Carina Birch

The Payments Association

The Payments Association (previously the Emerging Payments Association or EPA) is for payments firms, big & small. We help our members navigate a complex regulatory environment and facilitate profitable business partnerships. Our purpose is to empower the most influential community in payments, where the connections, collaboration and learning shape an industry that works for all. We operate as an independent representative for the industry and its interests, and drive collaboration within the payments sector in order to bring about meaningful change and innovation. We work closely with industry stakeholders such as the Bank of England, the FCA, HM Treasury, the Payment Systems Regulator, Pay.UK, UK Finance and Innovate Finance. Through our comprehensive programme of activities for members and with guidance from an independent Advisory Board of leading payments CEOs, we facilitate the connections and build the bridges that join the ecosystem together and make it stronger. These activities include a programme of monthly digital and face-to-face events including our annual conference PAY360 and awards dinner, CEO round tables and training activities. We run 5 stakeholder working Project groups: Inclusion, Regulator, Financial Crime, International Trade and Open Banking. The volunteers within these groups represent the collective view of The Payments Association members at industry-critical moments and work together to drive innovation in these areas. We also conduct exclusive industry research which is made available to our members through our Insights knowledge base. These include monthly whitepapers, insightful interviews and tips from the industry's most successful CEOs.