Payment Professionals to Follow in 2026

Whatever route you traveled to get into payments, we’re glad you made it here! This list has been curated to include influencers in the payments industry who speak at events, publish unique content, and work for organizations that not only follow best payment practices but also help establish them. 

Below are some of the top payment professionals to follow in 2026.

Colin is the CEO and co-founder of Basis Theory, and is never at a loss for something to say about the business. From his regular guest articles in trade publications to his engaging posts on LinkedIn, Colin is pushing the boundaries of what it means to make payments a core profit center for any company. 

Simon Taylor

Simon is the Co-Founder of Fintech Brain Food. His weekly newsletter offers analysis of fintech strategy, banking, payments infrastructure, and emerging technology. Taylor is required reading for anyone building or working with payment products. In  2026, expect Taylor to cover real-time payments, tokenization, and the shifting network economics. 

Tom Noyes

His long-form breakdowns on network economics, tokenization, and card-network strategy are among the most technically insightful in the industry. In 2026, his commentary on network tokens, issuer economics, and the future of interchange will be worth following.

Nicole Casperson

Her newsletter reporting and interviews amplify voices across the evolving fintech and payments landscape. She brings a more cultural and narrative lens to the payments industry, highlighting innovators, operators, and underrepresented leaders shaping the ecosystem. With so much shifting in 2026, her work adds context and depth beyond the technical details.

Karen is the founder of PYMNTS.com, roundly acknowledged as one of the top outlets for news and opinion on the payments and FinTech space. Not only a highly-regarded speaker, she is also a never-at-rest philanthropist and fundraiser, and is a co-founder of twoAM (Two Women on A Mission), which supports breast and ovarian cancer research. Her Fireside Chats are a must-watch for payments professionals, as she draws out details from her guests that you’d never get anywhere else. 

Nobody has done more to research and make sense of the payments market than Marcel, whose diagrams and visualizations of the industry clarify the size and velocity that the rest of us are still guessing at. He is so well-connected that he often breaks news long before trade publications, let alone mainstream media. His FinTech News Updates on LinkedIn should never be missed for those trying to understand the space.

Emerging from his first venture (CoolQuestion.com) as a seasoned online operator, Spiros has had a greater impact on more Fintech firms than even seems possible. From private banking to hedge funds to venture funds and accelerators, he has spurred a lifetime of brilliant ideas while keeping his finger on the pulse of the industry. He is a leading voice on the possibilities, drawbacks, and potential of AI in the Fintech space. 

Chris doesn’t see himself as an honest-to-goodness futurist, who is gazing over the horizon even as the rest of us just wait for the next Big Thing to arrive. Learning his trade in top consulting firms Accenture and Tata, he brought his special brand of future vision to Lloyds as an innovation technologist, and founded the mission-driven Secco Aura. His twenty thousand LinkedIn followers await his posts eagerly, as he has a perspective that stands out from the crowd.

Jim is the publisher of the hugely influential Digital Banking Report, which is in its eleventh year at the time of publishing, and presents the popular Banking Transformed podcast (available wherever you get your podcasts!). Unlike many payments stars, his influence doesn’t begin and end with the financial system—he also publishes The Financial Brand, an online publication that helps Fintech companies to remember that it’s not all about the numbers. 

Unlike many key voices in the space, Kate came up through the journalism side, cutting her teeth in the ‘regular’ publishing world at organizations like the San Diego Tribune. She started to dig in as the Senior Editor of PaymentsSource.com, a trade publication that was at the forefront of the payment revolution that has brought us to where we are today. Today, as the Senior Editor for Payments at American Banker, she is continuing to tell the stories that matter.

Theodora (more commonly known as Theo) is the founder of Unconventional Ventures, which is dedicated to creating a better financial infrastructure for all, and especially for underserved communities like older adults and women. A published author of two highly-rated books (Beyond Good, and The Metaverse Economy), Theo brings a higher view of payments, seen from the perspective of the consumer as much as the merchant. American Banker called Theo one of the 20 most influential women in Fintech.

For some influential voices, opinions and research are the tool of choice, but Sabine goes further as the CEO of Alchemy Crew ventures, which creates R&D and adoption labs to smooth the path of tech to customers. Her Scouting for Growth podcast is a key resource for those seeking to find financial backing, and her inspirational LinkedIn posts reliably provide encouragement and insight to her over 35k followers.

Neira says her motto is “I make it happen”, and a quarter century of achievement in the Fintech space demonstrates how true this is. Always in demand to present in person and on podcasts and webinars, she brings a refreshing approach to the business, promoting the theory AND the practice of payments skills. As an Advisory Board Member and Ambassador of the Merchant Payments Ecosystem, she may do more outreach to the industry than almost anyone else, helping the stars of tomorrow to find their way.

Did we miss anyone?

If someone is shaping your thinking in 2026, tag them! We want to amplify the individuals shaping the future of payments.

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