pandemic has affected how her employees go to market with new payments technology — and how making the shift to digital helps both the acquirer and its clients.

The payments industry bridges many markets — including technology and finance — that haven't always demonstrated diversity at their highest ranks. Things are changing, and this year's Most Influential Women in Payments honorees demonstrate the importance of women to all aspects of the payments industry and all corners of the globe.

"Watch what customers do, not what they say," said Melissa Smith, president and CEO of WEX.